A lot of things seem to be damaged in today’s world, but one of those things is the overlooking of the uniqueness of people.
Of course, I cannot say that no-one recognises peoples uniqueness at all or that I am the only person to say this. I think perhaps many others recognise this too.
In fact, most human rights issues and claims of discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping and unfair treatment often seem to boil down to ignoring a person’s uniqueness.
It sure does hurt a person to feel misunderstood. The same as it does to be ignored.
Being seen as “just like everybody else,” often makes people upset.
In fact, being known only according to ones skin colour, nationality, age, gender, or any other way group can make people feel disrespected, unrecognised, mistreated and even angry.
It would then be a lot easier and indeed fairer to just see and judge each and every person according to how they are.
When people take fingerprints they do so because no one else has the same fingerprint as anyone else.
It has now been found that no one else has the same eye patterns – they are unique and different.
In fact, we have so many differences and things that make us unique, even from the same family, so how can we judge a person as the same as everyone in a particular country, age group, skin colour or other reason?
It does not sound at all fair.
In fact, all people have their very own thoughts, opinions, feelings, viewpoints, priorities, life goals and likes and hates.
Maybe that sounds so obvious someone may ask why I even need to say so.
Yet, it seems that generally in society people do not really recognise or pay attention to such things.
So many times we are given forms asking us to tick boxes or indicate if we are black, white, or “other” ( do they mean alien or other than human)?
However, are we not all on a spectrum of colour? Is anyone truly just ‘white,' or ‘black?’ and does it really matter?
When we are told we are the human race then why do we have to say there are different races? Are there different humanities?
We are asked which ethnicity we identify with (and some people may identify with more than one, or none at all, or just want to be human)
We are asked to tick a box for our age group, which most people do not like because they may not identify with that age group and do not want to be judged as too old, too young, able or not able, or even just being called young or old, aunt uncle or ‘my child,' when they do not feel that way.
Our age is only how many years we have been on the earth. It does not mean we cannot (or must at times) do something or not.
In past times people were often nicknamed after some quality or attribute from their personality, yet now we are known only as “just like them.” Maybe sometimes people want to know as part of a group, other times they are associated with groups based on one individual or some people.
I think that most people now are fed up with the idea that all white people are racists, all black people are criminals, all Muslims are terrorists, all young people are violent, people over forty are falling apart, people over sixty are forgetful, people over forty do not have children, English people are cold, Arab people are violent and so forth...
Instead of asking people about themselves people are being told about themselves by others.
When people should be known and valued as unique individuals they are known only as from a particular place, part of an age group or “one of those...”
It is furthermore ironic that a lot of this grouping or “divide and rule,” as people may call it at times, is actually carried out by the people who claim to want help people: humanists, psychologists and so forth.
Whereas humanists try to claim they are fighting for the rights of “minority groups,” (which they created, since such people most likely did not ask to be put in a separate group) and that they are pioneers defending humanity from oppression they are actually inadvertently helping the inequalities of people with their emphasis on seeing people as part of groups, cultures and so forth.
They can then show how good they by stepping in to save them from others and somehow take control.
This of course does not mean such people are bad and ill intentioned.
Psychologists may have good intentions to help people as well, but putting people into groups snd telling people should be like all others otherwise they will be diagnosed with something does not help.
With psychologists and doctors telling people what is normal and what is not and how people should be is not actually helping people to accept and know themselves – or others.
Some behaviours are not actually normal or healthy and we are told to accept them. On the other hand, normal behaviours can be called psychosis – by them.
Islam and the uniqueness of people:
The only worldview or book that I have come across that actually respects and recognises the uniqueness of humanity and seems to take into account the situations and uniqueness of people is the Quran.
As a verse says in the Quran: we have created you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Hujarat.
This is in contrast to calling people names, stereotyping and fighting with those they see as different.
The way to know people is by dealing with them, asking them respectable questions and trying to understand them.
The Quran refers to people in general throughout most of the Quran and most rules of Quran are addressed to men and women. Some specific rules are addressed to women out of respect to them as different to men.
Women are the twin halves of men, as a saying if Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him says.
Therefore, they are not that different and follow the same rules and gain the same rewards as men except in some cases specific to them, in which it would not be fair to be treated the same as men.
It would not be fair for example, for women to have to give birth and look after children while also having to go to work and rule the country.
Therefore, work has been divided between the genders.
Interestingly, age is never referred to in the Quran except once and that one time was not to tell people that they are under or over a certain age, that they can or cannot do something or that they are young or old.
The Quran simply gives the example of a person who has reached maturity and then reached forty years who thanks Allah for the blessings upon him and prays for his parents and respects them.
It actually has nothing to do with being mature, old, incapable or any physical issue. Nothing of that is mentioned here and there is nothing in Islamic law that distinguishes adults of a certain age from others.
The most likely understanding of why age is mentioned in this verse of the Quran is that in all times and places a person of forty would be expected to be able to deal with their parents in a good way and with others in general.
People are less accepting of mistakes from people as they get older.
Someone who is forty is more likely to have begun their own family and so have a better understanding of what it is like to be a parent.
They are also more likely to have older parents who need more kindness and care than before, and are more likely to be needing support at such a time.
Parents of someone in their forties are going to be in their sixties or more.
If someone is no longer living at home, they have their own family and their parents are needing more help and care or becoming more grumpy, a person may feel more stressed and agitated with them.
Therefore, at such a time and in cases of most people, a virtuous person will not forget the good that their parents did for them when young even if it was years ago. They will not disrespect their parents with impatient words when in their last and most difficult years and will pray for them.
Other than this one case the Quran does not mention age at all but rather mentions the situations of people and people in different life stages.
For example, the Quran mentions rulings for women in general, rulings for pregnant women, rulings for menstruating women and women who have gone past menopause. It is interesting that whereas some so-called doctors and others lump all women together over fifty as menopausal the Quran recognises that such a thing is not actually age related.
A women can be over or under fifty and be in that situation. In fact, in that time many women were over sixty before they entered that situation.
The Quran never uses the terms young or old in regards to age and merely mentions that a person goes through the stages of childhood, adulthood and old age without stating specific ages for such things.
This demonstrates the accuracy of the Quran and how it recognises the uniqueness of people rather than lumping them all together as if peas and pod and telling them about themselves.
Whereas in various Western countries adulthood is said to be at eighteen, according to sharia a person is an adult when they reach puberty.
They then have responsibilities, rights and are respectable adult individuals in society.
Although people are not legally recognised as adults before eighteen in some laws we see clearly that is an inequality.
When girls of ten or twelve are able to have relationships with the opposite gender and have children from them, and when people are able to begin making life decisions and have their own independence they are no longer children but young adults.
Similarly, laws, beliefs and attitudes relating to people of a certain age such as ‘over thirty fives,' and ‘over forties,' are also not accurate or true.
As if people over a certain age are suddenly entirely different from others or that being young comes to an abrupt end and old age has an abrupt beginning.
Whereas in the past age expectancy was only to forty years it is now currently seventy five and increasing. For people living to a hundred or more we cannot expect them to put their lives on hold when at forty they may have another sixty years left to live their lives.
Whereas some people at forty may be perceived by others and themselves as old, we cannot judge all people based on some. There are many people who are still young at forty. We may even say so at fifty as well. However, it would probably be pushing it to say that sixty is still young.
In any case, the Quran does not make claims about people based on their age or give people age limits for different things.
Even marriage has no time limit (although there are indications that when women feel no more desire for marriage and no one feels desire for them, this is the age of marriage).
Therefore, time related issues such as marriage and so forth are left to the individual to decide and not to oppressive laws, humanists, societies standard’s and other types of dictatorship.
If we really followed and understood the Quran we would not be dictating to people how to live their lives, but rather we would ask them.
We would also appreciate the differences of people and how they are, rather than trying to wipe out these differences entirely, diagnose them with various abnormalities or dictate to them about how they are and that they need to change to fit in with their little group (which they may not want to be a part of).
Comments
Post a Comment