LITERALLY, ‘healing wounds’ is a laudable act, no matter in which context it is exercised. It means a lot metaphorically in the social context, where individuals or communities deeply ‘hurt’ each other because of one excuse or another. Probably, mental or psychological wounds cause greater pain than physical ones, and may sustain far longer than physical wounds.

Words, as the famous saying goes, hurt deeper than the strike of a sword. I call hurtful words ‘weapons of mass destruction’ when used in a communal context, while on the other hand, beautiful and inspiring words give fresh life to individuals and communities. Due to anger (regarded as fire) erupting for any reason, people get upset and cause harm — physical or otherwise — to those who inflict it. Once this happens, someone, or some people, need to resort to ‘therapeutic’ treatment to heal and defuse the toxic situation between individuals or in communities.

The healing of wounds through building bridges among communities — whether faith-based or tribal-based — is one of the prime tasks of civil society and society in general. Meetings between leaders or general community members is a dire need to bridge gaps in relations and remove misunderstandings. That ours is a divided society is to state the obvious; what we can do to heal old wounds or recent injuries is not that obvious.

In this context, let me mention a case study in which a certain faith leader attempted to build bridges and heal the hurt mentioned here. A prominent religious scholar, a committed educator and innovative thinker visited the scenic but communally tense Gilgit-Baltistan in the backdrop of the recent tension caused by a religiously sensitive issue. The issue was thankfully defused by efforts of the government and saner members of society. Meeting communities to do what we are talking about here — ‘the healing of wounds’ — following the lowering of tensions was a dire need to strengthen peace. This, to me, was an unusual act of generosity in the true spirit of Islam which advises: “The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers… .” (49:10).

Words can be like ‘weapons of mass destruction’.

The leader in question made a point of meeting all major communities and their representatives, ulema and dignitaries. From whatever I could gather from the speeches he made to the select gatherings he held (now on YouTube) with different communities, I summarise a few key points from his talks.

First, meeting these communities as an outreach step to foster brotherly feelings and remove misunderstandings was itself a great ‘healing’ step. He listened to them first before he spoke to them — indeed, an important step to better understand and heal. This generous gesture must have given a feeling of healing.

The second point was that he emphasised on the commonalities of faith, while at the same time accepting differences of interpretations, right from the early history of Islam. Differences should not lead to confrontations, he emphasised. Communal interpretations need to be restricted for internal consumption, while consensus should be developed regarding the major pillars of Islam on which there is overall agreement — and these examples are plentiful, he pointed out.

The third point worth highlighting from his speech was discouraging those who create discord by arousing the emotions of the members of other communities, and particularly those whose business it is to provoke the masses through emotional and polemical speeches. He argued not to leave the space vacant for them to exploit and encourage discord.

He suggested that the elders in communities, like in the family, should ensure that such elements are discouraged and not given centre stage to cause trouble. Even if a person tends to create mischief, the other community members should not support them and take sides with the wrong person. The Quranic guidance (5:2), which says, “Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour” provides guidance regarding what we need to do.

A commentator made a succinct remark about the talks referred to above and observed, “Each word is a golden word; my request is for visiting each district of Pakistan taking this message.”

Scholars and leaders of this stature, with this kind of highly articulated view in a modern idiom rooted in essential Islamic teachings, are in short supply today. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi rightly says, “Tu barai wasl kardan aamadi; ne barai fasal kardan aamadi” meaning, “O humans, you have been asked to unite, not divide.”

We need more such inspiring leaders with the capacity to heal wounds through their efforts and inspiring talks.

The writer is an educationist with background studies in religion.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023