Originally published in Tulsa World
My heartfelt sympathy is with those suffering from the great tragedy that is occurring in Syria.
Recently, 90 people, many of them women and children, were killed during air raids in Aleppo, Syria. It is my sincere hope that the two sides look toward the true nature of the Islamic religion as a way of building bridges of peace.
True to this spirit, the prophet of Islam has advised those who rule over people that ” … the most beloved and closest to God would be a just and fair ruler and the most disliked and distant from God would be an unjust ruler,” while telling the public that even in times of oppression “the rights of the rulers should be fulfilled and one’s own right should be sought from God.”
Both sides would do well to heed words of such deep wisdom.
