Not hounding a person out of anger

Not hounding a person out of anger

1985 10 October 16 Not hounding a person out of anger (36) Umar once said: “Do not be obsessive in love or destructive in hate.” “How’s that?” Aslam asked. “It is to act like child when in love, and to seek to destroy one you hate,” Umar replied.

Unadulterated Truth

1985 10 October 16 Unadulterated Truth (370) It is one thing to respect popular feeling, and quite another to have respect for the will of God. Movements which have respect for popular feeling very quickly achieve acclaim and prestige in their environment. The path before them is made relatively easy. Movements which are born of a respect for the Will of God, on the other hand, have to face stern hardships in their environment. The masses flock to the first type of movement, because they find it to be in accordance with their sentiments. The second type of movement, on the other hand, is contrary to the intellectual framework that they are used to; it contradicts things that people take for granted. That is why they can never accept such a movement. They demand that the word of God should be made to fit in with their temperament. When the preacher of the word of God does not fulfill their demand, they turn against them.

This is what happened to the Holy Prophet in Mecca. The Prophet called mankind to belief in one God, and one God alone; but the Quraish could not accept pure monotheism, because it would have adversely affected the saints that they revered; it would have forced them to change the way of life that they were used to; it would have meant overlooking their personal interests. So they asked the Prophet to make a compromise, and put his teachings in a way that they would not clash with Quraish opinion (Quran, 11:112, 10:15).

Under such conditions it was extremely difficult for the Prophet to call people to unadulterated truth. The Prophet was only human, and it was possible that he could have been inclined to compromise with his people, and consider their feelings; but God commanded him to have no regard for the truth alone, presenting God’s religion exactly as it was. This is the background to the statement of the Prophet when he was asked by Abu Bakr what had aged him. “Surah Hud and the like of it have aged me,” he replied. For it was in these surahs that the verses commanding him to adhere strictly to the word of God, and not bow to popular feeling, were revealed.