say... PEACE!!

And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace (25; 063)

salam,

so... I came across this verse in surat al-furqan... and it just made me... unsuspectedly... laugh.

now, you might be thinking... why is this random muslim blogger laughing at the words of God... but it wasn't that I was laughing in a... haha-funny, laughter... it was more like... haha-interesting... cuz.. I always say 'peace out!!!' or 'peace' in general... but at the same time... i'm a relatively angry person..

but anyway, I was thinking that this verse has a very interesting format... now think about it... It's basically a story of a 'servant of God' broken up into 3 parts:
1- walking upon the earth easily
2- the ignorant address them harshly
3- they say peace

I was wondering what does walking upon the earth easily mean...?personally... physically, i often trudge... does it mean literal walk... or does it mean a certain attitude or a way to hold oneself?? ect... While I read this, I thought of it, more along the lines of literally an attitude.. having a somewhat mellow, easy outlook on life. I think of the way people act, who sincerely believe in God, and a lot of the time, they're really mellow. Like, it's all good, God's got my back... and so, when they 'walk upon the earth easily' you realize, that they're taking the condition of the world easily... not to be confused with lightly... but they take it easily, because they feel like they can do something about it.. it's not hard to deal with the earth, very simple... obey God type of thing. Why? because they're servants of God, and again, if they do something, they know that the hard part, God's got covered... you know what I mean??

The second part the ignorant address them harshly, what kind of ignorance do them mean? Like is it like religious ignorance? or is it, general ignorance? I heard a saying recently that goes something like this: don't argue with an ignorant person, you'll always lose... and when I read this verse, I was thinking why do ignorant people like to argue? They say that ignorance is bliss... and sometimes that's true... but ignorance is also frustrating... imagine being somewhere and everyone knows something that you're ignorant about... I know that my ignorance in my field of study frustrates me sooooo much... I get mean, harsh, and angry... and it made me think.. maybe ignorance takes a psychological toll... not like.. hi, this person is crazy... but if you feel like you're missing something, a piece of information, you get determined to cover that weakness up... you go into this... super... RAAWR mood... and you get harsh, defensive and so on... I felt like the word, ignorant in this verse takes on a different meaning, than if it was like 'the non-believers' or something like that. I feel like, often, ignorance translates a person into this bundle of chaotic energy, that leads to a sense of harshness... of trying to, you know, make up for what's lacking...

The third part is in reference to the servants of God saying peace and it's interesting on how the word peace is used... I mean, it's used as a greeting... It's also used to indicate the relationship you want to have... i.e. peaceful, as in not fighting... also, it indicates the type of person you are as well... you want to relax, not fight, just let it go... and I feel like, responding with peace, just seems so chillax... you know? Why bother stressing?? Just say peace, because you know that the argument is, essentially, useless.. Instead of trying to prove an ignorant person wrong, just embody the concept of peace... be like... what's the point in arguing? Lets just you know... agree to disagree.. pick up a cup of chai and you know... chill... be peaceful... find a sense of comfort with oneself, because you know that God's, once again, got you covered.

any how... I just came across this:
http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Letting-Ignorant-People-Bother-You
which basically instructs you on how to deal with ignorant people and it made me laugh all over again...

By the by, this is not like a tafseer or anything... just personal reflections I have sometimes... we need to develop a personal connection to you know the words of God, and I feel like when I do it like this, it makes me feel... relieved in a way...

salam \\// peace
-reem