we are, therefore i am

In “We are; therefore I am” South African Muslim theologian Farid Esack writes a self-critical piece calling for greater moral consistency among Muslims and all humanity. In an excerpt he writes:

To recognize evil in its own time and to act upon it when it is unsafe to do so is an enormous privilege. Such recognition and action is really for one’s higher self. Thus when I lodged a complaint with the South African Independent Broadcasting Authority against a local Muslim radio station for promoting hate speech against Jews, or when I regularly denounced Muslim anti–Semitism in my writings I did not do Jews any favours. I do not recall ever looking back to see how my interventions were being received by them – or even if they were aware of them. I acted thus so that my own humanity not be diminished by my silence when some part of the human family was being demeaned. This is the African notion of ubunthu – ‘I am a person because of my connected to other persons; I am because you are’. If something lessens your worth as a human being then it lessens mine as well. To act in your defense is really to act in defense of my ‘self’ – my higher present self or my vulnerable future self.