Page 201 - Seekers Guide Book

The Seeker’s Guide

18 Why should I respect Islam and its
adherents? They are suicide bombers,
‘
’
cruel towards sinners , patronizing
towards women, follow conservative

medieval social norms and

sanctimonious people who look down
upon others who drink and smoke?

ou are under no compulsion to respect Islam and its
Yadherents. However, you must certainly analyze what
you hold in contempt.
The very word ‘Islam’ (from the Arabic silm) connotes
peace. According to a tradition of the Prophet:

Peace is Islam. (Musnad al-Bazzar, hadith
no. 1396)

This means that peace is one of the prerequisites of Islam.
A hadith states;

A Muslim is one from whose tongue and
hands people are safe. (Musnad Ahmad,
hadith no. 12561)

One of the attributes of God described in the Quran is
‘As-Salam’, which means peace and security. According
to Sahih Muslim, the second most authentic book of
Hadith, suicide in any capacity is completely forbidden
and a punishable sin:

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