Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Middle East, especially with the rise of Daesh (infamously known as ISIS), who have
been killing anyone that does not believe in what they believe in, despite many of the
victims of Daesh are Muslims, but of a different sect to the fundamentalists.
So this raises the question, Do Muslims believe in religious tolerance in their religion?
What does Islam say about religious tolerance? Do the actions committed by these
crazy fundamentalists, such as executing innocent minorities hold any accordance to
Islam?
To answer this question, I would like to give examples from Islamic history, Quranic
verses and Prophetic sayings with regards to religious tolerance.
First of all, this is what the Quran says regarding Christians and Jews:
Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and
the Sabians whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good,
they shall have their reward from their Lord. And there will be no fear for
them, nor shall they grieve. (The Holy Quran 2:62 )
and nearest among them in love to the believers will you find those who
say, We are Christians, because amongst these are men devoted to learning
and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant (The Holy
Quran 5:82)
The above verses depict the Abrahamic faiths as fellow believers who believe in the
same God in an equal light which is completely against what Daesh is doing right now,
which is the unjust oppression on religious minorities.
The cousin of the Prophet Mohamed and leader of the Muslims after the Prophet, Imam
Ali states Know that people are of two types: they are either your brothers in religion or
your equals in creation. (Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 53). Meaning that all people, no
matter what religion, race or class they come from, are supposed to be treated equally,
because either people are your Muslim brethren, or your equals in humanity who have
the same rights as you and cannot be discriminated or disrespected for their beliefs. In
young age; there would be times when Hindus would visit our mosque and we would
partake in religious ceremonies together. Also, many times I would watch Islamic
programs whereby a priest and/or a rabbi would be invited to mosques to have an
interfaith dialogue with the audience.
So it hurts me when I see this kind of Un-Islamic behaviour being demonstrated by crazy
extremists who claim to be Muslim whilst their actions completely depict otherwise, and
this is the reason I decided to discuss this topic because I want to defend the faith I
believe in and what it has taught me; which is to love and respect everyone, regardless
of their faith. And no, Im not saying to respect everyone despite their religion, Im
saying to respect everyone regardless of anything because when one says despite, it
seems to have a negative connotation as we should not love people despite anything,
we should love them regardless of anything.
I would like to end with a saying from the Prophet Muhammad: