Jawdat Said, Nonviolence and Islam

Jawdat Said, second from right, wearing a scarf from the Metta Center, on a US tour in 2012. He offered several talks for the Metta Center both in Berkeley and in Petaluma.

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

"Never will God change the conditions of a people until they change what is in their own souls;" (the Qur'an, 13:11).

It feels like losing a friend, but not really.  We have such warm memories of our meeting with Syrian nonviolence scholar Jawdat Said, who we just learned passed away late January in Istanbul, that, as his niece, Afra Jalabi told us, “We will . . . learn new ways of reclaiming his presence in his absence.”  What stands out for us right now are two things (and they’re closely related): his humanity as a person and his clear evocation of the Holy Koran as a testimony of peace and nonviolence.  When we listened to Jawdat it felt as obvious as it was irrefutable; such was the power of his logic and his passionate conviction for nonviolence. We are still grateful to have had the chance to work with him. Thank you, Jawdat Said, for your life’s work. May it continue to guide and inspire humanity in our long journey together.

Resources:

Jawdat Said’s Website with his works translated into English

Nonviolence, the Basis for Settling Disputes in Islam, by Jawdat Said (2002)

The next phase of Jawdat Said’s Nonviolent Journey, by Ken Butigan (2013) for Waging Nonviolence