Beyond Violence: Religious Sources of Social Transformation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

God Is the All-Peace, the All-Merciful

3 God Is the All-Peace, the All-Merciful Mohamed Fathi Osman From the Qur'an: God is the All-Peace Who Calls Humankind to Peace "He is the All-Merciful, the Mercy-giving. God is He save whom there is no deity; the Sovereign Supreme, the Holy, the All-Peace" (Qur'an 59:22-23). "And God calls [the human beings] into the abode of peace, and guides one who wills onto a straight way. Those who persevere in doing good, they will get the ultimate good" (10:25-26). "0 you who have attained to faith! Enter all wholly into peace, and follow not Satan's footsteps, for, verily, he is your open foe" (2:208). Condemning destruction oflife "And among the humankind there is the one whose views on this world life would please you, and would cite God as witness to what is in his [/her] heart, and he [/she] is the most contentious of adversaries in dispute. As this one gets away, he [/she] goes about the earth spreading damage and destroying tilth and progeny; and God does not love causing damage. And whenever he [/she] is told, 'Be conscious of God,' he [/she] adds arrogance to guilt; and for him [/her] hell will be well-deserved, and how vile a resting place!" (2:204-6). "Even ifyou draw forth your hand toward me to kill me, I shall never draw forth my hand toward you to kill you; I fear God, the Lord 58 MOHAMED FATHI OSMAN ofthe whole universe. Let you bear my wrongdoings as well as yours, and then you would be destined for fire and that is the requital of evildoers" (5:28-29). "In consequence,We did ordain unto the children of Israel [and all believers who follow] that if anyone kills a human being-unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading damage on earthit shall be as though he had killed all humankind: whereas, if anyone saves a human life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all humankind" (5:32). Repelling evil with good "And a requital for a wrongdoing is equal to it, but whoever forgives and makes peace [with the other], his [/her] reward rests with God; He, verily, does not love the transgressors" (42:40). "But for any who defends himself [/herself] after having suffered injustice, no blame attaches to them; blame attaches but to those who are guilty of wrongdoing against [other] people and commit aggression on earth against all right ... but withal, if one is patient in adversity and forgives, this is what ought to be determined" (42:41-43). "And ifyou have to respond to an attack, respond only to the extent of the attack leveled against you; but to bear yourselves with patience is indeed far better for those who are patient in adversity" (16:126). "And it may well be that God will bring about affection between you and those whom you are facing now as enemies, and God is AllPowerful , and God is Much-Forgiving, Mercy-Giving" (60:7). "But good and evil cannot be equal, repel you [evil] with what is better, and so the one between whom and yourself was enmity, [may then become] as though he [/she] would be a close friend. Yet this is not given to any but those endowed with great destiny" (4:34-35). Resourcesfor nonviolence are at the center ofIslam The above-mentioned verses of the Qur'an, God's revealed Book to Prophet Muhammad, indicate essential Islamic precepts that provide GOD IS THE ALL-PEACE 59 a solid foundation for going beyond violence. God is the All-Peace who calls on the whole humankind in general and the Muslims in particular to enter all wholly into peace.The Creator oflife sharply condemns aggression and destroying life, whatever the delusive argument and rhetoric supporting such actions may be. Further, the Qur'an urges to repel the wrongdoing with self-control and reconciliation , for this is much rewarded in this world in dealing with the wrongdoer, who may be turned one day into a friend, and it is highly rewarded in the eternal life to come. Patience and selfcontrol are stressed in the Qur'an more than eighty-five times; forgiveness , not only patience, is stressed more than twenty times. In addition, there are basic doctrinal and moral principles that establish going beyond...