Page 204 - Seekers Guide Book

Peace: The Summum Bonum
this fact due to which establishing a perfect society or
system is simply not possible.

21 How do we cultivate tolerance when
a group interprets the same Quran

as peace and another as violence?

Which interpretation should we then

follow?

he issue of myriad interpretations is not unique to the
TQuran; it is a fact of life. No book, law or constitution
has ever had a uniform or a single interpretation,
simply because difference is an inherent part of life. For
instance, the Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, pertains
to wisdom and moral values. Yet along with this is the
exhortation of Krishna to Arjun, encouraging him to
fight (3:30). While some derived a violent interpretation
from its text, Gandhiji, on the other hand, derived his
philosophy of non-violence from the same Gita.

The law of nature in the human world does not allow
uniformity to prevail. It is this disparity which ensures that
there is constant brainstorming leading to development.
In truth, absence of difference would lead to intellectual
stagnation.

The question that arises is which interpretation should a
common Muslim choose to follow? A common Muslim
may choose to follow any learned scholar (alim). After
listening to the advice of the scholar, he is free to take

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