ISLAM 101: CONVEYING THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM: Part 5
2. Treating People Nicely and Tolerance
Tolerance and gentleness are the most important cornerstones in the tabligh of Islam by our Prophet. God Almighty says the following to the Prophet, who approaches people with gentleness, by congratulating him on the honesty and perfection of his acts: "It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them. Wert thou severe or harsh-hearted they would have broken away from about thee; so pass over (their faults), and ask for (Allah's) forgiveness for them, and consult them in affairs (of the moment). Then when thou hast taken a decision, put thy trust in Allah. For Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him)." (Aal-e-Imran, 3/159)
Gentleness is like a different golden key given to the Messenger of Allah. He opened many hearts with that key and affected their hearts. But for his gentleness, many intolerant hearts would have faced some harsh acts and some would have opposed to Islam unlike now, and some would have moved away from him. Only thanks to the gentleness of the Messenger of Allah were they prevented and many people embraced Islam in groups.
As it is understood from the verse, gentleness originates from mercy. If the Messenger of Allah had become rude and harsh, everybody around him would have abandoned him. The vast mercy of God Almighty made him gentle. That is, God made his nature so perfect and gentle that the hands that touched him were never injured, and they found a rose when they expected thorns. (Abdullah 1997, 1:398)
I find it useful to mention some hadiths related to mercy here. The Messenger of Allah says:
Allah will not show mercy to someone who does not show mercy to people. (Bukhari, "Tawhid", 2; Muslim, "Fadail," 66)
Show mercy to those on the earth, those in the sky will show mercy to you. (Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 4:277)
He who does not show mercy to people will not be shown mercy. (Bukhari, "Adab," 18; Muslim, "Fadail, 65)
Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) acted tolerantly towards even those who broke his teeth and injured his head. After the conquest of Makkah, he said to the Makkans, who were wondering what would happen to them, “You may go; all of you are free” although they had expelled him from his hometown when he was sorry and in tears. He forgave Abu Sufyan and softened his heart so that he would embrace Islam. He also forgave Wahshi, who had killed his beloved uncle, and Ikrima, the son of Abu Jahl. He forgave many others like them and did not call them to account for what they had done.
He did not reproach people; he did not blame them in front of others due to their mistakes; instead of despising them, he acted nicely and honestly by setting an example to them.
Sometimes, there were some people who came to him, acted rudely and even insulted him. If he had raised a finger, a hundred swords would have cut off his head. However, he reacted gently towards those rude and harsh behaviors. (Abdullah, 1997, 1:403).
Bukhari and Muslim narrate from Abu Said al-Khudri: A man called Dhu'l-Huwaysira came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah was dividing the war booty. He addressed our Prophet insolently: "O Muhammad, be just!" (If that word were said to one of us, we would have a shock. As a matter of fact, we can be unfair. However, the person to whom that sentence was said was a prophet who was appointed to bring justice to the world.)
Hazrat Umar, who was there at that time, roared when he heard that disrespectful remark and said, “Let me cut off that munafiq’s head, O Messenger of Allah!”
After soothing Hazrat Umar and those who thought like him, the Messenger of Allah turned to that man said to him only the following: "Woe on you! If I am not just, who else can be just? (Bukhari, "Adab", 95; Muslim, "Zakat", 142) In other narrations, the reply of our Prophet is in a different form that can mean as follows: "Woe on me if I am not just; it means I am destroyed. Woe on you because of my injustice because you follow me as a prophet!" (Abdullah, 1997, 1:405-406)
The following are guiding principles related to tolerance: Open your heart to everybody, let it be like oceans! Be filled with belief and feel love for people; let there be no dejected heart that you have not been interested in and you have not helped..! Appraise the good people due to their good deeds; be generous towards believing hearts; approach the faithless people softly so that their animosity and hatred will melt away; be like Messiah with your breaths...!
Driveaway the bad deeds with good deeds; do not heed rude attitudes! Everybody reflects his own character through their behavior. Prefer the way of tolerance and be noble-hearted towards those who do not have good manners..! It is the most distinguished quality of a heart that is full of love to love the love and to turn against hostility. To hate everybody is either an indication of having been directed by the devil or a sign of insanity. Love human beings; admire humanity..!
