The Other Cheek of Islam

The Jalaluddin Rumi Interpretation of The Holy Q'uran

by Rami E. Kremesti M.Sc.

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The idea of "The Other Cheek of Islam" was conceived in my mind around December 2004 in Beirut, Lebanon. I had recently returned to Lebanon from the USA where I had discovered Rumi a couple of years back and was completely mesmerised and amazed by his poetry. I was job hunting, so I had plenty of free time on my hands, and what better cause to devote one's free time to, than to translate the poetry of Rumi into Arabic and spread his inclusivist, reconciling view of all religions. It hurt me to realize that very few people had heard of him in Lebanon so I felt a sense of urgency in spreading his vision in Lebanon, in particular,�where scars of religious conflict could still be felt , and at the regional level where things were not looking so good in Iraq, and East-West relations.

So this is how I started translating some of the most beautiful poems of Rumi into Arabic using Coleman Barks's "The Essential Rumi" and I created the First Jalaluddin Rumi Online Arabic Translation of Some of His Most Beautiful Poems page.

My view of Islam changed completely (from a total polemical hostile attitude that peaked in the wake of 9/11) to one of understanding and even appreciation. If what Rumi was preaching was Islam, then I found in it my Christianity. Knowing that his 6 Mathnawi volumes of poetry are considered the Persian Translation of the Quran, I realized that whatever is viewed as negative in Islam is simply a misinterpretation...

In this day and time, when Islamo-phobia is rampant in many parts of the world (the phenomenal Pat Robertson for example), where racism and materialism are plaguing humanity, what better anti-dote, what better light to spread than the vision of Rumi?

Below are some of the views/poems of Rumi that I find deeply Christian:

1. I read in Rumi a story about Ali, one of Mohammed's favorites and staunch followers, about forgiving whoever does you wrong until the Day of Judgement, no matter how many times they do you wrong, as a manifestation of the Christian teaching of "turning the other cheek".

2. Rumi's views on Women. Read his "She Is the Creator" poem on my Rumi page.

3. Rumi's introduction of Music in worship was a challenge to traditional Islam which bans the use of music in worship. Rumi to legalistic Islam was like Jesus to legalistic Judaism...

4. Rumi's poem "Come, Come Whoever You Are" is a mirror of Jesus's befriending of society's outcasts.

5. Rumi's poem "One Praise" unifies all religions and all humanity. A reminder of the Christian teaching "No Greek or Jew..."

6. Rumi's poem "Only Breath" depicts how he goes beyond religion.

7. Rumi's poem "No Flag" which can be read on my Rumi page, is resounding of the biblical story of The Good Samaritan.

8. Rumi tells in one of his poems that if someone steals your horse, let them have it. Horses are for getting ahead of others... This reminded me of Jesus's teaching to serve others by washing his disciples' feet and his teaching that if someone took your robe then let them have your tunic as well.

9. Rumi interprets the Quran's teaching of chopping the hands and the feet of heathen as symbolic of killing the desires of the "Nefs" which is our egoistic self... This I read in Rumi Discourses - From the Tongue of Hasan Dede

10. Rumi's vision of Islam is inclusivist unlike main-stream Islam. He views different religions as different expressions of the same universal truth. Different in words but the same in meaning. His Three Travellers Tell Their Dreams poem captures that spirit. Read it on my Rumi English page

Rami E. Kremesti M.Sc.Ind.Chem.

Mansourieh, Lebanon

First compiled April 5, 2006

Last updated 24-November-2020

Buckinghamshire, UK