Winds of past failures brought today’s storms
Roberto Vertutti
After a demonstration in front of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires against the aggression in Gaza, a Muslim asked me about the content that appears on Pactostrascendentales, the Spanish language Facebook page devoted to The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, in the following words, “What do all the things you publish about the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza have to do with the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World?” I responded, “They have a great deal to do with the Covenants which is why I publish them. Everything that has taken place in the Holy Land since the death of the Prophet is, to a great degree, due to the fact that those Covenants, which the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said were valid so long as sea water wets the sand on the shore, namely, until the end of the world, have not been respected.”
The person who asked the question stared at me blankly and said, “I don’t understand.” I responded, “Well, let me try to explain it to you. If those Covenants had been permanently respected, an unbreakable alliance would have been created, not only between Christians and Muslims, but also between Buddhists, Taoists, Jews, Agnostics, and others. Had this taken place, we would never have reached the point where we find ourselves today in Gaza, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya and the false “Arab Spring,” among other examples. The situation would have been totally distinct.”
I added, “If you read The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, authored by Dr. John Andrew Morrow, you will see that he addresses all these issues with great clarity. The work is available in English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Indonesian.” The person, who was greatly astonished, asked, “How would things be different if these Covenants had been respected?”
I responded, “Your question is very important. If you observe closely, you will see that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) attempted, at all times, by means of these Covenants and other methods, to create a community (or state if you prefer that term) in which the most diverse groups of people — ethnicities, nationalities, and tribes — could coexist under the banner of Islam while maintaining their autonomy, a great deal of autonomy: each with their own religion, beliefs, languages, customs, and cultures.”
“If you want,” I continued, “I can put it to you in other terms: the Prophet (pbuh) was attempting to create a great federation of tribes and ummahs with complete liberty in many domains, to such a point that each ummah could judge its people on the basis of its own laws or religion and elect its own autonomous authorities. The pluralistic model of Islam that was preached and proposed by the Prophet was the opposite of the absolutist and supremacist ‘Islam’ that is advocated by sectarians and terrorists.” And I added, “As long as Muslims recognized these Covenants, they continued being significant on the world stage. It was ignorance of these Covenants, or the failure to recognize their validity, that marked what we can call ‘The Chronicle of a Death Foretold’.”
Since he still seemed somewhat lost, I offered to give him a scientific, socio-political, and historical example, “When a rocket is launched into space, there exist two possibilities: 1) that the launch will be correct and thereby will be successful; 2) that the launch will be modified to a minuscule degree, let’s say 0.0000001 mm and thereby will be a failure. Obviously, those who launch the rocket do not do so ex profeso employing an erroneous angle. On the contrary, they use the correct trajectory. When it comes to a historical process, the very same thing occurs. However, there is a very important difference between launching a rocket and “launching” a socio-historical project: in the case of a rocket, the mistake is noticed or established almost immediately; in other words, in a question of seconds, minutes, or hours.”
“When it comes to a social-historical process,” I explained, “its length generally lasts decades or centuries. Consequently, the possible errors that were committed at one point only start to show themselves openly a long time after. This brings us back to the Covenants. When the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), in his role as a superb statesman, proposed the treaties in question, he launched the Islamic Project correctly, using the correct terms, and pointing out the correct goals. After his death, however, certain people, who objected to the Prophet’s principles, took over the government and started to introduce modifications to the Islamic Project. In other words, they changed the course of the Prophetic Plan. Unfortunately, the result, or more appropriately, the tragedy, is plain to see. This can be observed in any historical process that was altered and that produced a negative outcome.”
The person, who was obviously concerned about what I was saying, considering its ideological implications, continued, “I ask you again: what does any of this have to do with these Covenants that you keep talking about?” I responded, “I am going to give you an example. During the First World War, the Germans devoted themselves to creating groups of Muslim mercenaries, particularly Turks, in order to kill other European Christians (namely, non-Germans). During the same period, the British did something similar but, in this case, among the Arabs. This strategy continued during the Second World War. Those winds brought these storms.”
By this point, the man was starting to nod his head. Hence, I continued, “Had the plan of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that is contained in the Covenants not been modified to varying degrees, the Germans, the English, the French, and other imperialists, would never have been able to do what they did in the heart of the Muslim world. The modifications that were made to the Prophetic Plan, which were veritable acts of treason, are what permitted the British to establish the foundation of what would become Wahhabism, the insidious counter-Islamic movement that operates today under various names: al-Qaeda, takfiris, Jihadists, ISIS, Da‘ish, and so forth. Obviously, these murderous terrorist groups continue to serve the interests of those who created them centuries ago, namely, the current genocidal world powers. I repeat: those winds brought these storms. The chickens have come home to roost. People receive their just deserts. They get what they deserve. They reap what they sow. What goes up must come down. Payback is… unpleasant.”
“If I understand you correctly,” interjected the man, “you are suggesting that Islam was shot off course shortly after the passing of the Prophet?” “Absolutely,” I answered, “and we have been paying the price ever since.” “Had the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, and everything they imply, been fully implemented,” I asserted, “another rooster would be singing. And surely that rooster would not be red or black, as the Spanish song says, because the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad provide precisely for the creation of an incomparable societal alternative.”
“What is happening today in Gaza, Syria, and other parts of the Ummah,” I explained, “is the result of ignoring, to various degrees, the primordial principles established in the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).” The man was dumbfounded. We kept walking and parted ways at an intersection…
Roberto Vertutti is the pen-name of an Islamic scholar based in Latin America.
