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Sept. 26, 2009 The recent election of former Senator Barack Obama as the president of the USA represents a stage in the fulfilment of the dream of Dr Martin Luther King jr in which due recognition is given to an individual, not because of his skin colour and gender, but because of the degree of the worth of his character. Electing an African-American and a Kenyan, looking at it from another angle, as president is a hall-mark in the maturation process of the great American nation, and a major step towards fulfilling this dream. "History is the unfoldment of God’s Will, and its interactions with man’s will." ‘Where is the essence of Dr. Luther King’s dream derived from’, one might ask? Over two thousand years ago in Israel, the prophet Isaiah envisioned people of contrasting and, sometimes, conflicting climes, tribes, races, living harmoniously together, and expressed his vision in these words: ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; … They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea’. (Isaiah 11:6-9) In more recent times, the Prophet Muhammad echoed the same vision in the following words: ‘And when the wild beasts are herded together,… And when souls are reunited,…’(Sura 81:5 and 7) And in a religious dispensation after Islam, we find this metaphor demystified in the Bahá’í sacred scripture: ‘ … how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the Divine springtime, breathing from the Ridvan of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity, and have drunk from the cup of His singleness! This is the significance of the well-known words: "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together." [1] Behold the ignorance and folly of those who, like the nations of old, are still expecting to witness the time when these beasts will feed together in one pasture! Such is their low estate. Methinks, never have their lips touched the cup of understanding, neither have their feet trodden the path of justice. Besides, of what profit would it be to the world were such a thing to take place? How well hath He spoken concerning them: "Hearts have they, with which they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not!"[2]’ [1 Isaiah 65:25]. [2 Qur'án 7:178] (Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 111) This age-old, dream of people of diverse and, even opposing, beliefs, temperaments, creeds, climes and colours living harmoniously in a global village is one that is shared by every human being who yearns to live in peace and harmony with his fellow mortal, regardless of social class, ideology, race, tribe, skin colour, financial situation, religion, gender, or any factor that divides and, sometimes, leads to hatred and inharmony. The time of fulfillment has come! ‘Barak’ (don’t mind the difference in spelling), is the name of a Hebrew righteous man (Judges 4:6), and ‘Barak’, in Arabic, means ‘blessing’. Among the Betis, one of the most populous ethnic groups that straddle large parts of Southern Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, the name ‘Obama’ is quite common. ‘Obama’ is also the name of a city in Japan. Are these mere coincidences? Maybe yes, but not so with the scriptural references. Be it as it may, it seems that Barack Obama embodies universality and hope for a change not only in the USA, but in the whole world. Not that he alone will bring it about, but that he will make an unprecedented and significant contribution to it. This change the civilized world is eagerly waiting to embrace.
Multiple Blessings to you, Barack Obama!!
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