Article in brief: The article explains how not accepting foreign cultures and other religions is not part of our culture.
I recently attended my school’s graduation ceremony. It was very heartwarming to experience the students with bright smiles and gleaming eyes as they were given their high school diplomas. This completed and thus highlighted their 14-years endeavor before venturing into the big world.
With it being an event of such high importance and significance, several programs were initiated and executed for the audience’s entertainment. One being an act performed by my classmates called “Terminal 3”.
The play basically highlighted a normal occurrence at the airport, or rather the country as a whole.
The play commenced with a football crazed Arab walking around what seems to be terminal three of Dubai Airport and bumps into an old Indian man. They attempted to converse, but to no avail. They share no mutual language. Nevertheless, sign language has proven to be a successful communication tool. Midway through their short conversation, a British businessman (he’s actually an Emirati, with a convincing accent if you ask me) joins in the conversation, using sign language of course. Their conversation revolves around their families, lives, so on and so forth and is concluded by well wishes.
Regardless of their major differences, they managed to converse happily amongst each other. They didn’t allow their differences to separate them. They’re all human beings after all.
We always rush in prejudging and making stereotypes without taking a moment “to walk a mile in their shoes”, if we have done so, all misconceptions and misunderstandings would be avoided
The point of the previously mentioned anecdote is to shed light on what made the UAE more successful than its counterparts. We stuck to our roots by welcoming foreigners in to our abode and taking from their culture and experiences what does not contradict with our own beliefs. I am not saying that this is the case nowadays, however, this is how it all began.
When speaking of tolerance, the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him (PBUH)] can be described as the master of tolerance; this may be exhibited from the following examples:
- Historians report that as a funeral of a Jew passed before Prophet Muhammad [PBUH], as a sign of respect he stood up. In doing this, he showed respect and shared the feeling of sorrow with the Jewish family and community. “Why did you stand up for a Jewish funeral?” he was asked. The Prophet replied: “Is it not a human soul?”
- Upon learning of the sickness of his Jewish neighbor, Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] paid him a visit. During the visit the Prophet [PBUH] asked the young man to accept Islam. The young man looked at his father for permission. The father assented and the young man accepted Islam.
The UAE is a successful example of a tolerant country that maintained its heritage and set of beliefs. Where else would you find a niqabi and a church-goer happily chatting away? Where else would you find a farm owner and his South Asian farm worker sharing food from the same plate? Where else would you find two students from different sides of the globe working together on a group project? Where else would you find a leader walk freely amongst his people and treat them and his family as one?
Consequently, we must always remember that the more we learn, the more we must teach. The more we take in, the harder the effort we must make to preserve our identity. We must swiftly travel with the winds of time, with our feet firmly planted to the ground.
Salaam Omar,
I'm honored for having to share your thoughts. You know Omar, the actual test of foreign culture tolerance occurs with an individual during his work life. Speaking of me, when I was young, below the age of 20, I used to be one of those UAE nationals who had perfected to speak in hindi. And as you know, Dubai is not DUBAI without indians and pakistanis, I was very happy to be able to speak to them by showing off my indian accent and skills lol, and it would always give me this sense of satisfaction and the "I rule the world feeling".
But guess what, allllll that changed as i started working in a few private firms, where i would always end up being with a group of indians and pakistanis, which immaturely I thought I was able to manage smoothly. I was so innocent to believe, that by speaking indian and understanding indian culture i wouldn't have an issue with tolerating them during work, and because of that innocence, i used to mentally get beaten down to my knees temporarily, because of my lack of tolerance. I saw a completely different world, i got introduced to different mentalities, sub indian and pakistani cultures And different indian and pakistani family traditions also. It was like a box full of various kinds of nuts, which some i could not digest very fast. Thats when i realized that, tolerance does not only come from understanding languages and cultures, but it actually comes by training ourselves to consistently tolerate it during its ups and downs, and to be well prepared to consistently absorb various foreign mentalities, behaviors and cultures and sub cultures.
And after many attempts and observations, I finally came to realize, that the only way to go about this routine challenge and ritual, it is as you mentioned, to go by the teachings of islam and to take the Prophet Muhammed, Peace and Blessings be Upon him, as a role model, in every moment of our short lives. Because, he is indeed, the Master of tolerance and patience.
Thanks Omar for your wisdom.