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Understanding, tolerance
and forgiveness
According to Allah's command,
"… Be good to your parents
and relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to neighbours
who are related to you and neighbours who are not related to you,
and to companions and travellers and your slaves"
in verse 36 of
Surat an-Nisa', believers behave well towards those around them.
They are never quarrelsome, contrary or negative but interact with
people positively and correctly. Because they live according to the
teachings of the Qur'an, they display a character that is conciliatory
and open to communication. They know that the anger, quarrel-
someness and argumentativeness of those who live without the
deen have no place in the way taught by the Qur'an. For this rea-
son, they are forgiving, tolerant and try to see the good in the other.
In the Qur'an, Allah draws our attention to this as an expression of
a superior character:
But if someone is steadfast and forgives, that is the most res-
olute course to follow. (Surat ash-Shura: 43)
Allah commands us to be understanding, tolerant and forgiv-
ing toward others. He commands this in the following verse:
Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should
not make oaths that they will not give to their relatives and the
very poor and those who have emigrated in the way of Allah.
They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love
Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Surat an-Nur: 22)
For this reason, a believer is careful to treat any believer he has
to deal with in his daily life with understanding and tolerance. For
example, he will be understanding towards a believer who makes
noise and wakes him up in the morning. He knows that he acts only
by Allah's decree; Allah wanted him to wake up at that moment
24 Hours in the Life of a Muslim
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