You Must Back your Brother, Oppressed or Oppressor
Based on the Prequel Scene in Which Darth Vader-to-be Turns Against his Jedi Master –– Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
“You must back your brother, oppressed or oppressor,” goes the proverb. Back your brother or sister even if he or she is an oppressor? How does that make sense? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, rather than a wise proverb. Indeed, at face value, this proverb may seem to run counter to our modern sensibilities about standing for “what is right” even if that means going up against family, friends, and systemic oppression. How else have we come to shun the vices of our forebears and the skeletons in the closet of our nation’s history? After all, it is the few who stand for unpopular positions, backed by many unsung heroes and admirers, who end up changing the world for posterity. That is what the story of America is about, isn’t it? Well, then, I guess we will have to agree that this proverb is not very American, not representative of far-reaching American ideals/sentiments/values/culture…at least not at face value… at least not according to the story we would like to tell ourselves.
The proverb actually comes from the Middle East, originally in Arabic. But surprise, surprise, most Arabs would agree with the American sentiment above… Not just recently, but for centuries. Since the rise of Islam, the traditional proverb is thought to have taken on a different meaning. Muslims refer to the pre-Islamic days as “days of ignorance” in which such a proverb would have encouraged championing one’s brethren against their foes, even if those brothers/friends/neighbors were on the wrong side of history… which is also thought to partially explain persistent cycles of violence and internal strife. One of the key features of the Islamic narrative over the centuries has been to champion the oppressed (see previous blog post). Hence, when the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632) repeated this preexisting Arabic proverb, it aptly prompted the question, “I would back him if he were oppressed, but how would I back him if he were an oppressor?” The Prophet Muhammad then reportedly replied, “By stopping him from committing oppression, for that is how you back him.” (See, for instance, al-Jāḥiẓ, al-Maḥāsin wa al-Aḍdād, p. 66, in addition to many famous Sunni and Shia sources).
This is apparently what Obi-Wan was forced to do when Anikan left him no other choice, as the former apprentice jedi attempted to take his master’s life:
The prequel scene above partially explains Anikan’s turn to the dark side (spoiler alert: he “survives” this to eventually become Darth Vader in the original Star Wars series). Ideals are often convenient as slogans because the general ideas are so abstract that they do not seem threatening to any personal interests on the ground. The real dilemmas are in the application of those ideals to particular examples, “how” the ideal is thought to play out in everyday life. To navigate such tides, are ideas enough? Are feelings enough? I would argue that both help illuminate the path to give each of us a fighting chance at giving it our best shot. Falling short of due diligence in either means that we are throwing our tools under the bus.
While our nation has, arguably, come a long way, the same theme of trials and tribulations continues to test our resolve to do better. We are still faced with the internal conflict of supporting friend/ally/brother at the expense of doing what is right, whether in terms of domestic or foreign policy, whether between official government bodies, in civilian institutions, or in close-knit social contexts. When will we abandon the temptation to support our brethren only in the superficial, face value sense? If our well-calculated long-term interests, our moral standing, and our conscience, all call for a cessation of hostilities, for negotiations, for political solutions, then why are we expanding conflict instead of using our power to end it?
Taking liberty to reflect back on the proverb we began with, there is much to contemplate with value for humanity at large. “Brotherhood” is not limited to that shared at the nuclear family level, for there are layers of “brotherhood” that depend on additional notions of family (e.g. a family of broader relatives, a family of families from a single clan or tribe, the human family, a family sharing a worldview or history or communal faith practices, etc). The range of fellowship and brotherhood does indeed have different spheres, but the underlying wisdom in the proverb can arguably be applied by emphasizing the constant across these spheres: backing one’s brother or sister by bringing him or her to do what is right.
More in the next post. Until then, feel free to share what you find useful and reach out for further discussion.
Intro to this Blog
I have been considering the pros and cons of focusing this blog on a particular theme or intended readership. With all the merits of specialization, I submit that my academic specialization has me niched enough for the rest of my time on Earth, and that I will be looking forward to this blog as a more diversified avenue of expression. It will still be me, just not always the PhD dissertation mode of me. For that, I beg your pardon, you will have to wait for the occasional academic study I announce here, or read parts of my dissertation (hint to fellow academics, in particular). So you can expect this blog to shed light on the more far-reaching implications of my work as an academic, tailored to a diverse and broad readership, weighing in on current events while also contextualizing and drawing lessons from history. Without further ado, welcome to Ali Moughania’s blog!
