Islam and Peace
Spiritual Unity
~ 61 ~
This shows that men and women have been created
from the same substance. Their being physically
one, of necessity, demands their spiritual oneness.
Making a similar point, the Prophet Muhammad
said that all human beings are brothers (Abu
Dawud). This gives rise to the concept of a common
brotherhood, and without doubt, it is this sense of
brotherhood which generates the strongest feeling
of oneness and togetherness among different
people.
That is to say that when all human beings in this
world are virtually blood brothers, they must, as
this concept necessarily demands, live as brothers in
spirit too. Any other way of living is a deviation
from the reality.
I should like to refer here to an incident which
illustrates this point. In 1893, Swami Vivekananda
went to Chicago to participate in the Parliament of
Religions. As the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
puts it, his
was a ‘sensational appearance.’ (15/623) On that
occasion all the speakers at the conference followed
the common practice of addressing the audience as
“Ladies and gentlemen.” But when Swami
