Foreword

Foreword I t was January 12, 2015. I was lying on a bed in New Delhi’s Max Hospital, experiencing severe pain after surgery. The doctor eventually entered my room and said: ‘Don’t worry, this is a temporary phase. Soon everything will be normal.’ I had not slept the entire night and these words of the doctor set me thinking. I began to reflect upon those who were nowadays engaged in a self-styled holy war. These perpetrators of violence have made other people their target everywhere—in places of worship, markets, hotels, public places, even graveyards. The violence unleashed by them has led to the merciless killing of large numbers of innocent people. I was then reminded of a verse from the Quran which tells us that killing one human being is akin to killing all of mankind. (5:32) There are now more than seven billion people in the world. This means that those who kill even a single person deserve the punishment of killing seven billion people. I was very distressed when this thought came to my mind and I questioned myself as to how those who killed others would bear such severe punishment.