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REFLECTIONS OF A CONCERNED MUSLIM ON THE PLIGHT
OF OPPRESSED PEOPLE
by: Dr. Ali Shariati
Part (I)
IF I confide in you personally, it is because I want to share a personal
experience with you. It concerns me because it relates to my class, community,
country and history.
I am familiar with the thoughts of educated people. My predecessors,
of the remote past where they disappeared in the flow of history, were
poverty-stricken people. I, personally, am related to the nobles but not
to those whose nobility is the product of silver and gold.
I am deeply interested in human heritage and civilization. My primary
interest has always been to reflect on the works of people who inhabited
the earth before us.
In Greece, I saw the temple of Delphi which thrilled me because of its
artistic beauty and skill. In Rome, I visited the museum of arts and architecture
of temples and great palaces. In the Far East, in China and Vietnam, there
are mountains which were shaped by human hands and brains into temples
for the gods and their representatives on earth (the religious clergymen).
These human legacies are precious to me!
Last summer during my visit to Africa, I decided to see the three Pyramids
in Egypt. Because of its vast surroundings, this great monument of civilization
occupied my thoughts. I hastened to see one of the seven wonders of the
past-the Pyramids.
Wholeheartedly, I began to listen to the guide's explanations about
the structure. We learned that slaves had to bring eight hundred million
blocks of stones from Aswan to Cairo in order to construct six large and
three small Pyramids. Eight-hundred million blocks of stones were brought
to Cairo from a place which was nine hundred and eighty miles away to construct
a building wherein the mummified bodies of the Pharoahs were to be preserved.
Inside, the graves are made of five blocks of marble. Four of the blocks
are used for the walls and one is used for the ceiling. To imagine the
diameter of the weight of the marble blocks used for the ceiling of the
grave, it is sufficient to visualize that on this block, millions of blocks
of stones were piled on top of each other until the top of the Pyramid
was completed. Since five thousand years ago, the ceiling has been supporting
this load.
I was amazed by this wonderful work. At a distance of three to four-hundred
years, I saw some scattered blocks of stones. "What are they?" I asked
the guide. He said, "Nothing. Only a few blocks of stones." Of the thirty
thousand slaves who brought the heavy blocks of stones from hundreds of
miles away, on a daily basis, hundreds of them were crushed under the heavy
loads. The place I inquired about is where they were buried. So unimportant
were they in the system of slavery, that hundreds of them were buried collectively
in one ditch. Those who survived had to carry the heavy loads. I told the
guide that I would like to see the slaves who were crushed into dust. The
guide exclaimed, "There is nothing to see!" He pointed to the graves of
the slaves who were buried near the Pyramids by order of the Pharoahs;
this was done so their souls could be employed as slaves just as their
bodies were.
I requested that the guide leave me alone. I then went to those graves
and sat down, feeling very close to the people buried in those ditches.
It was as if we were of the same race. It is true that each of us came
from different geographical areas but these differences are inconsequential
when viewed as a basis for dividing mankind. For out of this phenomenon
arose the concepts of strangers and relatives. I was not involved in this
system of classification and racial division; therefore, I had nothing
but warm feelings and sympathy toward these oppressed souls. I looked back
to the Pyramids and realized that despite their magnificence, they were
so strange to and distant from me! In other words, I felt so much hatred
towards the great monuments of civilization which throughout history were
raised upon the bones of my predecessors! My predecessors also built the
great walls of China. Those who could not carry the loads were crushed
under the heavy stones and put into the walls with the stones. This was
how all the great monuments of civilization were constructed-at the expense
of the flesh and blood of my predecessors!
I viewed civilization as a curse. I felt a burning hatred for the thousands
of years of oppression against my predecessors. I realized that the feelings
of all those people buried together in the ditches were once the same as
mine. I returned from my visit and wrote one of them a letter describing
what had transpired in the past five thousand years. He was not living
in those thousands of years, but slavery existed in one form or another!
I sat down and wrote him:
MY friend, you have left this world, but we are carrying the loads for
the great civilization, clear victories, and heroic works. They came to
our homes at the farms and forced us, as beasts, to build their graves.
If we could not carry the stones or complete the task, we were also put
into the walls with the stones! Others took the pride and credit for the
work that we did. No mention had ever been made of our contributions.
They pushed us forward to fight people whom we did not even know nor
did they know us. We were compelled to kill people whom we did not despise.
Some were of our own class, race and destiny. For a long time, our old
and helpless parents kept looking for a way to contact us, but their searching
eyes never got an answer. According to one thinker, these fights were like
wars between two parties who did not know each other but were fighting
on behalf of those who knew each other well!! They forced us to fight,
to massacre, and to be massacred. Our fathers and mothers as well as their
ruined farms suffered the loss. If victory was achieved, it was others
who enjoyed its bounties, not us .
My friend, after you died a great change occurred. The Pharoahs and
big powers of history altered their views. This made us happy. Previously,
they believed that their souls were eternal; therefore, they believed that
if the body was preserved, the soul could maintain a relationship with
the body. This was why they made us construct those great yet cruel buildings.
However, now they have become wiser. They no longer think about death.
We have great news! They have given up those old beliefs. We are spared
from transporting eight-hundred million blocks of stones from hundreds
of miles away to build graves.
My friend, unfortunately, this "good news" proved to be short-lived!
After you passed away, they again stepped into our countries to capture
us as laborers. Once again, we have to carry loads but not for their graves;
they no longer care about them. This time, it is for their palaces-great
palaces, besides which our generation is buried!
We lived in despair, but once again a flash of hope for survival appeared.
Great prophets came forth. There was Zoraster, Buddha the great and Confucius
the philosopher. A gate toward salvation was opened. The "gods" sent their
messengers to save us from disgrace of slavery; worship replaced cruelty.
Unfortunately, we had bad luck. The prophets, who left their prophetic
homes behind and disregarded us, proceeded to the palaces.
We had strong faith in Confucius, the philosopher, because he addressed
himself to the question of man and the community. However, he also became
a friend of the princes. Buddha, who was a prince, also deserted us. He
turned within himself to reach the state of "Nirvana," but we do not know
where this state is. Buddha developed many great and ascetic rules. As
for Zoraster, he began his mission from Azerbijan, Iran.
Disregarding our mourning and scars from the lashes inflicted on our
bodies by the masters, he continued to Balkh and then to court of Kashtasib,
who was king at that time.
My friend, you were sacrificed for the graves while we were sacrificed
for the palaces! Suddenly, besides the Pharoahs and others who employed
us as their slaves, there appeared those who claimed to be successors of
the prophets and professional spiritual teachers.
From Palestine to Iran, from Egypt to China and throughout all parts
of the earth where there was civilization, we had to carry the loads of
stones to construct temples, palaces, and graves. Again in the name of
charity, the representatives of the "gods" and the successors of the prophets
began to loot us. again, in the name of holy war, we were pushed into the
battlefields. We had to sacrifice our innocent children for the "gods,"
temples, and idols!
My friend, for thousands of years, our destiny became worse than yours.
Three-fifths of the wealth in Iran went to the Mobedans (old Persian clergymen)
in the name of the gods. We became their servants and slaves. Four-fifths
of the wealth in France was taken from us by the clergymen of God. The
Pharaoh clergymen and spiritual teachers of religions have always been
successful.........
