No One Can Ever Provoke You If You Don't Want To Get Provoked.......Jalaluddin Rumi
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
23 August
2022
Why Is Muhammad Criticised and Pilloried the
Most? Because It Annoys Muslims and They React Violently, Thus Earning a Bad
Name for Themselves and Ending Up Smearing Eggs On Their Faces
-----
Jalaluddin
Rumi
----
Yesterday
night, I was reading Rumi's Masnavi, Book no. 3. Readers might be aware that
Rumi, in addition to being a great mystic, was also a raconteur par excellence.
His Masnavis are full of parables and allegories. One of his parables struck
me, though I read that in Persian years ago when I was quite young and callow.
There was a
very sane and sensible man in a village. He never got angry with anyone. He had
an abusive and cantankerous neighbour who would always provoke him. But the
sane man never reacted. One day, that ill-mannered man abused that calm and
cool man's mother and father. Yet, he remained unperturbed. Frustrated, that
abusive man stopped provoking him and left the village.
The moral
of the story is: The more you get provoked, the more people try to provoke you.
Ponder over
Rumi's advice in a larger context and link it to your religion and relation/s.
Why do Charlie Hebdo guys make objectionable cartoons of Muhammad? Because they
know that it provokes a large number of bovine-brained followers of Islam. Why
is Muhammad criticised and pilloried the most? Because it annoys Muslims and
they react violently, thus earning a bad name for themselves and ending up
smearing eggs on their faces.
Have you
ever heard or read that a fire-worshiper (Parsi or Zoroastrian) reacted when
someone criticised his faith and sacred figures? First of all, Parsis are
sagacious enough not to get provoked. Way back in 1960, one brainless Bengali
writer wrote something very provocative about the Zoroastrian faith in a
leading English daily. Parsis didn't even care a fig for what he wrote.
Terribly embarrassed, that fool apologized. He later admitted that his
objective was to provoke this peace-loving community. But when no one from the
community reacted and he miserably failed in his mission of vilification, he
felt mortally ashamed.
This
non-reactionary attitude is the need of the hour. Let anyone depict your
prophet or deity in a negative manner. You must never react or get provoked.
There's a
Sutra in Tripitak, Thervad Buddhism. It's in Pali: Vrittanam abhi viniyogam
(Don’t get involved in unnecessary things).
In these
times, all religions and their gods are actually useless things and sheer waste
of time. So, why should you lose sleep over things that don't concern you
directly?
Provocation
has an element of sadism. In fact, it's a sado-masochistic pastime for those
who've nothing worthwhile to do.
The
prevalent perception that it's incumbent upon a person to defend his religious
beliefs when provoked is an outright misconception.
The
perceived insult to one's prophet or deity can be dealt with discreet silence
or a dignified smile. You've not been sent to protect your prophet or deity.
Grow up.
-----
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/prophet-jalaluddin-rumi-zoroastrian-faith/d/127775
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