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 account: "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 account 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 non-
Muslim 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.