Vocation

A few weeks ago I helped my friend Linor lead the Big Q conversations at Hillel during shabbat for the non-Jews. The leading question was “Who is the Other”, this could be a question of identity in any sense of the word. Religiously tackling the question during our planning was interesting. Linor is a secular Jew and I’m a Non-denominational Muslim. False history tells us that we’re the other to each other, when in reality people of different faiths, including Muslims and Jews, have lived peacefully alongside each other for centuries and modern political leaders want to put us against each other for political gain in many nations.

So who is the other? What I realized planning for this talk is that the “other” in every sense of the word is a made up term meant to legitimize hatred for other, when that’s not the purpose of life. Creating “Otherness’ has to do with false narratives put up by societal leaders and expanded by our education and upbringing in order to solidify an identity separating us from the following community. If I would be so focused on the other then my colleagues and friends would be my enemies, that is not the life I want to live. Religion should have nothing to do with creating “The Other”. An often quoted Quranic verse is “People, We have created you all male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you would recognize each other…” (Q.49:13). We will live in a world more accepting of all one day Inshallah.