American Exceptionalism:
Some Thoughts and an Analysis!

 

American Exceptionalism:
Some Thoughts and an Analysis!

Dr. Pasha

(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)

Here is a simple fact about life – a Uniformity or Regularity of sorts if you will:

People – most people at least – generally find what they love.
And what they are looking for.

Provided they look with sincerity and diligence. 
And provided they look with dedication and perseverance.

That is how Allah’s world is designed and structured.

That means those who love football find football. And those who love soccer or baseball or tennis or cricket find soccer and baseball and tennis and cricket.

And those who look for Love find Love – maybe. And those who look for a Fight and for Trouble find those too.

You know, by “Football” here I mean American Football, which, in American Exceptionalist Logic, is played with hands, and not with feet as the rest of the world does.

Right there, that is a rather cute, if you will, and a more or less innocent and harmless, example of so-called American Exceptionalism for the uninitiated among us:

Things are what and how we Americans say they are.
And not the way the rest of the world says or thinks they are.

And that often may mean:

Right is what we Americans say Right is.
And Wrong is what we Americans say Wrong is.

And, that means, often, the same law and the same set of rules, and the same logic, that apply to the rest of the world may or may not apply to us: The Very, Very Extraordinary and Special American People.

That is because we Americans are different. And we are a “Special People.”

And in that sense, we are an “Exceptional People.”

And we are not like everybody else in the world.

So, basically, we Americans live in a Two-Tier World:

a) We and our own world at one level.
b) All the others in the world and the rest of the world at the other level.

This, if you ask me, is a pretty cute thing in and of itself. Provided, of course, this mindset is not used as prelude or pretext to a Colonial or Imperialistic Domination of other peoples and countries and societies of the world.

And to a contemptuous and exploitative treatment of the rest of the peoples and places and cultures and civilizations of the world.

But the truth is everybody and anybody that is anybody in this world thinks they are not just “Good People,” but they are also “Better People” – better than everybody else.

That they are somehow “Exceptional People,” and all the other peoples of the world are less than them and inferior to them.

And this mindset of a people or group’s own superiority and Exceptionalism, if not put in proper perspective, and if not held in check, and if not treated in time, could have the most deleterious and diabolical consequences for all concerned: the world – for all the peoples and places of the world; as well as for the very holders and adherents of this somewhat nefarious mindset and temperament.

Examples throughout human history abound. I cite only a very few of them here – and not in any particular order either, historical or otherwise. And certainly not based on any particular scale of their severity in terms of their adverse effect for the world and its peoples.

1. The Brahmins of India thought they were an Exceptional or Superior People – made so by God himself. And they created an Apartheid Discriminatory Class-and-Caste-Based Socioeconomic System that subjected the bulk of the population of their land to one of the worst forms of slavery and bondage and domination and ill-treatment known to “man.”

2. The English thought they were an Exceptional or Superior People. And they used that model to conquer, colonize and plunder the world and subject its people to a highly exploitative treatment. In the process, they got exceptionally wealthy, while the rest of the world grew poor and wretched and miserable. They, then, proceeded to preside over an empire that they built with slave labor and stolen wealth from around the globe.

   And when they were finally driven out of many of their colonies, they often left behind a festering legacy of political, social, cultural and economic turmoil that afflicts the peoples of those regions to this day and constitutes a serious and continuing threat to peace and prosperity for the entire world.

3. The writers of the Bible fostered a Mindset and Culture of Exceptionalism among the male adherents of its teachings, both Jewish and Christian. The females of the world are still trying to recover from the pernicious effects of that totally perverse Male Exceptionalist Mindset and Culture to this day.

You can scour the pages of history to collect more examples of this perversity – a Mindset of Exceptionalism and of Racial and Cultural Superiority and Chauvinism and Jingoism – that you will discover was more pervasive in the Human Species than you might have first thought.

That may help you to place a mirror in front of you and look at your own face in it as a human being. I will not be surprised if you came to the same conclusion that I did when I set about analyzing some of these things.

A conclusion that I later developed and stated in the form of a Theoretical Model:

To Be Human Can Be Hazardous to Your Health!

And yes. There indeed is at least one exception to this dangerous Cult of Exceptionalism and of Racial and Cultural Superiority and Chauvinism and Jingoism: Islam and Muslims.

Very briefly:

Islam came into this world and set humanity free from all bondage. And Islam set females free from ages of oppression and granted females rights equal to males. This particular Aayat of the Qur’an sealed that issue for good:

Wa Lahunna Mithlulladhee Alaihinna!

Paraphrase:

“There is complete reciprocity and parallelism in rights and obligations among men and women.”

In all of human history, a more revolutionary statement was never made. And it could not have been. For, this particular statement was made not by any human being living in this world, but by the creator of the world himself: God the Almighty!

The Maker and Master of the World!

Rabbual Aalameen!

And while not abolishing slavery on paper definitively, the way it abolished Interest in Financial Dealings, and the Eating of Pork, and the Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages, and Female Infanticide, Islam nevertheless fostered a mindset among Muslims, and created a general social and cultural environment, in which many Muslim Slaves ended up becoming rulers and kings of the Muslim World.

Not that being or having a king is a good thing in itself according to Islam. And much of the world – practically every culture, civilization, society and people everywhere – have abolished Absolute Rule by Hereditary Monarchs since World Wars I & II.

But Muslims, nevertheless, have, right at this moment, while nobody else in the world does, an abundance of Absolute Hereditary Monarchs and Potentates ruling them, and controlling and managing them, and selling Muslim wealth and lands and interests to their own masters and mentors among Former and Present Colonizers of the World. In addition to throwing it all into the equation to fuel a Corrupt and Profligate Way of Life for themselves and their minions.

And not one Muslim talks about it – or makes it an issue, while all kinds of Muslims hold all kinds of Meetings, Conferences and Conventions in all kinds of places on all kinds of topics: To further fool the Muslims and plunder their wealth and squander their resources.

Is it a wonder then that these incalculably wealthy and unconditionally absolute hereditary Monarchs and Potentates and Tyrants and Dictators in the Muslim World, and their religious and secular henchmen and hirelings, make sure that Muslims of the world remain among the most backward, ignorant and underdeveloped people in the whole wide world?

And the Qur’an, while reassuring the Believers that they are on the right path, constantly urges them to Fear God in Heaven and to Serve God’s Creation on Earth.

At the same time, Islam – the Qur’an that is – also puts the Muslims through an unparalleled Regime of Prayer, Fasting, Giving and Pilgrimage that makes their souls and bodies both bend to the Love and Fear of God on the one hand, and to the Service of God’s Creation, on the other hand.

That is how and that is why the early generations of Islam, under the guidance and stewardship of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, emerged as Lions on Horseback During the Day and as Monks and Mendicants During the Night.

That was a very different Model of Exceptionalism.

It was built on the belief that as those who consciously and rationally accepted God Almighty as One, and Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, as their Leader and Guide, and the Qur’an as their Constitution and Manual of Life on Earth, they were crushed under the Twin Load of Responsibility they felt rested on their shoulders:

(a) Love and Fear God in Heaven.
(b) Service to All Humanity – and to All of God’s Creation – Right here on Earth.

As a result, they ate little during the day, and slept even less during the night.

And they dedicated every moment of their life, and every ounce of their energy and resources, to the Mission of Establishing on God’s Earth a Universal Culture of Human Dignity, Liberty and Equality, on the one hand, and in Building a Moral and Perfect Society of Justice, Peace and Plenty for All, on the other hand.

And they did all this by embracing the simple goal of Taking the Qur’an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It – and Which One Does Not?

As a result, much of what is good in the world today is the consequence of those amazing First Generation and Second Generation Muslims having passed through our history and having had a presence on our earth when they did.

As the Qur’an says:

Radiyallahu Anhum wa Radoo Anhu.

“May God Almighty Be Pleased with Them!
For, they were well pleased with him!”

END