Islam and Peace
Limits of Tolerance
~ 120 ~
This proclamation of the U.N. is most apt and
timely. The prime need of the world today is indeed
tolerance.
One of the stark realities of life is that divergence of
views does exist between man and man, and that it
impinges at all levels. Be it at the level of a family or
a society, a community or a country, differences are
bound to exist everywhere. Now the question is
how best unity can be forged or harmony brought
about in the face of human differences.
Some people hold that the removal of all differences
is the sine quanon for bringing about unity. But, this
view is untenable, for the simple reason that, it is
not practicable. You may not like the thorns which
essentially accompany roses, but it is not possible
for you to pluck out all the thorns and destroy them
completely. For, if you pluck out one, another will
grow in its place. Even if you run a bulldozer over
all rosebushes, new plants will grow in their place
bearing roses which are ineluctably accompanied by
thorns. In the present scheme of things, roses can be
had only by tolerating the existence of thorns.
Similarly, a peaceful society can be created only by
