English book · Issues of Ijtihad

From Revenge to Violence

English book, p. 214

By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

From Revenge to Violence It often happens that when one person is hurt by another or when one group feels wronged by another, the desire for revenge is immediately sparked. They rise up to retaliate against the other party. Such people forget the warning echoed throughout history in silent words: before seeking revenge, think carefully, because revenge will ultimately be avenged. Thus, one party takes retaliatory action against the other, and then the second party again takes revenge on the first. In this way, the cycle continues until both are so damaged that they are no longer able to take further revenge. When an individual or group has a genuine grievance, the solution is not counteraction but forgiveness and moving forward. Forgiveness ends the conflict at the very first stage. However, if forgiveness is not shown, a chain of hatred, revenge, and violence begins that never ends. Revenge is directed at another, but the greatest victim is the one who seeks it. The high cost of a revenge-driven mindset is that a person’s mind turns into a factory of negative thoughts. Instead of using their resources for selfimprovement, they start using them to harm others. If the other party causes you fifty percent harm, then in your act of revenge, you end up wasting your remaining fifty percent of strength as well. Revenge means that after being attacked by a killer, a person then tries to kill themselves.

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