I am a Christian. At many times in my life I have been blessed by Muslims and by Islam. I would like to share that blessing. The full series of reflections may be found here.

The third blessing I would like to share is peace.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows that Muslims first came to this continent against their will, as slaves traded from West Africa to fuel the colonial British economy. This is to say that Muslims were forcibly imported to the Americas, at great cost to their lives, for the purpose of economic exploitation by a nominally Christian nation. This is to say that Muslims have helped build the economic power of the United States since before the birth of this nation, often without benefit to themselves.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows that Islamic faith guided some of the abolitionists against slavery in the 19th century, as well as soldiers who fought for the Union in the U.S. Civil War. This is to say that Muslims, at great risk of their lives, fought for the freedom of slaves and therefore for the liberation of every person, free and slave alike, caught in the web of economic violence of the United States. This is to say that Muslims have helped realize the highest ideals of the United States during our times of greatest national crisis, when those values were most in jeopardy.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows that Muslims forged a vital way forward in the Civil Rights movement in the United States. This, while being demonized and rejected by fellow U.S. Americans. This is to say they fought for the moral liberation of the very people actively oppressing them.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows life within prisons today, in the country with the highest rate of incarceration in the world. He serves as a counselor to men who are jailed. This is to say, he brings hope where mass incarceration destroys.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows life as a black man and as a Muslim in our nation today. This is to say, he knows what it is to be targeted and feared for nothing he has done or would do, both because of the color of his skin and the form of his faith. He faces threat from every side, including from those who use his religion as a weapon and from those who use it as a scapegoat. And he speaks out loud against terror whatever its point of origin.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

He knows the violence embedded deep in the soul of our country. He knows that we have exploited people for economic gain since the beginning of our nationhood. He knows that we are a nation continuously engaged in international military conflict. He knows our history. He knows our legacy. He has looked us full in the face.

 

I know a man who knows what violence is.

 

And yet he is the kindest man you will meet. He listens first. He is soft-spoken. He is warm. His whole being conveys peace.

 

He is a diligent scholar. He is careful with his words and his ideas. He speaks the difficult truth of our life together to build us into our best selves. He believes in us. He knows who we are. He knows who we can be.

 

He knows what violence is. And he offers peace.

 

What strengthens a man to bear this knowledge of violence, to bear it not only in his mind but even more in his lived experience as a man of faith and as a man of color, as a citizen of our country, and still to make of his soul a reservoir of peace?

 

What strengthens him to share it so generously?

 

And if I were threatened by violence, would I have the strengthen to respond with this same peace?

 

I know a man. And I give thanks.