Let Us Be the Generation of Dialogue to Make our Progeny Be the Generation of Choice

Published in November 3, 2008

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Firstly: We quote below our article titled "The Quran Is the Solution", published in the State-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper on 5^th of Nov., 1989, in Cairo, Egypt, under the column titled (People's Opinion).

The Quran Is the Solution: Let Us Be the Generation of Dialogue to Make our Progeny Be the Generation of Choice

1- Our generation opened its eyes to the dreams of 1952 revolution but soon afterwards woke up to the bitter realities of 1967 defeat, poverty of most citizens, and the crises of housing  transportation, bread, soaring prices, inflation, as well as IMF conditions and stipulations that has ruined Egypt. By the end of the 1940s, there were different trends in Egypt ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left, including religious extremism, secularism, nationalism, and communism. The 1952 revolution came with principles that satisfied all parties as the majority of these trends were molded into one crucible, and our generation was bred during an era of great dreams and inspiring leadership; Nasser’s speeches were often quoted and the logic of dialogue was whatever we had learnt from our fathers who supported the 1952 revolution, but in 1967, our generation woke up to a severe loss and defeat of the Nasserist ideology.

2- We are at the end of the 1980s now, and once again there are a number of ideologies in Egypt, most of which are radically religious that adopt the same logic of the revolution in order to ascend to power and rule within a heavy-handed theocracy that will put to death all opposition figures as 'apostates' and 'heretics'. Dialogue for theocrats must either end with unanimous consent or beheading. We fear the worst might occur: the theocrats would find unconditional support in the silent majority of citizens in Egypt. This will lead to the same crises reoccurring within the next generations of our children and grandchildren who will be taught to deify and sanctify the infallible theocratic ruler and wake up later to a state far worse than ours. 

3- Today, our generation blames the previous one that has bequeathed such legacy of loss/defeat and holds it responsible because of its implicit silence or positive agreement to the current state of affairs after all the dreams have turned to bitter void, frustration, and pessimism. We fear that one day, our grandchildren would blame us, in their turn, as responsible ones for supporting a 'theocratic revolution' that will hand over the future of our children to an abyss and a grand dark tunnel. We fear Egypt will be thus destroyed one day if it turns one day into a theocracy.

4- Egypt does not need another revolution as revolutions have a bad reputation especially as they will lead to transforming the military regime to a means of suppressing people and treating the country as an internal battle front. What Egypt needs now is a free comprehensive dialogue in which everybody takes part whether he/she belongs to the religious extremists, secularists, nationalists, leftists, Quranists, Nasserists, and other political parties. We are in dire need of a civilized dialogue free from calling one another bad names and exchanging accusations of heresy and treason; only those with a weak argument resort to insult and verbal abuse. 

5- This long-awaited dialogue is the ideal means to encourage the silent majority of citizens to participate with their views and opinions regarding the concerns of their nation. This will lead to civilized maturity and acquiring the basic methods of civilized dialogue without resorting to violence and imposing one-sided opinions by force or with loud insults, accusations, and intimidation. 

6- Naturally, every opinion holder would want to defend his/her opinions/views with solid, clear proofs and lines of evidence; this is why extensive readings in all fields is the means to consolidate one’s opinions/views to refute those of others. The result of this will be enrichment of general knowledge to study all the range and gamut of views to select what is best for Egypt, instead of defending empty ideologies learned collectively by the nation subconsciously via propaganda. 

7- Within dialogue and required extensive readings and thorough research, opinions will crystallize and take form eventually, then real leaderships will also emerge when those that can only scream disappear and only intellectuals of the know-how will remain on the arena based on original thinking and innovative views within deep knowledge, so that negative, bad opinions will be refuted by solid, sound ones. 

8- Those who propose their opinions to people and ask them to fight for the sake of realizing them should accept the way how citizens will be discussing these opinions and bear patiently with such discussions to be set an example of good manners and respectable dialogue; eventually, this is a test that only a few would be able to pass. Those who refuse dialogue and take satisfaction in accusing others of heresy and treason are putting themselves in a difficult situations; the Quran has, in several occasions, clarified the basics of constructive dialogue and how it should elevate to the highest ethical and moralistic level that some of us, unfortunately, do not know.

9- Government and political parties should provide the necessary means for the success of this dialogue, especially the freedom of the press and the safety and security of all parties involved within this dialogue. Thus, our grandchildren will find before them a number of alternatives from which they can choose rather than have a particular regime imposed on them implicitly or explicitly which will destroy their future. In such case of total loss, our progeny will curse our generation for a long time to come.

OUR COMMENT:

1- This article was published about 30 years ago, within a series of articles of ours titled (The Quran Is the Solution). Soon afterwards, Al-Akhbar newspaper rejected us and our writings, closing its doors before our face, and we published our articles elsewhere in independent newspapers, but eventually, the Mubarak regime could no longer bear patiently with our writings; it intimidated us by its military police state to make us stop writing and pay a heavy price for what we write.   

2- We personally never compromise nor would we retreat or stop; we never contradict ourselves as far as our stances and writings are concerned. We never fear the military regime of Mubarak and its media, not its alliance with the KSA and Wahabism; we believe staunchly that victory eventually is for enlightenment: Quranism.  

3- The reason for our staunch belief in our victory is that we believe in God and in the Last Day; we believe in the Quranic fact that God is our Sustainer Who grants us His bounties and no mortal can hinder this; God is the Sole Owner of our life and He controls the date, time, and place of our death; we believe in the Quranic fact that "...Nothing will happen to us except what God has ordained for us; He is our Protector..." (9:51).  

4- Another reason for our stance is the Quranic fact that however long one's life might be, it ends inevitably in death; life is a test for each individual. Each of us must choose between real faith (to believe in the Truth) and disbelief, between obedience and disobedience, between justice and injustice, etc. And eventually, no one can escape being present during the Day of Judgment, when all human beings will stand before their Lord God to be judged one after the other, regarding how we used this freedom of choice granted to us by God during our lifetimes on Earth and how we passed or failed the test of life. After judgment, human beings will be divided into two parties: a majority in Hell for eternity and a minority in Paradise for eternity as well.  

5- Another reason for our stance is that we believe that 1) all glories and bounties on Earth are nothing at all in comparison to one moment inside Paradise in the Hereafter and 2) all types and levels of torment on Earth are nothing at all in comparison to one moment inside Hell. Whoever enters Paradise will enjoy its immense pleasures forever and will never get out of it; likewise, Hell-dwellers will remain inside it for eternity without hope of ever getting out of its torment, nor its torment will be alleviated for a single moment.  

6- Because of our Quranist belief in the facts mentioned in the previous points, we never covet any worldly high-rank positions and we never desire any rewards from mortals. Our peaceful intellectual endeavors for the sake of God's True Religion (Quranism) is for God's cause and sake; we hope to be among the witnesses against our era and people on the Last Day. In dreadful times of pain, we remember this verse to feel the comfort and consolation we need: "Most surely We will support Our messengers and those who believe, in this life, and on the Day the witnesses arise. The Day when their excuses will not profit the wrongdoers, and the curse will be upon them, and they will have the Home of Misery." (40:51-52).  

7- We remember and write the above to alleviate our deep sorrow over the incarceration of our relative the Muslim Quranist writer Mr. Reda Abdel-Rahman Ali whose whereabouts are unknown until now, since the Mubarak regime men of the State Security Apparatus arrested him days ago and imprisoned him in a secret location. We do not know what is happening to him nor if he is being tortured or not. We recite 40:51-52 reverently, piously, and in the fear of God, and in Him we trust. May God grant us patience and consolation.     

8- We implore the Almighty to witness the fulfillment of the promise in 40:51-52 during our lifetime before we die and its fulfillment on the Last Day as well.