An Amazing Peace Effort in Bukuru -- Part III

A report of a peace-making event in Jos, attended by several hundred Christian and Muslim youth leaders from various tribes. See Parts

• I—A conflict averted
• II—Origins of the meeting at Bukuru
• III—Keynote address part 1: Jesus and Mohammed; Forgiveness
• IV—Keynote address part 2: Peace, the gold prize
• V—Other speakers; conclusion; afterward

Keynote Address by Professor Danny McCain

Greetings to all of you. I am happy to see so many people gathered together for peace. I have lived in your country since 1988 and have lived in Jos since 1991. I have raised my family here and have been here so long I have decided to apply for an indigeneship certificate (a little attempt at a joke since being recognized as an indigene, or official local resident, is one of the sticky issues in this conflict between the Hausas and the Beroms).

I am a professor in the Department of Religious Studies so I would like to start my remarks by telling two stories from our respective religions. In fact, these are two stories from the two founders of our religions, Christianity and Islam. I believe that these stories have a bearing on the purpose for our meeting today.

A Story about Jesus

Today is Thursday of the Passion Week. On this day of the Passion Week, the day before Jesus was crucified on the cross, Jesus and his disciples were praying very late in the evening in the Garden of Gethsemane. A group of soldiers from the Temple came to arrest Jesus. Peter pulled out his sword and took a swing at the closest man to him, who happened to be Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Apparently Malchus saw the sword coming so he ducked. However, he did not duck quite fast enough and the sword caught off his ear.

If I had been there, I am not sure what I would have done. Perhaps I would have been happy to see my enemy suffer. Perhaps I would have put my foot on the severed ear and twisted it in the ground. However, that is not what Jesus did. He did two things.

• First, he rebuked Peter, saying, “Put your sword back in its place” (Matthew 26:52). And then Jesus said to his other disciples, “No more of this” (Luke 22:51). Jesus did not want any of his followers using violence.
• Then Jesus did something else. He reached down, took the ear and put it back on the man's head of the man. Instantly, the ear was completely healed.

This was the first physical violence that Jesus experienced in his ministry as for as we know. What did he do when he experienced violence? He corrected his disciples who wanted to respond to violence with violence. In addition, he used his supernatural ability to touch this wounded person who had come to arrest him. That tells you something about the attitude of Jesus toward violence and retaliation. When he began to experience the violence that would eventually kill him, his thought was on how he could help one of his “enemies” who had come to arrest him.

A Story about Mohammed

I have worked in the same department of religious studies at the University of Jos with my Muslim colleague, Professor M. T. Yahya, for the last 18 years. In addition, for the last ten years we have been going to various places doing HIV/AIDS workshops together. I have heard Professor Yahya tell this story many times. I ask my Muslim friends to please forgive me if I do not get the details exactly right.

One day Mohammed had left his house and was going to the mosque. At one point, he passed a man who started abusing him and even throwing rubbish at him. However, the prophet did not harm him or even speak harshly to him. The next day, the prophet passed the same place and the man continued to abuse him and shout insults at him. This continued every day for months and perhaps even years.

One day, the prophet passed through that same area but the man was not there to shout at him. Mohammed inquired about the man. His companions said, “Have you not heard? The man is very sick.” The prophet stopped his trip to the mosque and said. “We must go and greet him.” Mohammed then went immediately to the man’s house where he met him in the bed and prayed for him. The man was very ashamed that the prophet who he had abused so many times had come to see him. But this act of kindness for the abuse he had done to him for so many years so impressed him that he turned from his pagan ways and was converted to Islam.

Two Lessons

There are two lessons I would like to point out that come from these stories from the founders of Christianity and Islam. Both stories teach us a lesson about peace.

We must forgive if we are to have peace.

All of life is filled with one disagreement or another.

• You disagree with your relatives including your husband or wife and brothers.
  
• You disagree with your friends and mates.
  
• You will obviously disagree with your neighbors at times.
  
• You will disagree with the people in the market and those sitting next to you on public transportation.
  
• You will certainly disagree with those who are different from you—those from a different ethnic group, those from a different political party, those from a different religion and even those who like a different sports team.
  

There is no perfect human being. We all make mistakes and we often offend one another, either knowingly or unknowingly. Therefore the only way to have peace is to simply forgive. What does that mean today?

• Has someone burned down your house? You can go burn his house—that might give you some temporary sense of satisfaction but it will not bring about peace. Unfortunately, it will bring about retaliation and revenge from the other side. Or, you can choose to forgive. It takes a bigger man to forgive than to retaliate. Retaliation is a human response but forgiveness is a divine response.
  
• Has someone killed one of your relatives? This is a very painful thing. However, even when Jesus was hanging on the cross and the Romans were killing him, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Again, you can hate that person and look for an opportunity to kill him or his brother, but when you do that his brother will seek revenge that will cause even more problems. Or, you can choose to forgive and stop the cycle of violence.

Are you willing to have that same attitude that Jesus and Mohammed had, an attitude of forgiveness? I assure you that if you forgive another person, God will give you peace in your heart and you will have peace with that other person. And if you can have peace with those who have abused and offended you and your family, you can have peace in Bukuru. And if we can have peace in Bukuru, we can have peace in Jos. And if we can have peace in Jos, we can have peace in Nigeria.

A part of forgiveness is to look for good things to do to those who abuse us.

It is one thing to say “I forgive you.” It is another thing to do something good for someone who has treated you badly. When Jesus experience violence, he first thought about the welfare of the other person. When Mohammed experienced violence he first thought about the health of the man who had been abusing him.

The way that we demonstrate our forgiveness is by doing deeds of goodness and kindness to those who have injured you or abused you.

About five years ago, I visited Sudan at the invitation of the former president of Sudan, President Nimiri, who is now an old man. I was met at the airport by a man who took care of the various protocols and then took me to the hotel. He continued to be with me and our group the whole time I was there. I visited Sudan a second time and this same man continued to be with us on that trip as well. Someone finally told me his story.

When Nimiri was head of state, this man, named Mutalib, was a soldier in the army. Several army officers decided to assassinate President Nimiri and stage a coup. Mutalib was part of the assassination team. The team attempted the killing but it failed. Some plotters were shot and others captured. Mutalib was thrown in prison and condemned to die. However, shortly before he was to be executed, President Nimiri called Mutalib into his office and said, “Young man, I am going to forgive you for what you tried to do to me. I am releasing you unconditionally. You are free to go.”

Mutalib was shocked. He was happy for his freedom but after thinking about it for a while, he went back to Nimiri and said to him, “Sir, I deserve to die. You have spared my life which means I owe the rest of my life to you. Therefore, I am surrendering my life to you as your servant. The rest of my life is at your disposal. I will do anything you ask me to do.” That was almost 30 years ago. This man has been serving Nimiri almost like a slave for the last 30 years. Even after he ceased being president, Mutalib has continued to do anything the man has asked.

Now here is the question: Would Nimiri have been better off enjoying the little bit of satisfaction knowing that his assassin had been killed or did he get more benefit from forgiving this man who tried to kill him? The answer is very obvious.

I challenge you to look for a way to do demonstrate your forgiveness by doing something good for the person or group who has caused you great harm? If you do that, you will be demonstrating the characteristics of the founders of your religions. And you will be doing what is ultimately the best for you, your family and your community.

Next: Part IV—Peace.