ISLAMIC CHARACTER

Islamic Character ~ 130 ~ become imma’a. By imma’a he meant one who made a point of returning good for good and evil for evil. The Prophet told his followers that they should instead form the habit of being good to those who were good to them, while refraining from wronging those who had wronged them. The same theme was taken up by the Prophet on another occasion when he said that the finest character out of all the inhabitants of both this world and the next was that of one who forged stronger ties with those who severed their ties with him, who gave to those who denied him and who forgave those who wronged him. The “sublime character” mentioned in the Quran has been interpreted in the same vein. One Quranic commentator says that we should “show forgiveness, enjoin justice and avoid the ignorant” as has been commanded by God in the Quran (7:199). A sublime character then has the capacity to show forgiveness in a situation where revenge might normally be sought; it spreads the message of good-will and justice wherever hate and oppression have taken root, it simply by-passes situations in which there is needless entanglement in disputes.