The Prophet's Hair

The skwered, melting face of the Nazi officer haunted me in my childhood. For anyone who's seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, they can certainly remember the scene in which the Nazi party is swallowed up by the presense of God. By today's standards, the special effects of ghosts swirling around the Ark of the Covenant terrifying the Nazi's might seem laughable, but I distinctly remember being terribly frightened as a kid watching this part. Maybe it was the fact that I was too young, but what I certainly remembered was that the bad guys got what was coming to them. While using Nazi's as bad guys might seem cliche by today's standards, the innate desire within us human beings is still the same. That very desire is for good to win, and evil to be extinguished.

A question that is often brought up in religious and secular circles is, "If God exists, then why is there evil in the world?" Certainly, thoughts pertaining to mankind's stained past haunts the world. Genocides, massacares, rape, and all kinds of other evil are manifested in this world we live in. If one is to posit this question, then one must also acknowledge the presence of good and evil. Thus, a moral standard must exist in some form.

The very purpose of a fable is remind or guide humans towards a moral piety. Often, good morals and altruistic mindsets are commonly seen as intolerant and narrow-minded. But are good morals enough? Is it a end in itself? For me, it is not the good morals themselves which give us meaning, but God Himself. If God is a Heavenly Father and a model example, would any parent in their right mind only love their child if they did things for them? Perhaps some of us have grown up where parents have loved us conditionally and based upon what we did. If God is good, then wouldn't He love us unconditionally?

I say these things because too often the secular world criticizes the religious world for religious snobbery. Do the actions of a few taint the whole bunch? While the earnest and the faithful seek God, those who don't understand God's nature misrepresent Him in horrible ways. Certainly, the crusades speak well of that.

In Salman Rushdie's short story, The Prophet's Hair, He guides the reader through a tale of greed, betrayal, and the testing of human relationships. In many ways, the story reads like a fable, with the exception of Rushdie's typical English vernacular and ancedotes. Most of us can remember Aesop's Fables tales of moral dilemmas. A fable or parable, to some, have moral guidlines and lessons to learn from. In Rushdie's short story, his character's are in constant moral dilemma's when faced with the relic of the Prophet's Hair. The hair, supposedly belonged to the prophet Mohammed, and its significance to the community was undoubtedly important.

As the phial which contains the hair passes from person to person, it leaves an apparent trail of curses on whoever comes into contact with it. From the time it gets stolen, to the time it returns, people are murdered, killed, and put into prison. Even the theif, who is hired to steal the ancient relic, dies an unpleasant death. It seems that whether even an unfearing, or the unbelieving individual in the relic's power is affected by it. So whether they believe in its sanctity or not, they are still affected. The commonly used phrase, "power corrupts" tends to hold truth. I believe that one must ask the question, who is in control and what kind of person are they? Depending on the character of the person in power, they can choose to use their authority for good or for evil. Certainly, humanity has seen the consequences of those who have been in power and are debase. The holocaust is a prime example of such an act. So are only the corruptable and evil the only ones who suffer? Definitely not, the innocent and the undeserving suffer from the misdeeds of one person. Huma, the daughter of Hashim, the money-lender in Rushdie's book, suffers a fate that shouldn't have happened. In the night of the theif coming to steal his precious vial, he chases the shadows in his hallway flailing a sword. Rushdie illuminates briefly, "...the moneylender thrust his sword fatally through its heart. Turning up the light, he found that he had murdered his daughter..." (Rushidie)

So do the actions of a few make other people suffer? It would seem so. But there are also those who wish to good, and it is by these actions that evil is extinguished.