Page 114 - Solution, the values of the Qurʼan

112 SOLUTION THE VALUES OF THE QUR'AN

Rwanda, Bosnia and Chechnya were plagued with conflicts, each taking
their own deadly human toll. Tens of thousands of people were tortured,

and forced to lead the rest of their shattered lives as displaced people.
In the Qur'an, the period of the Pharaoh is related as a period similar
to this era. The cruel massacres, which occurred in Pharaoh's time, were
always targeted at the poor, the destitute and the unprotected. That
Pharaoh tormented his people is related as follows:
Pharaoh exalted himself arrogantly in the land and divided its people into
camps, oppressing one group of them by slaughtering their sons and letting
their women live. He was one of the corrupters. (Surat al-Qasas: 4)
Remember when Moses said to his people, 'Remember Allah's blessing to
you when He rescued you from the people of Pharaoh. They were inflicting
an evil punishment on you, slaughtering your sons and letting your women
live. In that there was a terrible trial from your Lord. And when your Lord
announced: "If you are grateful, I will certainly give you increase, but if you
are ungrateful, My punishment is severe." (Surah Ibrahim: 6-7)
In our day, media coverage of these mass murders explicitly shows
how removed the perpetrators are from humanity. Completely devoid of
every sort of moral sensitivity and humane feeling, usually these people
are unaware of what they are fighting for. The same also holds true of
wars. Those who are responsible for planning wars, and planting the
seeds of war in societies, do this in expectation of the fulfillment of some
particular interests. However, often many of those who are actively
involved in war do not have any idea of what they are fighting for.
The reason why people become cruel, to the extent of committing
violent mass murders or massacres, is actually because of the mentality
they imbibe from their leaders. In a system in which a human being is
treated like an animal, and torture, torment and violence are rationalized,
no values sound meaningful. Viewed from this standpoint, there are
parallels between the leaders, the powerful of the Earth constituting the

driving forces of violence in our time, and Pharaoh and his soldiers about
whom the Qur'an gives an account: