Islam
is a faith of mercy and tolerance that advocates justice and peace. Islam also
preserves and safeguards man's freedom, honour and dignity .These are not
slogans but are the principles upon which Islam is found .God Almighty sent His
Prophet Muhammad :"As a Mercy for all creatures." (21/107)
The
Prophet Muhammad also said :"I have been sent to fulfil the perfection of
high moral qualities." Islam grants man the freedom of choice, even in
matters of choosing to believe in God or refusing to do so:"Let Him who
will ,believe, and let him who will, reject (it)." (18/29)
The
invitation to embrace Islam is based upon convincing people by preaching
graciously to them and by amicable discussions and not by any form of force or
compulsion. The Faith of Islam commands Muslim to be just and liberal and
prohibits injustice, tyranny corruption and evil deeds, and advocates repelling
evil with goodness:"Repel evil with what is better. "(41/34).When the
Prophet Muhammad triumphed over the people of Mecca, he pardoned them, in spite of their
previous injustice and persecution of him and his companions saying:"You
are all absolutely free ."
There
is a definite compatibility between the Faith of Islam and Peace. In Arabic are
both words Islam and Salaam, which is the Arabic word for peace, derived from
the same origin. God Almighty describes himself in the Quran as peace. The
Muslim greeting is also a greeting of peace, which is a continual reminder that
peace is one of Islam's principle aims that should always be kept in mind.
Every Muslim concludes his prayers five times a day with the greetings of peace
to half the world on his right and then repeats it to the other half of the
world on his left.
It
is obvious from the aforementioned facts that Islam is a peace-loving Faith and
accordingly there is no possibility of its advocating violence, fanaticism,
bigotry, terrorism or any form of assault on people and their property. Islamic
rulings and principles aim at safeguarding the Human Rights, which include his
right to life, family, beliefs, thought and property.
The
Faith of Islam prohibits any form of assault on others, so much so that Islam
declares that attacking one and individual of the human race is considered an
attack on all mankind and this is expressed in the following Quranic
verse:"If anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or for
spreading mischief in the land it would be as if he slew the whole
people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if saved the life of the
whole people."(5/34). Thus every individual represents humanity, and
Islam's concern for the safeguarding and preservation of humanity is manifested
in every human being's respect for other human beings by respecting their
freedom, their dignity and all their human rights. One of the sayings of the
Prophet states that every Muslim is forbidden to shed the blood, steal the
wealth, or disgrace the honour of any Muslim. Another saying of the Prophet
states that whoever terrorizes a believer in God will not be delivered from the
Terror of the Day of Judgement.
The
Faith of Islam also calls for peaceful coexistence among nations and commands
Muslims to treat Non- Muslims justly and fairly as is stated in the following
Quranic verse:"God does not forbid you, with regard to those who do not
fights you for (your) Faith, nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing
kindly and justly with them, for God loves those who are just."(60/8)
The
responsibility of preserving the safety of the members of any community must be
shared by everyone in the community.Shouldering this responsibility together is
the only way to ensure security and stability in face of the danger of
corruption and depravity. Another saying of the sayings of the prophet compares
us all to a group of people who drew lots to see where they would be seated
aboard a ship. The result was that some of them stayed on deck while others
went down inside the ship. When the people inside the ship wanted water to
drink, they went up to the people on deck and told them that they could get
water to drink by making a hole in the bottom of the ship, which was their own
part of the ship, and by so doing they would not harm the deck of the ship or
the people on it. If the people on deck had allowed them to do that, they would
all have perished but if they had prevented them they would all have been
delivered from drowning.