22/04/2024
Story of the day - "he said: My religion forbids me to do that"
IN the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Egyptian judoka Mohamed Ali Rashwan met on the tatami mat Yasuhiro Yamash*ta from Japan.
Yamash*ta wasn't in good form. During the earlier matches, the muscles of his right leg were torn and he was seriously injured when he entered the final match.
Those who don't remember or do not know about this match can find and watch it on the Internet.
Coming out into the ring, Yamash*ta had to drag his right foot. During the fight, Mohamed's trainer constantly shouted: "Come on! Attack the right leg, hit on the right leg."
Everyone who watched this match could see that Mohamed had enough to hit his opponent's right leg to win. But he didn't.
The Egyptian athlete lost and got only a silver medal. Journalists who surrounded him after the event had one question: "Why didn't you do it?"
"My religion forbids me to hit the wounded, especially on the sore spot. If I hit his injured leg, he might remain crippled. Even for the sake of a gold medal, I could not do this to him," he said.
The audience greeted Mohamed with a standing ovation, and the International Fair Play Committee awarded him the 1984 Athlete of the Year title.
That year, thousands of people around the world, impressed by his deed, converted to Islam.
But Mohamed did not tell anyone to become a Muslim. He just acted like a true Muslim and that was enough.
The hadith I recently read in a book says that when asked who a true Muslim is, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) answered very briefly and clearly: "Possessing a good disposition."
And when asked, "And what is meant by a man having a good disposition?", the Prophet replied: "This is who by his action does not harm anyone, a person who benefits others. A Muslim is a good person in all respects. So be such a good Muslim that even when someone who comes with the intention of killing you, he will be illuminated by the light of Islam, take an example from you and change for the better."
My many years of knowing Muslims in Malaysia convinced me that Muslims, like the followers of other religions, profess a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness.
And many of them have nothing to do with the acts of violence that some people associate with Muslims.
The actions that strike fear into defenceless people or lead to the complete destruction of buildings or properties, explosions that maim innocent men, women and children, and all other similar actions are prohibited, rejected and condemned by Islam and true Muslims.
"Peace to you!" — a Muslim greets a Muslim. "Peace!" — a Muslim greets a non-Muslim, demonstrating that he meets the latter in peace and is ready for dialogue and cooperation.
This belief is shared, too, by a great friend of Malaysia, the Russian sculptor, Grigory Pototsky. Just go and visit the National Visual Arts Gallery.
At the entrance, you will see the sculpture "Islam, you are Peace", which was made by Grigory and donated to the gallery recently.