The Human Cohesion Project — 9 May 2020
#TheHumanCohesionProject
I was heartened today to see a picture on social media (though I am unsure if it was clicked to be shared, so not putting it up here). The picture had an Indian Muslim policeman offering his afternoon prayers on the road, in the sun, while on duty. Another policeman, presumably not Muslim, was holding up a piece of cloth over the first man’s head to provide shade from the hot sun while his colleague prayed. That photograph, for me, was an embodiment of fraternity.
The intention of this project has been to aspire for the ideal of fraternity and to allow it to enter into our being and doing. To me, that is the pathway of Islam. And while it is as simple as making the choice to provide someone comforting shade from the sun, we also leave a lot of opportunities for fraternity unused. It is offered to us moment to moment by life: in the way we water our plants (fraternity, after all, is agnostic of species), through the dog we pass by on the road that perhaps wants a kind gaze, to the tired person who would really appreciate a seat on crowded public transport. The ideal is always present. Are we?
- How are you strengthening your embodiment of fraternity?
Ramadan Kareem. May life gift you the wealth of a kind gaze from a stranger.
#RukminiIyer #Ramadan #peacebuilding
