The Call of Prophets and Reformers Through the Ages

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” (Genesis 4: 9-10).

A dialogue, simple in nature, yet encapsulates the tragedy of human existence since its beginning. God is asking man about the wellbeing of his fellow man, holding them both responsible for each other as brothers belonging to one spiritual family, while they disown this sacred responsibility, favoring their own interest and welfare, even if the cost is the suffering, oppression, and death of fellow beings.  

God ‘s eternal call continues after the Great Flood: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man” (Genesis 9:5), affirming with divine clarity that all humans are brothers and sisters belonging to one spiritual family and united by God’s love and compassion,  prohibiting them from harming and killing each other.

Then comes the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), which in few words, embody God’s renewed request from His children prohibiting them from harming and killing each other: do not kill each other, do not steal from each other, do not envy each other, do not lie to each other, do not covet what belongs to others. If humanity had followed these commandments since the dawn of creation, Earth would have transformed into an eternal paradise abound with countless blessings. Man, however, rebelled, ignoring God’s will, killing, stealing, envying, lying, and coveting what belongs to his fellow men, changing Earth’s promised paradise into a terrifying hell of misery and torment.   

Years passed at a pace, so slow yet so fast, while humanity remained absorbed in its narcistic state, thereby creating a detestable caste system that favors its well-being at the expense of others until the emergence of the inspired and enlightened reformer The Buddha (563 – 483 BCE), living an ascetic life and teaching the principles of truth, brotherhood, equality, and love, proclaiming with a divine voice: “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”¹

Then comes the lord of glory, Jesus Christ, carrying the word of God, and with him, the prophetic tone and message changed from “Do not kill” your brother to “Love” your brother. His sacred teachings were a beacon of light calling for brotherhood, love, and tolerance among all mankind. Through his great sacrifices, he created a sacred spiritual bond linking all humans and holding them responsible for one another, and in which “he who does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). The real hope for salvation and the ultimate goal became “that all of them may be one” (John 17:21). Christ elevated the essence of his calling to unity among all people to a unity with his own self. For perhaps through these teachings, mankind would finally realize that despite their different nationalities, races, and religions, they are but one, and that only then will animosities vanish and peace prevail;.

Christ said:  

 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 

 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:35-45)

God then sent His faithful Messenger, the righteous Arabic Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him), preaching the divine truth and calling for unity between believers and all human beings and urging true brotherhood and love: “Do not envy one another.. do not hate one another, do not turn your backs on each other.. but be, O believers, as brothers..”²; “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself,”² linking the act of faith to the act of  love and compassion among fellow man, delivering his inspired and eternal words of the Holy Book of Qur’an:  

“The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy.” (Surah Al-Hujurat: 10)

However, in spite of the beauty and purity of these divine directives and heavenly teachings, and despite human civilization reaching an age of groundbreaking knowledge and scientific developments, how can one describe earth’s current condition by words other than these: Animosity, bloodshed, and oppression have become the norm. Humanity and brotherly love are in decline, and violence has become the dominant language that everyone understands; religious and sectarian fanaticism overpowered the meanings of tolerance and sympathy. The last century witnessed two world wars that claimed the lives of millions while conflicts and wars continue to this day in the name of religion, and at times, in the name of patriotism.  

Meanwhile, just like messengers of God, the Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and Dr. Martin Luther King (1929-1968) strove to spread the principles of peace and brotherhood, adopting the concepts of non-violence and love towards everyone, including their oppressors and persecutors, leaving a legacy of a heroic epic of tolerance and brotherhood, proving once and for all, that the relationship among humans should never be based on revenge, but rather on love, as only love and the belief that we all belong to one spiritual family are capable of putting an end to human tragedies and miseries.  

For Gandhi is the one who said: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” And Martin Luther King exclaimed in immortal words: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”³; “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

In 1942, Salim Moussa Al-Achi, also known as Dr. Dahesh (1909-1984), established an inspired belief, Daheshism, proclaiming a message that is loud and clear: All religions are one, all messengers are of the same essence, mankind is but one spiritual family, and that not only humans, but indeed all beings are united in God’s heart. He called for a fundamental religious unity, denouncing abhorrent sectarianism, fanaticism, and all kinds of enmity and violence directed at fellow man.  

He preached the dawn of a new era of spiritual enlightenment and truth: Everything we do to others, we do to ourselves, for all beings are connected eternally by an intricate spiritual essence, and what we believe to be differences between us, are nothing but an illusion and a trial between one and his own self. The ultimate goal is to liberate our souls from the physical realm, unite with the Mother Spirits, and eventually merge and become one with God. For only love, brotherhood, forgiveness, and overcoming the instincts for revenge and division will set the human soul free of its miserable and illusionary existence. 

Dr. Dahesh conveyed these nobles ideas in many of his books and writings. He describes the condition of mankind in this era in his piece titled “My Address to the Year 1982”:

”Life has turned upside down; love and compassion no longer prevail, for hatred, animosity, and bloodshed have become the only means of communication; the strong preys on the weak with tremendous ferocity and violence.  

In this era, all we hear about are systems of democracy, dictatorship, capitalism, socialism, as well as other laughable and absurd illusionary concepts of different forms and directions. These have robbed man of his humanity, trapping him in its false and accursed net. It imprisoned his soul, transforming him into a programmed machine, devoid of humane feelings, sympathy, affection, and compassion towards his fellow man.”⁴

He laid out the essence of his core beliefs and principles of unity of mankind and universal brotherhood, as well as denunciation of the crimes of enmity and wars, in the words of the protagonists of his book “Memoirs of a Dinar,” calling for a unified world governed by peace, love and tolerance: 

“It is up to the world leaders from the four corners of the globe to build “one world” if they wish peace to prevail on this miserable earth. When the leaders and rulers of powerful countries agree; and a consensus of sincere, and not faked, opinions on the great importance of this goal is reached; and when greed is cast aside to secure happiness for the human family; and when the insatiable love for money is stemmed; when they establish a universal order to include the small nations that come under their sway, and when they work for a common cause and a common ideal, only then will peace prevail.” ⁵

He yearned for that magical and sublime day when justice, love, and peace prevail between nations leading them to salvation and to achieving the divine goal they were created for:  

“War is an abominable crime: God will not forgive those who perpetrated it.  

World peace is the dream I long for..

The day when the angel of peace shall spread its wings over the vast world,  

The day when justice shall prevail in this world drowned in utter misery;  

The day when politicians of the world and countries of different desires will join hands, tossing away their terrifying greed;  

The day they vow to contentment, without which there can be no peace;  

The day when that dream, that dwells upon me even in my dying hour, comes true,  

Then will my soul rejoice, my guardian angel!  

Then will I be certain that humanity found its dream, long lost in the maze of greed;  

So my spirit will enliven and my heart will glow with happiness.”⁶

In a dialogue between the souls of those who perished in battlefields, now liberated from the bonds of the physical body and blessed with spiritual knowledge, Dr. Dahesh clarifies the truth of brotherhood in existence, and finally unmasks the illusion of what mankind thought was enmity between fellow man, while in reality they are all but one spiritual family:  

“We, spirits from all nations divided on earth by worldly greed and set one against the other to plunder and to kill, are now united in a diaphanous celestial sphere. We have cleansed our spirits from the impurities of the earth and its malignancies. How great was our surprise when the truth was revealed to us. We were appalled when we realized that we were slaves of our selfish desires. How did we consent to assault one another, to hate and bear malice, to become bitter enemies for no reasonable cause? But selfish interests blind the eyes and blur the insights. “We now have joined together in one single spiritual family. We, enemies of yesterday with our hearts engulfed in hatred, today stand together as friends, our spirits overflowing with real love. Germans, British, French, Turks, Belgians, Yugoslavs, Bulgarians, Russians, Africans, Americans, Australians and others of different nationalities-product of worldly ambitions imposed on the peoples-now hold one and only Nationality. We belong to one spiritual kingdom, after having discarded the delusions and petty concerns of human life.  Here there is neither master nor slave. All are equal before the law of Heaven.”⁷

^{Dr. Mohamad Younes}

^{Albany, New York, USA}

References:

(1): From verse 5 of the Dhammapada

(2): Hadith

(3): From “Strength to Love”, 1963.

(4): Dr. Dahesh’s Journeys Around the World, 18^th Travel, The Daheshist Publishing Company,1994,  p.401(Translated from Arabic).

(5): Memoirs of a Dinar. The Daheshist Publishing Company, 2006, p.92

(6): Memoirs of a Dinar. The Daheshist Publishing Company, 2006, p.97

(7): Memoirs of a Dinar. The Daheshist Publishing Company, 2006, p. 105