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Editor's Note: Shabbir is trying to inculcate the values of truth, beauty, love, and justice in his daughters. Aware that much of what he had said to them over the years would be lost in time, he decided to leave them a lasting reminder of these values in the form of letters.
Living in Peace, With Integrity
How we see others reveals our own inner nature. What we see outside us reveals what exists within us, defines us, or limits us. What we find out about the limitations of others is often also precisely how we are found out by our own limitations. It is our inner deficiencies that invariably attract our attention to aspects of the nature of others that irk us. By examining our fears and prejudices, what causes us pain or what disturbs us in the behavior of others, we can discover what deficiencies exist within us.
Dear daughters,
I am blessed to have you in my life. To watch you grow. To be able to welcome another Ramadan in my life! A Ramadan when I want to create some clear space within me so that the ‘burning away’ (which is what ‘Ramadan’ means) can begin in earnest. And I want to start early before you wake up for Suhoor. Wondering when you can begin to have your own space. Free to become more of you and less of me. Free to make Ramadan more (or less!) welcome in your lives than you are now. You might of course not fully realize what a challenging freedom that is.
But what does it mean to be blessed at a time when the whole world seems to be ‘unblessed’? What does it mean to be at peace at a time when everyone seems to be at war? How can one be at peace without confusing submission with resignation? Or giving up struggle, not wanting to be caught in strife? Or losing the courage to speak out against injustice? How, ultimately, can we live in peace, with integrity?
* Taken from the book by the same name and published without change, with the kind permission of the author.
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