Why do muslims promote racial harmony

The Qur'an teaches that justice applies to all humankind, of all faiths:. All people, regardless of their origin, are equal in Islam and the only thing that distinguishes them is their level of commitment to their religion. The Qur'an states that people should be fair with each other to help achieve a balanced and harmonious society:.

The quote below shows that non-Muslims' beliefs should be respected and that forcibly converting people to Islam is considered wrong.

Racism in any form is considered unacceptable and wrong. He is the Hearer, the Knower. Moreover, except in limited cases, it does not permit the use of force. Although the Qur'an recognizes the right to retribution its adherents, it is also a reward for forgiveness.

So in ash-Shura it says: The retribution of a bad action is one equivalent to it. However, whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, his reward lies with Allah. He does not love the unjust. This principie is so important in Islam that even if the enemy becomes cowardly, it does not endorse the deviation from human values. So after the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet of Islam said instead of revenge and bloodshed today is a day of mercy.

Therefore, the distinction between aggression and defense must be distinguished; aggression is unlawful but defense is permissible under certain circumstances. The Qur'an has even forbidden Muslims from re- proaching. We made attractive to every com- munity their deeds. In his defensive battles, the Prophet of Islam best practiced human and moral principles, even treating his most vicious enemies with humane behavior. During the Hunayn war, he granted the majority of captives mercy and returned their property to them.

In the conquest of Mecca that some Muslims used to chant that today is the day of vengeance, but the Prophet said to them today is a day of mercy, then told the people of Mecca and the leaders of their war, you are all free and there is no worry for you.

The Prophet of Islam during the wars never deprived the enemy of drinking water. In the Kheybar battle he was strongly opposed when he was offered the opportunity to close the waterway or poison the drinking water in the fortress, and forbade the spread of poison in the city of enemies and in general everywhere.

During the war, the Prophet said: Do not kill women, children and the elders and do not burn palm trees and crops. Imam Ali PBUH also commands his soldiers: Never start a war with the enemy unless they start, do not kill the fugitives, do not attack the wounded, don't go into their homes, don't attack women, and don't scold anyone. Ibn al-Jouzi, : The teachings of Islam invite people to live a peaceful life based on theism, justice and purity. Therefore, peace in Islam is an eternal constitution.

Even the nature of war in Islam is a defensive one, not an offensive one, because the principle of Islam is peace and coexistence, not conflict, violence and war. In many verses of the Qur'an, God has allowed Muslims to fight only for defense.

Therefore, war in Islam is a secondary principle, not a primary one. The third principle in creating a culture of peace and a non-violent society is to pay attention to the spiritual self-awareness inherent in our human nature that can move people away from violence.

Human nature has a tendency for peace and friendship. Enjoying compassion, and love for others is part of our human nature. Violence is not our nature. Basically, non-violent relationships can bring us closer to our nature and help us connect and return to what is truly a pleasing way of life, one that con tributes to one another's well-being and comfort.

Human nature tends to peace, and not violence; violence comes from how we learn, not from our human nature. The Islamic teachings attempt to invite people to global peace and a peaceful life on the basis of theism, justice and piety. So, in Islam peace is an immortal and primary law. Allah loveth not aggressors. This interpretation of peace which is based on Qur'anic teachings can develop a widespread peace around the world and terminate conflicts in many places.

In spite of these principles of peace in Islamic cultural heritage, we question the reason behind the violence in some Islamic societies; violence in various dimensions of direct or structural violence or cultural violence. To respond to this question, I would say that since there are many types of interpretation of Islamic doctrines from different points of view, and within different Islamic communities, hence, we are faced with the conflicting voices in some fields.

However, we should not forget that there are conflicting voices within other religions as well. It must be stressed at this point that the problem is not with religion per se.

It is not the philosophy or the doctrines, it is not the practices or the rituals, which are the issue. Rather, it is our interpretation of religion which constitutes the problem. It is the meaning we attach to certain doctrines and rituals which creates difficulties. Over the centuries, most adherents of most of the faiths have developed an exclusive view of their particular religious tradition. God is seen as the God of their particular group.

Truth and justice, love and compassion, are perceived as values which are exclusive to their religion. The unity that they seek is invariably the unity of their own kind. Their religion -they are passionately convinced- is superior to other religions. This Islamic theory of peace culture is misused in some Islamic societies because of poor knowledge of Islamic teachings or due to wrong education. And there are different interpretations of religion and its foundations among Muslims and there are also misunderstandings of Islamic teachings.

There is no question that the problem is not with the essence of Islam but with the problem of understanding and interpreting Islam. As a result, people are drawn into violence, war and strife because of some misunderstandings and misinterpretations of Islam's teachings.

One of the main causes of misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Islamic teachings, is Fundamentalism, and the avoidance of rationality. The use of reason in understanding, and interpreting religion, has always been the subject of serious disputes among scholars throughout the history of religion.

As a result of Fundamentalism, and the avoidance of rationality in the religious teachings, the individual has adopted a religious exclusivist approach and considers himself just and salvable, and that all other religions are void and misleading.

One prominent example is the idea of Salafist religious exclusivist. There is no doubt that education in any society can play a key role in human development and consequently in the growth and development of that society. Education in any society will play an important role in the cultivation of knowledgeable people and in the development of culture, social order and cohesion, the development of civic institutions and thus the development, progress and excellence of society.

The human factor is the most important factor in the development, growth and development of a society. Therefore, in our age of information explosion, education can be the most effective factor in solving political and social challenges.

It is so important that some social science experts have said that without cultural and social development, economic development would not be possible.

Sadovnik, : 7. My definite suggestion for the realization of a society free of violence and a culture of peace is primarily to teach peace discourse in society. It has to become a public culture. The discourse of peace must be incorporated as an approach to the educational system. As a matter of fact, some countries have incorporated the discourse of peace into their educational system literature.

From kindergarten and elementary school to university level, where there should be a department of peace and conflict resolution.

To avoid conflicts and violence in societies on the one hand, cultural and religious pluralism must be accepted, interactions and friendship must be pursued, and on the other hand to reject exclusivism.

Religious tolerance, which is based on the teachings of Islam must be followed. We must learn to embrace cultural and religious pluralism on the one hand, and pursue interactions, friendships and rejection of exclusivism on the other hand to tolerate dissent. In our time, there is an urgent need for good philosophical arguments for religious toleration in the encounter with religious diversity. They might reinforce settled habits of toleration and justify teaching toleration to people in society.

The Kantian response to religious diversity is the view that all religious claims are on a par with respect to truth, because all teach the same thing or make the same claim. The essential content of the former, of pure religious faith, is the understanding of all moral duties as given by God. Kant held that this content -the claim that all moral duties are given by God- is present in all particular religions. This fundamental religious claim is discoverable and justifiable by reason alone, unaided by revelation, scripture and the like.

The Kantian strategy has two essential parts: one is the reduction of all religious claims to a single fundamental claim, and second is the view that the claims of all actual religious communities bear approximately the same relation to this fundamental claim. There is no public evidence that any one religion is unique or superior to others and thus has closer access to Ulti- mate Reality. John Hick, a contemporary advocator of a broadly Kantian strategy on religious diversity holds that there are indeed genuine differences and at least apparent incompatibilities among the claims of different religious communities.

He divides these differences into three categories: incompatibilities with respect to historical matters, quasi-historical or trans-historical matters, and the ways of conceiving and experiencing religious beliefs. Hick holds that these incompatibilities that different religions claim are not important in religious regards. Hick describes the Real in terms of the following functions:. Hick, : Muhammed Legenhausen has argued that in the Qur'an we have a pluralist position that tries to explain contradictions, better than Hick does:.

Various means to resolve the contradictions are suggested in the Qur'an itself. See: , , It is also claimed that what was revealed to the different prophets was the same, so that contradictions among creeds must be due to content apart from what was revealed.

See: , , , Religious differences are generally explained in the Qur'an as having arisen from sin: from pride in the partial truth each of the different groups has possessed and form envy. See: , , , Legenhausen, : According to Qur'an, God ordained other religions by means of His prophets prior to His final revelation. However, the teaching of Judaism and Christianity were not incorrect.

They were different paths towards God in different circumstances. For this reason, all of the divine religions are called Islam in the general sense of complete submission to the com- mands of Allah. While Muhammdian Islam used for the final revelation which is a specific sense of Islam. This seems to articulate an exclusivist position but some theologians interpreted the verse as a form of Islamic pluralism and remarked that by Islam here meant the general sense of complete submission to the commands of Al- lah; so all of the divine religions are called Islam.

Since the tradition we are most familiar with is Islam, we shall draw our arguments from that tradition, though it must be emphasized that most of the other religions have an equally strong com- mitment to a unity transcending the boundaries of class, community and creed.

The fact that the primary purpose of Islam is to achieve the unity of humankind is clearly enunciated in the Qur'an itself. The Qur'an says that this was the truth that was revealed to Abraham and to Noah and to Moses and to Jesus.

In fact, it makes it very clear that every community on earth has received this universal truth. In the words of the Qur'an, there is not a nation but a warner has passed among them And what is this universal truth? It is belief in God and doing good. This is lucidly explained in a Qur'anic verse. And they say none shall enter paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian, these are their vain wishes.

Say 'Bring your proof if you are truthful; yes! Whosoever submits himself to Allah and he is a doer of good, for him there shall be his reward with his Lord, on such shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. The Jews say. Thus do those who know not [I. But Allah will Judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. While the Qur'an is opposed to sectarianism, it accepts that there are different ways of reaching the universal truth.

Had God willed He could have made you one community. The Quran said personal piety and deeds were the basis for merit, not tribal affiliation — an alien and potentially destabilizing message in a society built on nasab. As is often the case with revolutionary movements, early Islam encountered fierce opposition from many elites.

Early Muslims included young men from less influential tribes escaping that stigma and slaves who were promised emancipation by embracing Islam. However, the potential of gender equality in Islam would become compromised by the rise of patriarchal societies.

Early Islam also attracted non-Arabs, outsiders with little standing in traditional Arab society. These included Salman the Persian, who traveled to the Arabian peninsula seeking religious truth, Suhayb the Greek, a trader, and an enslaved Ethiopian named Bilal. An enslaved servant of a Meccan aristocrat named Umayya, Bilal was persecuted by his owner for embracing the new faith.

Bilal was exceptionally close to Muhammad, too.