No religion or ideology is misunderstood today as is Islam. Media distortion and Islamophobia created a heavy curtain that made it very difficult for a person (especially in the West) to access authentic Islamic literature. In this post, I wanted to bring in a few Islamic contents (only one sample) from the plethora of evidence from the Quran and Hadith (i.e., Sayings of Prophet Muhammad) on the importance of good behavior and helping others.
Inspired by such texts, early Muslim society showed the world the best civilization that guaranteed social inclusion and spread morality and peace on earth.
Here is one Hadith:
A man came to the Prophet and asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, who is most beloved to Allah? and which deed is most beloved to Allah?’.
In reply the Prophet said:
The most beloved of mankind to Allah is the one who is most beneficial to other fellow human kinds. And the most beloved deed to Allah is a cheerfulness you bring to a Muslim or alleviate his hardship, or check his hunger, or pay for his debt.
The Prophet continued:
I would rather walk with a brother in his need than staying (i.e., Itikaf) inside my mosque (i.e, Medina Mosque) for a month!
He who was able to check his anger, Allah will cover his private parts.
And he who concealed his wrath in a situation where he could -if wished- have taken revenge, Allah will fill his heart with satisfaction on the day of judgment.
And he who walks with his brother for a need until it is fulfilled, Allah will make his feet stand firm on a day when feet start to tremble and fall apart.
How can one expect harm from a community who try to live a life guided by such inspirations!
One unique aspect you would notice is the motivation and incentive to do good in Islam. Apart from inner satisfaction one gets when helping others, is the role of the Day of Judgment. The belief that every action we do is been watched by Allah, and recorded and brought into accountability on a day of judgment, and that entails reward or punishment is a great mechanism that governs Muslims life and action.
This self-regulatory power has done wonder in bringing order and peace in Muslim society. Take the example of the prohibition of alcohol in Islam. When it was made Haram (i.e., illegal), then with such Allah-is-always-watching feeling needed no police or CCTV or anything else. It is never the power of fear of Allah alone that brought the magic, it is the balance between the love of Allah and fear of Allah that regulated the life of Muslims and felt happy when abandoning his desires and temptations for the sake of Allah.
With such attitude and ideology, the Muslim army went to foreign lands as ambassadors of peace not -as the West strive to portray Mulism - as bloodthirsty barbarians.
Take Palestine and compare how Muslims first entered Jerusalem with peace in 637 AD, and how the Crusaders sacked the city in 1099 AD killing thousands and compare that to how the Muslim leader Saladin re-took it again peacefully in 1187 AD.
Read about the code of conduct each Muslim soldier need to adhere to when in the battlefield.
- do not betray
- do not mutilate the dead
- do not kill children or old or women
- do not uproot or burn palm trees or any fruit bearing trees
- do not slaughter goat, sheep, cow or camel
- do not scare the worshiper when they are in their solitude inside churches and synagogues
If such are the codes at times of war when by nature armies seek revenge, what can one expect at times of peace?
Muslims never sought plunder and greed when marching to foreign lands. They were carrying an ideology that satisfied the heart and minds of the indigenous population, so they themselves willingly embraced this new religion and its new language. So, places like Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Morocco and others who were the first Muslim communities outside the Arabian peninsula became Arabs by the adoption of the Arabic language of the Muslim army and were never Arabs by ethnic lineage.
Contrast that with the European colonist when they plundered Latin America, Africa, India, Australia, and other lands. What code of conduct they had at wartime and what ethics they had at peacetime?
My humble request to you - my dear reader - to search in alternative media for non-biased contents about Muslims. Try to hold on authentic translations of the Quran, Hadith and Muslim history both at wartime and peacetime, and reach to your own conclusion.
You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah [Quran 3:110]