Tolerance in Islam

Intolerance has become the culture of the day. It is causing death, genocide, violence, religious persecution as well as confrontations at different levels.

Sometimes it is racial and ethnic, sometimes it is religious and ideological, and sometimes it is political and social. Whatever may be the reason, intolerance is painful in each situation.

How can we solve the problem of intolerance? How can we bring tolerance in the world today?

Malaysia has a unique multi-religious society where about 60% of its population are Muslims, 20% Buddhist, 9% Hindus and 5% of other religions including Sikh, Christianity and pagans.

The majority dwellers are Malays, and 99% of them are Muslims, followed by Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Sabah and Sarawak.

Looking at this diversity, undoubtedly Malaysia is the most
multi-religious and multicultural society in South East Asia region.

In the world where religious community is increasing, there is a need to address challenges in the modern era on how to live together within a religious community.

Major religions in the world include Christians, Hindus,
Buddhists, Jews, Taoists and Islam is shaping the world reiigious majority. Hence religious harmony is what is needed the most in order to combat misunderstanding on religious issues among people.

Religious issues may become a cause of radicalism among the society. So much has been said about religious radicalism within Muslims community, although one cannot deny that radicalism also exists among other religious community.

Such an example is the religious conflict in Northern Ireland where the Protestants and Catholics are involved. Klu Klax Klan is another example of religious radicalism among people in the west. A recent tragedy in Norway, which kiled almost ninety innocent people, seemed to be related to religious radicalism as well.

In the Central Asia, Al-Qaeda is the most covered story on radicalism. Within Tamil society, Tamil Tigers is the group seen as fighting its own government.

So, the issue is not exclusive only to a particular religion, although it often happened more within a society that profess extreme views on religious, political, social and economic matters.

The question can be asked is how to deal with this situation in the current interfaith societies? Islam has set the principles for all aspects of human life. This includes the concept of tolerance and its relationship with other religions.

God created human being on earth with a variety of origins, races, religions and ethnicities. For this reason Allah SWT has taught us the concept of tolerance in order to create human peace on earth so that people of multi religious and ethnicities background may be able to live their life in harmony.

The Quran speaks about the basic dignity of all human beings regardless of their race, colour, language or ethnicity. The Shariah recognizes the right to life, property, family honour and conscience of all people. Here are some of the Quran verses that teaches tolerance and altruism.

The Quran says:
"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes, so that you
may (affectionately) know one another..." (QS 49:13)

The Quran says:
"Whoever kills a person (unjustly)…it is as though he has killed all mankind..." (QS 5:32)

The Quran says:
"And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah , lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge..." (QS 6:108)

The Quran says:
"Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him and do good to parents and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful." (QS 4:36)

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Make religion (Islam) easy for others to follow; do not make it difficult. Similarly, present Islam in a pleasing manner; do not make it repulsive to others.” (HR Muslim)

Wallahu'alam