{"id":1512,"date":"2017-09-30T16:09:06","date_gmt":"2017-09-30T21:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2017-09-30T16:09:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-30T21:09:09","slug":"humble-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"A Humble Giant Has Left This World"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God, the Extremely and Endlessly Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

When you meet him, you are immediately struck by his humility, his kindness, and his awe-inspiring intelligence. Yet, you do not realize that you are standing next to a giant. A true giant, in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n

Such was Professor Cherif Bassiouni<\/a>, who passed away and was laid to rest last week after a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n

I knew him as a member of the Chicago-area American Egyptian community, and he was nothing but kind, warm, and gentle. His impact on me has been profound, and it was such an honor to be counted among many of those who knew him.<\/p>\n

His impact on the world, however, will last millennia, if not for eternity. He taught law at DePaul University here in Chicago for over 40 years. More than this, though, he was truly the father of the International Criminal Court<\/a> and of international human rights in general.<\/p>\n

Almost single-handedly, he led the effort to investigate the tens of thousands of war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, and it was his effort that led to the prosecution of dozens of war criminals, including Slobodan Milosevic himself.<\/p>\n

As reported in the Chicago Tribune<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

“Cherif was a dreamer, but a practical dreamer,” said Doug Cassel, who co-founded DePaul University<\/a>‘s International Human Rights Law Institute with Bassiouni in 1990. “He believed sooner or later the time would come when the world would see the wisdom of what he was advocating and he was right. He was advocating the use of international criminal law and international criminal courts to deter and punish the worst abuses against human rights.”<\/h4>\n

During his tenure, he investigated war crimes in Bosnia, worked behind the scenes for Middle East peace, monitored human rights in Afghanistan and helped craft Iraq’s new constitution after setting up the tribunal that tried the country’s former dictator, Saddam Hussein.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Humanity will forever be indebted to him, and we pray for the salvation of his soul and for the comfort of his loving family.<\/p>\n

And while it should not matter, in this day and age and in this toxic climate, it must be mentioned: Cherif Bassiouni was a Muslim. Just before he died, he wrote that his life was:<\/p>\n

\n

dedicated to the following three values represented by the following three quotes:<\/h4>\n

“If you see wrong, you must right it: with your hand if you can, or with your words, or with your stare, or with your heart, and that is the weakest of faith.” – Prophet Muhammad<\/h4>\n

“If you want peace, work for justice.” – Pope Paul IV<\/h4>\n

“The world rests on three pillars; on truth, on justice and on peace.” – Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While there are those who make lucrative livelihoods out of demonizing Islam and Muslims, trying very hard to marginalize us and our community, there are countless American Muslims who quietly live their lives serving others, contributing to the current and continued greatness of this country.<\/p>\n

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni was one of the American Muslim community’s best and most shining examples. May our Precious Beloved Lord bring him eternal rest and peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God, the Extremely and Endlessly Loving and Caring When you meet him, you are immediately struck by his humility, his kindness, and his awe-inspiring intelligence. Yet, you do not realize that you are standing next to a giant. A true giant, in every sense of the word. Such was Professor Cherif…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[865,867,866,11,59,142],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-cherif-bassiouni","tag-eulogy","tag-human-rights","tag-islam","tag-justice-2","tag-muslim"],"yoast_head":"\nM. Cherif Bassiouni: A Humble Giant Who Left This World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"M. Cherif Bassiouni has made a tremendous impact on this world, especially through his tireless efforts pursuing justice. And he was a Muslim.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"M. Cherif Bassiouni: A Humble Giant Who Left This World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"M. Cherif Bassiouni has made a tremendous impact on this world, especially through his tireless efforts pursuing justice. And he was a Muslim.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-30T21:09:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-30T21:09:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/09\/be524b09-880c-46a7-88be-d336e29f70fb-1723-0000021d16de45ba.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. Hassaballa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GodFaithPen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"M. Cherif Bassiouni: A Humble Giant Who Left This World","description":"M. Cherif Bassiouni has made a tremendous impact on this world, especially through his tireless efforts pursuing justice. And he was a Muslim.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"M. Cherif Bassiouni: A Humble Giant Who Left This World","og_description":"M. Cherif Bassiouni has made a tremendous impact on this world, especially through his tireless efforts pursuing justice. And he was a Muslim.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/","og_site_name":"Common Word, Common Lord","article_published_time":"2017-09-30T21:09:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-09-30T21:09:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/09\/be524b09-880c-46a7-88be-d336e29f70fb-1723-0000021d16de45ba.jpg"}],"author":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GodFaithPen","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/","name":"M. Cherif Bassiouni: A Humble Giant Who Left This World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/09\/be524b09-880c-46a7-88be-d336e29f70fb-1723-0000021d16de45ba.jpg","datePublished":"2017-09-30T21:09:06+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-30T21:09:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21"},"description":"M. Cherif Bassiouni has made a tremendous impact on this world, especially through his tireless efforts pursuing justice. And he was a Muslim.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/09\/be524b09-880c-46a7-88be-d336e29f70fb-1723-0000021d16de45ba.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/09\/be524b09-880c-46a7-88be-d336e29f70fb-1723-0000021d16de45ba.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/humble-giant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Humble Giant Has Left This World"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/","name":"Common Word, Common Lord","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Hesham Hassaballa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21","name":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. Hassaballa Charitable Foundation and now serves as its Treasurer.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/GodFaithPen"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/author\/hhassaballa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1512"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}