I Reject Collective Guilt
June 16, 2008 · Reading Time: 1min 48sec · Print This Article
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When I teach my 11-16 year old students English or Mathematics, I often at times ramble on other topics besides academia. Sometimes it would last for as long as the entire class duration, but which I feel is imperative during the period.
One topic that I often try to inject to these young ones is the danger of collective guilt, how to recognize when you hear one coming your way, and how to avoid it. Being a student of religion, I’ve heard too many times many asatizahs whom I’ve come to respect suddenly give a collective remark on a so-and-so and group of people, how they as a whole are negative, when in actual fact the perpetrators are but the few who hold power. My heart sores everytime when sometimes the collectivistic figure-pointing goes to collective humiliation, and the asatizah who should stand for someone guiding people towards the truth, displays tribalism mentality and mocks at the group, encouraging the entire class to laugh. There has not been a day when my heart has not sored hearing such laughter, an “us versus them” mentality.
I want to stand for the truth wherever that takes me, and not for enclaves.
Whenever you see something bad, do not mock, scorn nor humiliate the person. Recognize the act itself please, and advise the person to the best of your abilities by your hands, tongue or heart. If you are a teacher of any sorts, and especially religion, please don’t encourage your class to laugh at others, don’t encourage your class to continuously view a community as bad and such, even if they are from another religion. How many great converts we have seen who now spread the message of Islam far and wide, who have come from the so called “bad people”. Wouldn’t it be sad if days before God brought light into their hearts, our mouths had cursed and laughed at them.
I hold no grudge against some of those who have taught me and yet sometimes slip to such behaviour. I have slipped into such behaviour too. They are human too, and I pray God helps them find it in their hearts to take care of their tongues, and that He takes care of ours too.
A God-fearing person, seeing a negative act committed by a person, will never turn to mocking nor humiliating the subject in question, because he knows that he too has done something of those sorts in the past, and that there is nothing to prevent him from committing that in the future.
Bismillahi-tawakkaltu ‘alallah, laa haula walaa quwwata illa billaah. In the name of Allah, I depend on Allah. there is no power and might except from Allah.
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salaam hafihz…. great reminder for all of us who teach and but 1 qn… who are these so-and-so asatizahs? To be frank, I’ve always had the same perception… but when I question myself I can hardly name one who actually say such words.