A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, in “Stride Toward Freedom”, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.  Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheel’s inevitability.  Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.  Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction.  This is no time for apathy or complacency.  This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, “But though I was initially disappointed at being categorised as an ‘extremist’, as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label.  Was not Jesus an extremist for love?  Was not Amos an extremist for justice?  Was not Martin Luther an extremist?  So, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.  Will we be extremists for hate or for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”

It is recorded in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings & Speeches that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”  Notice the precision of the sentence.  He does not say the position becomes safe once conscience approves it.  He says the opposite: conscience is the only justification offered, because none of the conventional justifications – safety, political convenience, popularity – will be available. The Documented Cost of King’s Own Position King was arrested 29 times over the course of his public life.  His 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail was written on the margins of a newspaper because he had no other paper available, composed while confined for parading without a permit, a position considerably less safe, politic, or popular than the polite gradualism even some fellow clergymen were urging on...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose, it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.   This quote has often been credited to Edmund Burke, the Irish statesman and political theorist, but it was in circulation before him.   Nevertheless, it is still relevant.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   We do not put out fire with fire.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Rev. John James Watson once wrote, “This man beside us also has a hard fight with an unfavouring world, with strong temptations, with doubts and fears, with wounds of the past which have skinned over, but which smart when they are touched.   It is a fact, however surprising.   And when this occurs to us we are moved to deal kindly with him, to bid him be of good cheer, to let him understand that we are also fighting a battle; we are bound not to irritate him, nor press hardly upon him nor help his lower self.”   And this somewhat, is echoed in Rev. Martin Luther King’s quote here, with the addition of justice for all.