no comparison!

la ilaha ill’allah
Nothing exists outside of the One that is the source of all existence.
This foundational belief of Islam is powerful for me. It deeply challenges me to consider myself with radical love, as no part of me is outside of the Oneness of Life. It also helps me to recognize the ways in which racism, classism and all oppressions are advanced- that certain peoples and ways of being have been cast as “other,” as outside the Oneness who’s very definition depends on total inclusion.
It is hard to get away from the Christian way of thinking that necessitates one dominant and superior religion. My professor connected this with how we as a species have subscribed to the idea that human beings must dominate the earth. For Christians and cultural Christians, we have been taught (directly or indirectly through informal culture and ways of thinking) that it is our religious duty to defeat the chaos and the diversity that is inherent in earth’s creation. You can continue this perspective of domination down the line of oppressions- one superior race, superior way of knowing, so on and so forth.
What is tempting for me as a religious liberal is to put any form of orthodoxy outside the Oneness of all Existence. But am I not just falling prey to the “gifts” of Christian Supremacy of needing something to exclude and extinguish in order to expand self worth and “pure” identity? There is a saying, “There are as many ways to God as there are people and beings on this earth.” All are part of me, as I am part of the Oneness that excludes nothing.
How much do I compare myself to others in order to feel good about myself? I do this way more than I like to admit. In letting go of comparison (which I can do only for brief moments of time), I fall into a feeling of trust and union with God. There is a resilience to judgment and a love that is new that holds me and fills me.
When I remember this deep and eternal union, my judgments against myself and my friends lose power. It’s not that I don’t get angry or hurt by others and myself, but I am able to respond more quickly with compassion and openness. In connection, difference can be shared.