Tom H. C. Anderson said, upon completion of his analysis assessing if the Holy Quran was more violent than the Holy Bible, “Personally, I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised that the concept of ‘mercy’ was most prevalent in the Quran.”
As the fear of Islam continues to permeate society, non-Muslims find themselves questioning the source of Islam’s foundation, the Holy Quran, as a source of disorder. Since extremists allege to use the Holy Quran for their nefarious behavior, the Holy Quran is often erroneously portrayed negatively, leading people to believe that the Holy Quran is perhaps a source of violence. While extremists and opponents to Islam choose to cherry-pick verses to create this negative perception, the True Islam and the Extremists campaign hopes to educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about the inherently peaceful teachings of Islam. The True Islam campaign invites introspection for both Muslims and non-Muslims to comprehend fully the mercy that God is extending within the Holy Quran.
Since verses in any religious book can be distorted by incorrect interpretation, it is important to analyze and understand the value of such scriptures for their followers. Most holy scriptures typically discuss good and evil and provide a guide toward the right course of action. For those scrutinizing the Holy Quran, it may be noteworthy to acknowledge that almost every place where punishment is mentioned in the Quran the mercy of God is also mentioned, such as, “O My servants who have sinned against their souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah, surely, Allah forgives all sins. Verily, He is Most Forgiving, Ever-Merciful.” (39:54).
Verse after verse, the Holy Quran reminds people who have done wrong that God forgives people simply by them asking for forgiveness, as noted in the verses, “And those who, when they commit a foul deed or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins and who can forgive sins except Allah? And do not knowingly persist in what they do. It is these whose reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide, and excellent is the reward of good workers.” (3:136-137). These verses leave one to ponder: If any punishment was indeed set in stone, then why would the door of forgiveness be open? Similar verses are found throughout the Holy Quran. And while some may think an exhaustive search of verses throughout the Holy Quran is needed to shed light on its mercy, a simple examination of the first chapter of the Quran provides clarity of God’s mercy immediately for the reader.
The opening chapter of the Holy Quran, titled Al-Fatiha, has been acknowledged by Muslim scholars as a chapter that summarizes the entire Holy Quran. This first chapter establishes a balance between fear and hope of God. The chapter opens the first two verses with the praise of God and establishment of his oneness. The third verse summarizes the characteristics of God by only using two of his numerous attributes: “The Gracious, the Merciful.” By only stating these two attributes out of the 99 mentioned in the Holy Quran, it expresses that God’s blessings are immense and that he is indeed very merciful. In the fourth verse, “Master of the Day of Judgement,” God indicates that our actions throughout our lives will be judged. Immediately the reader can reflect that God mentions his mercy before he draws attention to the Day of Judgment in this first chapter. By placing mercy and graciousness before judgment, the reader is safe to summarize that mankind will always be forgiven by God since his mercifulness is in abundance.
God, in the Quran, does establish his authority by asking his believers to fear him. This pattern has been witnessed in the Old and New Testament as well. But in the Holy Quran, God tells his believers to fear him, but that fear should be in the form of fear of the loss of his favors, fear of the loss of his love, fear of the loss of his help, and so forth. It is in this fear that his believers are to pray for closeness to him and for forgiveness as mentioned in the verse, “And create not disorder in the earth after it has been set in order, and call upon Him in fear and hope. Surely, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those who do good.” (7:57)
The actions of extremists cannot justify the claim that the Quran is a book of violence, or that God encourages Muslims to be violent. The Holy Quran, in essence, is a book of mercy for its followers. This holy scripture is filled with guidelines for the believers to follow, and if one falters, he or she still has a chance at mercy before punishment. Those who choose to distort the verses of the Holy Quran for their diabolical agenda can be stopped with campaigns such as the True Islam and the Extremists effort. It is the goal of the campaign to deter anyone from believing that the Holy Quran sanctions any form of violence towards humanity. Should anyone require further clarification, please visit the trueislam.com website to request a free copy of the Holy Quran.
Ramlah Malhi Saifi is an associate member of the True Islam and the Extremists campaign, trueislam.com. Saifi is based in Santa Maria. Send comments to the editor at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 18-25, 2016.
