Principles of Mercy and Peace in Islam

Abstract

The background of this paper relates to the insulting and mocking depictions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that were published by a number of European print media, as well as to 'Charlie Hebdo' incident, the terrorist attack that took place in Tunis on Bardo Museum on March 18, 2015, and the practices of the so-called "Islamic State" in some Arab regions. On this basis, therefore, and relying on Qur'an 1 and Sunnah 2 , the two major sources of Shariah (Islamic law and jurisprudence), and equally on some Muslim scholars' thoughts, the paper aims to serve, on the one hand, as a conclusive evidence that the deeds of those who act in diverse ways against the principles and teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah believing mistakenly that they are in a right Islamic path have nothing to do with Islam, but might rather defame it and its followers. On the other hand, the paper intends to function as a reply to anti-Islamic practices and islamophobic ideologies on the part of certain non-Muslim communities and organizations demonstrating that Islam is a religion of mercy and peace. This distinguishing characteristic underlies a number of principles and moral values which constitute the essence of good human relationships which Islam has had every intention of maintaining between all the peoples the world over.

Human Relations in Multicultural Societies: An al-Qur’anic Overview

“…Likewise, the Qur'an advocates the culture of leading a happy life. One aspect of this principle is this religion's intention to maintain peace all along the globe because conflicts lead to disastrous consequences, particularly human losses and economic depressions, which are very likely to result in very serious social problems, such as joblessness and poverty, which in turn can be among the major causes of terrorist acts (Mezrigui, 2015). In this context, the Holy Qur'an elaborates, "However, if they incline toward peace, you [Prophet] must also incline toward it and put your trust in Allah.…”