If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran

by Carla Power

I called the Sheikh to ask about justice. “It’s the basic tenet of Islam, right?” I asked. A pause. There was justice, ultimately, he said, but it would not necessarily arrive in this life. Allah would provide it in the Hereafter. In Islamic political circles, rather too much can be made of it, he said, and that hurt Muslims. “Think of Palestine,” he suggested. “We have no doubt that there has been wrongdoing against the Palestinians by the Jews. But one has to really think about helping what is a very weak community. The way to help is not to bring justice.” “No?” “No. If you insist on justice, then the weak community becomes weaker, because those in power won’t give it. They will just hate them more.” “But what can Muslims do without seeking justice?” I asked. Compromise, said the Sheikh. That will bring peace, which in turn will give a battered community the time and space to heal. “Weak people, if they don’t admit they are weak, it’s going to destroy them more and more,” he noted. “Some people say, ‘When we make peace, we accept injustice.’ I’m saying, when we make peace, we buy time.” The Quran, he reminded me, says “Peace is better.”

omg no.