People of the Book

The actions of the media reporting the resistance the people of Massachusetts to the burial of Tamarian Tsarnaev in their fair state demonstrates the ability of societies to demonize individuals and social groups.  It’s a human characteristic to view others as “different” and to be viewed with suspicion. And oddly enough Islamic religion spends a lot of its writings in the Koran demonizing others. A short walk through the books of the Koran can easily find comments calling others “animals”, “demons”, “living in filth” are just a few of the nicer things this religious tome says.

But there is one thought in the Koran that is repeated several time and is based on the simple fact that Islam acknowledges that much of its teachings are based of the philosophy of both Judaism and Christianity and in fact links all three religions as “people of the book”.

In my work as a mediator I have had the opportunity to mediate disputes between Sunni and Shia. Two branches of the religions that dislikes each other intensely and are often at odds with each other over minor issues. Each time I try to mediate these cases I have to listen to each party try to influence me while at the same time insisting that as a non Muslim I couldn’t possibly understand their predicament.

When I use the Arabic phrase Ahl el-Kitab in response to their diatribe they are startled, start wondering how a Westerner knows the Koran and Arabic they usually calm down, listen to me and start to discuss their issues. In truth I know almost no Arabic and couldn’t care less about the contents of the Koran, but I do know that people who believe the writings of their religion always respond positively to the thoughts found in their book.

In response to the actions of those who would deny a man, no matter how reprehensible, the respect afforded by a simple burial I can only repeat what I tell Muslims in dispute: We are all people of the book and are required to respect the values of others.  You might not like the individual but you must respect his right to fair treatment both  under the law and as a statement of our social commitment.