Saturday, March 20, 2010

Faith and Common Sense: Humanising Islam

Ahmadiyya Times does not know Waris Shere, the Daily Times reader who wrote the following lines to the Daily Times Editor. Our staff came across these comments as they are in direct response to the article from Daily Times, 'A time to humanise Islam' by Ishtiaq Ahmed, cross-posted here.  


Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | Letters to the editor
Source & Credit: Daily Times | Pakistan
By Waris Shere | Winnipeg, Canada

Sir: I read with great interest Ishtiaq Ahmed’s brilliant piece titled ‘A time to humanise Islam’ (Daily Times, March 2, 2010). Indeed, as he has so correctly observed, there can be heard a screaming silence from the custodians of Islam — the ulema — on the execution of Jaspal Singh, probably because he was not a Muslim. The Muslim masses have not taken to the streets in protest because they have been conditioned to protest only when something is perceived to be anti-Islamic.


The barbaric beheading of a Sikh is indeed shameful and must be condemned by all civilised people, irrespective of one’s faith or race. Islam is, in fact, a religion that promotes peace and understanding among people of all faiths, and strongly prohibits all forms of violence and aggression against all people, regardless of their faith or race. Through the centuries, unfortunate deviations from the true teachings of Islam have taken place.

Receiving good treatment is the right of a non-Muslim under Islam, not just a matter of courtesy. The Quran instructs Muslims to treat non-Muslims courteously, with a spirit of kindness and generosity. The Prophet (PBUH) himself was the first person to put the divine commands into practice, followed by his caliphs and the general population of believers. The life story of the Prophet (PBUH) gives many instances of his kind, tolerant coexistence with non-Muslims. Some of his neighbours were also non-Muslims; the Prophet (PBUH) would be generous towards them and exchange gifts. He would also visit them when they fell sick and conducted business with them. It is sad to note that even when Muslims kill Muslims, the ulema and the masses usually keep quiet.



Read original letter here:  Humanising Islam

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.

Top read stories during last 7 days

Disclaimer!

THE TIMES OF AHMAD is NOT an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites. Times of Ahmad is an independently run and privately managed news / contents archival website; and does not claim to speak for or represent the official views of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Times of Ahmad assumes full responsibility for the contents of its web pages. The views expressed by the authors and sources of the news archives do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Times of Ahmad. All rights associated with any contents archived / stored on this website remain the property of the original owners.