Page 33 - MFP 2017

God’s will and desire for people to unite based on their commonalities and to set aside their di erences for He along knows the extent and degrees of di erences which exist among mankind. It is much better to look at the cup half full, meaning to look at the areas where we are similar, rather than to magnify our lens on areas which make us di erent. Again, God a rms the need for unity among inter-faith religions and speci cally reminds Muslims that, “Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” [2:62] The Qur’an values the institution of moral principles and praises all those who uphold justice regardless of their religion, One example mentioned in the Qur’an is al-Najashi Christian King whom out of human consideration and justice, provided refuge for the Muslim immigrants to Ethiopia after they were persecuted in Makkah.
When we look at a holistic approach among the divine faiths, it is much better for us (the believers of the monotheistic religions) to unite and unify under the divine umbrella which promotes love, care, justice, and all the beautiful moral attributes which mankind must strive to uphold. One of the companions, Nu’man ibn Bashir narrates that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, a ection, and brotherly feeling is
that of one body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches because of sleeplessness and fever.” (Sahih Muslim)
Humanity Unity
The word “Islam” is derived from the word meaning “peace” in Arabic. Islam is a religion revealed to mankind with the intention of presenting a peaceful life where the in nite compassion and mercy of God manifests on earth. God
calls all people to live by the moral values He sets so that compassion, mercy, peace and love can be experienced all over the world. Peace is a cornerstone of Islam; hence no one should be forced to believe in Islam, as the Quran states, “There is no compulsion where the religion is concerned.” [2:256]
The Quran provides an environment where people can fully enjoy freedom of thought and freedom of religion and allows people to live by the faith and values they believe in. According to Islam, everyone has the right to live freely by his beliefs, whatever they may be. In this sense, freedom of religion, or freedom of belief, is one of the basic tenets of Islam. “God does not forbid you from being good to those who have not fought you in the religion or driven you from your homes, or from being just towards them. God loves those who are just.” [60: 8]
The Almighty explicitly states that the existence of people from di erent faiths and opinions is something that we have to acknowledge and welcome heartily, for this is how He
created and predestined humankind in this world, “We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had
God willed, He would have made you a single community,
but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about which you di ered.” [5:48]
If we as human beings remember that we share the same Grand great grandfather and grandmother, Adam and
Eve, we will be forced to forget our di erences and to remember that which we share in common. We will then see and treat each other as brothers and sisters as Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb beautifully said, “Man is either your brother in faith or your brother in humanity.” If we remember that we will all experience death and turn back into dust, our level of arrogance, self-conceit and discrimination will diminish. We live in a time and age where achieving unity is an absolute necessity, not a luxury. It is an obligation, not a recommendation. It is source of mercy to all of mankind and the lack of it has grave implications, the least of it is bloodshed and havoc. We as human citizens on earth carry an obligation on our shoulders to promote love, unity, and justice among our brethren and not to engage the active or passive promotion of sectarian violence and mischief
WE AS HUMAN CITIZENS ON EARTH CARRY AN OBLIGATION ON OUR SHOULDERS TO PROMOTE LOVE, UNITY, AND JUSTICE AMONG OUR BRETHREN AND NOT TO ENGAGE THE ACTIVE OR PASSIVE PROMOTION OF SECTARIAN VIOLENCE AND MISCHIEF AMONG PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS.
among people of di erent faiths. If we live with the motto that ‘united we live and united we die”, the stability and security of mankind will be accomplished to a large extent.
33