• Coming From The Arabic Root Samaha, Musamaha (tolerance) Means 1o6015

TOLERANCE • Coming from the Arabic root samaha, musamaha (tolerance) means to forgive and to pardon. As a term, it is used for the understanding and gentle behavior towards everyone, without prejudice, of someone who is mature and good-intentioned. Truly this is a high virtue possessed only by people of superior morality. Both too much and too little of tolerance can lead to harmful results.

TOLERANCE • Moral principles have an important place in the divine messages of prophets brought from Allah's presence. Tolerance has a unique place among these moral principles. The religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) being named "Islam" shows that, along with other meanings, it is a religion of forgiveness and tolerance. In fact, it is also possible to find meanings like peace and reconciliation among the different meanings of the word Islam.

SOME OF THE VERSES OF THE QURAN • "(The righteous are) those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men; for God loves those who do good." • "The believers are but a single brotherhood: so make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear God, that ye may receive mercy." • "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor: fear God, for God is strict in punishment."

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BEING TOLERANT • 1- To take the nafs to : "Do not overlook your sins due to loving yourself."5 • 2- To cover people's faults: In one hadith the Prophet says: "Whoever covers someone's fault in this world, Allah will cover his faults on Doomsday." 6 • 3- To overcome anger: The righteous... who restrain anger and pardon (all) men; for God loves those who do good." 7 "The powerful one is not someone who defeats his opponent in wrestling. It is the one who restrains himself during times of anger." 8 • 4- To be forgiving: "(Hey Nabi!) Hold on to forgiveness; command what is right; But turn away from the ignorant."

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BEING TOLERANT • 5- Do not curse others: Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "I was not sent to curse. I was sent as a mercy." 9 • 6- Do not be suspicious: "O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much as possible: for suspicion in some cases is a sin." 10 • 7- Avoid haughtiness and pride: "And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for God loveth not any arrogant boaster." 11 On this subject the Prophet states: "It is enough evil to condescend on one's Muslim brother." 12 • 8- Do not make fun of people: "O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the former." 13 • 9- To be patient: There are more than seventy verses in the Quran that mention patience. The Prophet said: "No one has been blessed with a better gift than patience."14

THERE IS NO FORCE IN ISLAM • There is no force in Islam regarding religion and belief. It is not possible to force a person to change his belief; it can only be done with persuasion and the approval of the person. Freedom of belief is one of the leading rights of man. If religion were communicated to people with fear and oppression, there would be no meaning to belief. It was left up to people to direct their lives with free will. Because they have to give to Allah, people were given freedom of choice. If, to the contrary, people had been coerced, it would have been unjust. Related to there being no force in religion, Allah says, "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And God knoweth and heareth all things."

BEHAVIOUR OF PROPHET • Prophet Muhammad acted extremely carefully in regard to the rights of peoples the Islamic state had agreements with. In regard to this the Prophet said, "Whoever harms a non-Muslim subject will have harmed me. Whoever hurts me will have angered Allah." Again, in a hadith related by Abu Davud, the Prophet said, "On Doomsday I am not going to accept anyone who oppressed a non-Muslim subject with whom we have agreement, or violated their rights, or burdened them with more responsibility than they could carry or made them do something they did not want to do." The Prophet and the Rightly-Guided caliphs were protectors of the rights and privileges of nonMuslim citizens.

THE ISSUES ON WHICH THE PROPHET DID NOT SHOW TOLERANCE • 1-Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) hindered those who prevented the call of Islam and showed open enmity towards the Islamic state; he disapproved of those who displayed open enmity to the religion of Islam in their poems and those who incited the pagans against Muslims. The incident involving the Jewish poet Qa'b ibn al-Ashraf is one of the best examples of this. • 2-He refused those who wanted pardon for those whose crimes were proven, and he was not tolerant on this subject. The Prophet showed his sensitivity on this topic as follows: "I swear to Allah that if the thief had been my daughter Fatima, I would have cut off her hand." • 3-Loyalty to tribalism and consanguinity were prohibited, and he was not tolerant on this issue. • 4-The Prophet was extremely careful in regard to individual rights and he prohibited their violation. • 5-He was not tolerant in regard to preventing evil and the open practice of haram, etc.

PROPHET’S TOLERANCE • Throughout Prophet Muhammad's lifetime, tolerance was one of the most basic ideas underlying his behavior. He called people to religion and approached them with tolerance in light of the verse, "Invite all to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious."21 Others being harsh and rude in response to this call did not make him forego this principle. During the Taif campaign his being forgiving towards the ugly attack made against him and his praying for their reformation instead of their destruction is a good example of this.

LESSON • There are lessons and wisdom to be gained by the modern world in the Prophet's understanding of tolerance and its application in Islamic history. Those who indiscriminately describe Muslims as fanatical, aggressive and intolerant, need to look at and analyze the life and actions of Prophet Muhammad and Islamic history.