Poets — both old and new — have written short and long poems on love, separation, envy and departure. The most painful of these poems are those about treacherous lovers who forsake their loved ones, sometimes leading to their death. This happens because love is sometimes not built on solid foundations. It lacks faithfulness, or is one-sided.
The relationship between the ruler and ruled is akin to love between two people. This kind of love, however, is different in that it depends on a collective conscience. This is why it can either be a source of power and influence or a source of weakness and defeat.
This is why it is important for people deserted by their lovers to mull the reasons for that. Love should be mutual. In their love affair, these people might have taken without giving. This might have been the reason why their lovers departed. Human beings always guard their dignity. Harming this dignity can leave a painful scar.
Here, in the city of love, we were brought up with our leaders on a different concept — the concept of mutual love, or more accurately love that comes from both sides. This is why we are strongly affected by the prayer: “God make our people love us and help us exchange this love with love”.
I take honour in quoting the prayer our esteemed Emir quoted during his speech at the inaugural session of the 25th Arab Summit in Kuwait. The Emir quoted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in saying: “The best of your rulers are those whom you love and who love you, and those who supplicate to Allah in your favour and in whose favour you supplicate to Allah. The worst of your rulers are those whom you hate and who hate you; and whom you curse and who curse you”.
His speech at the inauguration of the Arab Summit was comprehensive. It was written in language that went to the heart of the matter. The speech covered concepts and workable mechanisms capable of achieving the slogan of the summit: “Solidarity for a better future”.
The speech underlined the fact that for Qatar, presiding over the Arab Summit amid critical and complicated conditions, both at the regional and international levels, was an important role. It also underlined the fact that Sheikh Tamim would complement the role played by the Father Emir.
In his speech, the Emir of Qatar also underlined the importance of Gulf unity and the need for pushing the Gulf Cooperation Council forward so that it can achieve the aspirations of Gulf citizens. He stressed the importance of the contribution of the Council to improving the capabilities of the Arab world as a whole.
There are important points in the speech of his Highness that need to be discussed in detail. In another article, I will focus on two issues in the speech, the first being a concept foreign to the Arab world, namely the difference between what is Arab and what is Gulf, and the second being the primary cause of all Arabs and Muslims.
But here it is important to dwell on the way Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) talked about the relationship between rulers and their subjects and its results. By talking about this relationship, the Prophet was paving the way for a new culture of love. This culture was also emphasised by the Emir in his speech at the Arab summit. Our country has not only taught us to love our leaders and imams, but also how to love them. It has also taught us how these leaders love us. We were taught not to hate.
On the contrary, we were taught how we should extend our hands with love to our neighbours. It is important for our hearts to exchange love and for our hands to reach out to our neighbours, and to pray for them, especially at this time when the culture of hatred has spread everywhere in ways that make people accuse their closest friends of being enemies.
