SX43%LIVERPOOL.AC.UK@EVANS.UCAR.EDU (11/23/90)
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Topic : Unforgiving attitude of muslims to each other,
cause of disunity.
Title : 'Forgiveness' Editorial comment.
Source : USRA The Family Magazine, Nov 1990, p1.
Organisation : The Islamic Education Center
Contact : 73 Alston Drive,
Bradwell Abbey,
Milton Keynes,
MK13 9HG
England, UK.
Telephone : 0908-318633/319598
Fax : 0908-322071
Telex : 825094 & 82462
Price : FREE, excluding postage.
Frequency : Monthly
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FORGIVENESS
=========== --Comment.
You have arranged for guests to come to your house, but they dont
turn up. You wait for hours, the dinner gets cold, or you are late for
other appointments you had made. You curse oyour absent guests and
resolve never to invite them again, or to cause them inconvenience at
the first possible opportunity.
Someone makes some comment about you which you take to heart. You
feel mortally insulted, so the next time you see that person, you really
let them have it. They get their own back, and so it goes on until you
no longer have anything to do with each other.
A friend or colleague snaps at you, you snap back, and soon there
is a full-scale argument, followed by a stony silence.
Does this sound familiar ? These kind of events happen all the
time. But Muslims arent meant to be like that. We are supposed to make
allowances for one another. Or guests may have been held up by heavy
traffic, or their car might have broken down; the comment may have been
meant as a joke, not intended to wound; the irritable friend may have
not had much sleep last night, or may have worries on his/her mind, or
may be coming down with flu...
There are a hundred and one reasons why there may be these
hiccups in our everyday dealings with one another. We shold all make
allowances for the fact that we are only human, and will make mistakes.
We should not allow these mistakes to become major issues: makeing
allowances and forgiving one another is infinitely preferable to seeking
revenge and embarking on an escalating spiral of tit-for-tat.
Sad to say, many muslims dont give one another the benefit of the
doubt. We seem to find it easier to think the worst of our brothers and
sisters than to think well of them . This non-forgiving attitude is at
the root of the problems that beset our comunity. We are so divided that
it is almost impossible for us to carry on any form of collective work.
Our organisations soon become fragmented because of petty matters which
are blown up out of all proportion. Sometimes we carry on a feud for
years, we take it from our homeland and keep it alive in our new
country, our children keep it going, and everyone has forgotten whatever
trivial incident set it off in the first place!
Enough is enough. We must change the way we look at and raeact to
things. We have to start forgiving our brothers and sisters for the
mistakes they make; we must make allowances for one another and think
the best,not the worst, of our fellow-muslims. Only then will our
fragmented community begin to gel, and only then will we find the
desperately-sought unity which has deluded us for so long.
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============>>>>>Copyright<<<<<===================
USRA
====
Editor : Sister Huda Khattab.
For the sake of sharing and spreading knowledge, other muslim
publications are welcome to reproduce articles from this magazine.
Please acknowledge USRA Magazine and send us copies of any reproductions
for our records. The views in this magazine are strictly those of
individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
the Islamic Education Centre or of the Editor.
============>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<===================meuer@ncar.ucar.edu (Mark V. Meuer) (11/27/90)
In <1990Nov22.184249.12933@wpi.WPI.EDU> SX43%LIVERPOOL.AC.UK@EVANS.UCAR.EDU writes: >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Topic : Unforgiving attitude of muslims to each other, > cause of disunity. >Title : 'Forgiveness' Editorial comment. >Source : USRA The Family Magazine, Nov 1990, p1. >Organisation : The Islamic Education Center >Contact : 73 Alston Drive, > Bradwell Abbey, > Milton Keynes, > MK13 9HG > England, UK. >Telephone : 0908-318633/319598 >Fax : 0908-322071 >Telex : 825094 & 82462 >Price : FREE, excluding postage. >Frequency : Monthly >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >------------------------------------------------------------------------- > FORGIVENESS > =========== --Comment. > ... [Description of incidents where one Muslim either consciously or inadvertently offends another deleted.] >There are a hundred and one reasons why there may be these >hiccups in our everyday dealings with one another. We shold all make >allowances for the fact that we are only human, and will make mistakes. >We should not allow these mistakes to become major issues: makeing >allowances and forgiving one another is infinitely preferable to seeking >revenge and embarking on an escalating spiral of tit-for-tat. I am somewhat confused. I am not a Muslim, but in other postings to this group I have seen several instances where people have said that Islam specifically endorses the idea of "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", since to do otherwise would be unjust. Doesn't this call for forgiveness then go against a precept of Islam? If Islam does teach forgiveness, then how far does it take it? Does it agree with the words of Jesus (PBUH) that "you should love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?" Thanks in advance for your responses. -mark -- Mark Meuer | Geometry Supercomputer Project | meuer@geom.umn.edu "Scientists have determined that the world's fastest animal, with a top speed of 120 ft/sec, is a cow that has been dropped from a helicopter." - Dave Barry
bes@tybalt.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) (11/27/90)
Mark writes:
I am somewhat confused. I am not a Muslim, but in other postings to
this group I have seen several instances where people have said that
Islam specifically endorses the idea of "An eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth", since to do otherwise would be unjust. Doesn't this
call for forgiveness then go against a precept of Islam?
The relevant verse in the Quran states that "an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth" is permissible but forgiveness is preferrable.
My understanding is that the verse is about crimes committed by one
individual against another like murder, physical attack, etc. (I could
be wrong).
Behnam Sadeghita00est@unccvax.uncc.edu (elizabeth s tallant) (11/30/90)
Hello Mark, I am an orthodox Christian who was once confused by Islam. Perhaps I can answer some of your questions. First, in your posting, you quoted Jesus. Well, the Koran has different stories of Jesus than the Bible does, and I have yet to find a single passage in the Koran which says "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." I have yet to even find a single passage which resembles this. The only thing that comes close are passages that deal with forgiving OTHER MOSLEMS. Further, Moslems do not believe that Jesus was divine. They will tell you "we believe in Jesus" but the truth of the matter is that they do not believe in Jesus and instead believe in someone different than Christians believe in. Further, Moslems will tell you that they believe in the Torah and in the Bible, but the truth of the matter is that they believe only in the parts of the Bible which agree with the Koran, and they totally disregard all of the other parts as heresies. Elizabeth ta00est@unccvax.uncc.edu
meuer@ncar.ucar.edu (Mark V. Meuer) (11/30/90)
In <1990Nov27.154800.28589@nntp-server.caltech.edu> bes@tybalt.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) writes: >Mark writes: > I am somewhat confused. I am not a Muslim, but in other postings to > this group I have seen several instances where people have said that > Islam specifically endorses the idea of "An eye for an eye, a tooth > for a tooth", since to do otherwise would be unjust. Doesn't this > call for forgiveness then go against a precept of Islam? >The relevant verse in the Quran states that "an eye for an eye, a tooth >for a tooth" is permissible but forgiveness is preferrable. Thanks for your reply. That does make more sense. >My understanding is that the verse is about crimes committed by one >individual against another like murder, physical attack, etc. (I could >be wrong). Could anyone else expand on this? What about crimes committed by a nation? And also, what about the other question in my original post regarding the teaching of Jesus (PBUH) that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Does Islam accept this teaching? If not, when exactly should one forgive, both as individuals, groups and nations? >Behnam Sadeghi Thanks again. -mark -- Mark Meuer | Geometry Supercomputer Project | meuer@geom.umn.edu "Scientists have determined that the world's fastest animal, with a top speed of 120 ft/sec, is a cow that has been dropped from a helicopter." - Dave Barry
jzubairi@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Junaid Ahmed Zubairi) (11/30/90)
= =============================================================== Mr. Mark may consider reading a saying of Holy Prophet (PBUH) of which I remember a part only. Holy Prophet has told us about nine (9) things which God has ordered him to do. Some of which are --One who cuts off relations with me, I establish relations with him. --One who deprives me of something, I give (some thing) to him. --My silence be silence of thought and contemplation. In fact to forgive is most preferred way in Islam. It is highly recommended and Holy Prophet (PBUH) had forgiven all his enemies after conquering Makkah.( when he saw them lined up, he said those historical words which are translated as "Today you are all free (to go)" (The teachings of Jesus (PBUH) are similar to teachings of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). In fact original Torah, original Bible and Quran are all part of one book as described in Quran) Junaid Zubairi
zama@midway.uchicago.edu (iftikhar uz zaman) (12/03/90)
In article <1990Nov29.175828.9529@nntp-server.caltech.edu> ta00est@unccvax.uncc.edu (elizabeth s tallant) writes: >Hello Mark, >I am an orthodox Christian who was once confused by Islam. Perhaps I can >answer some of your questions. >First, in your posting, you quoted Jesus. Well, the Koran has different >stories of Jesus than the Bible does, and I have yet to find a single passage >in the Koran which says "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and >pray for them that despitefully use you." I have yet to even find a single >passage which resembles this. The only thing that comes close are passages >that deal with forgiving OTHER MOSLEMS. For the record: There is a hadith (documenation provided through email upon request) which states essentially what you are looking for: sil man qata'aka wa 'fu 'an man zalamaka wa ahisn ila man asa' ilayk "Bring toegther with your self those who cut their ties from you, and forgive those who do injustice to you, and be good to those who do bad to you..." (standard apology for the inadequate translation) Additionally, there is a hadith whose text slips my mind so I will not attempt to quote. But the essence of it is that the Prophet defines being good as being good to those who are bad to you--for if you are good only to those who are good to you you are just a "businessman"! And actually, the outstanding characteristics of Jesus in the Islamic hagiography of Prophets are his other-worldliness (voluntarily giving up things of this world) and his being forgiving. [I am not sure how I would document this; but I think I could...] >Further, Moslems do not believe that Jesus was divine. They will tell >you "we believe in Jesus" but the truth of the matter is that they do ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >not believe in Jesus and instead believe in someone different than ^^^^^ >Christians believe in. Further, Moslems will tell you that they >believe in the Torah and in the Bible, but the truth of the matter is >that they believe only in the parts of the Bible which agree with the >Koran, and they totally disregard all of the other parts as heresies. i.e. they do not believe in *the Jesus we believe in*, right? Or, their conception of Jesus is different from ours--that is what you meant, I think... >Elizabeth >ta00est@unccvax.uncc.edu Iftikhar
gt8145a@prism.gatech.edu (FADEL,AYMAN HOSSAM) (12/05/90)
Al-ghazali quotes the "Golden Rule" (Do unto others) in The Book of
Brotherhood of The Revival of the Religious Sciences.
Kitab al ukhuwwa fi ihya uluum addin
Salam, Ayman
--
FADEL,AYMAN HOSSAM
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt8145a
Internet: gt8145a@prism.gatech.edu