Precious words on the character of tolerance, and is tolerance praised in every situation, even regarding the killer?
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Question : What is the nobility of character?
Answer : That a person is always tolerant, or that he is tolerant where tolerance is appropriate and takes the firm stance where the firm stance is required. For this reason, the Islamic religion came as a middle path between the tolerance that leads to the loss of rights and the firm stance that may lead to injustice. So we give an example of qisas (retaliation in kind), which is killing a soul for a soul. It is mentioned that the laws of the Children of Israel regarding qisas were divided into two sections. One section made killing obligatory, with no choice for the awliya (guardians) of the murdered person. This is the law of the Torah, because the law of the Torah leans toward harshness and severity. The other section leans toward, yes, it made forgiveness obligatory, it made forgiveness obligatory, and it stated that if a person kills intentionally, the duty of his awliya is tolerance. This is what we read in the transmitted books, meaning we have not come across a text of the Gospel, otherwise the original law of the Gospel is the law of the Torah. And Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:45] But in what is transmitted from the books of the Children of Israel, we hear this. So the Islamic religion came as a middle path.
And it gave the choice to the awliya of the murdered: if they wish, they kill in qisas, and they have the right to do so; if they wish, they forgive for free; and if they wish, they take the diyah (blood money). So the matter became broad in this regard. And it is known that every rational person, when given a choice in such matters, will choose what is in the public interest, prioritizing it over everything. For example, if this man is wicked, meaning the killer, and the awliya of the murdered love money and say, "We want to forgive in exchange for the diyah because we are in need and have no money," we say this is not wisdom. Look at the public interests, and if you leave something for Allah, Allah will compensate you with something better. Kill this killer. For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, following Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), made it obligatory to kill the killer who kills by ambush, even if the awliya forgive, even if he has young children who need money, it is obligatory that he be killed. Because killing by ambush cannot be escaped from, since the person is killed in a state where he cannot defend himself, and the one who kills by ambush is a corrupter in the land, and[Al-Ma'idah 5:33], may Allah have mercy on you. Now, what are the noble qualities of character?
Now, the noble qualities of character are that a person adopts the noble character that combines justice and excellence in worship, taking the firm stance where firmness is required and gentleness and ease where gentleness and ease are required.
Answer : That a person is always tolerant, or that he is tolerant where tolerance is appropriate and takes the firm stance where the firm stance is required. For this reason, the Islamic religion came as a middle path between the tolerance that leads to the loss of rights and the firm stance that may lead to injustice. So we give an example of qisas (retaliation in kind), which is killing a soul for a soul. It is mentioned that the laws of the Children of Israel regarding qisas were divided into two sections. One section made killing obligatory, with no choice for the awliya (guardians) of the murdered person. This is the law of the Torah, because the law of the Torah leans toward harshness and severity. The other section leans toward, yes, it made forgiveness obligatory, it made forgiveness obligatory, and it stated that if a person kills intentionally, the duty of his awliya is tolerance. This is what we read in the transmitted books, meaning we have not come across a text of the Gospel, otherwise the original law of the Gospel is the law of the Torah. And Allah the Exalted said:
And We ordained for them therein a life for a life
وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِAnd it gave the choice to the awliya of the murdered: if they wish, they kill in qisas, and they have the right to do so; if they wish, they forgive for free; and if they wish, they take the diyah (blood money). So the matter became broad in this regard. And it is known that every rational person, when given a choice in such matters, will choose what is in the public interest, prioritizing it over everything. For example, if this man is wicked, meaning the killer, and the awliya of the murdered love money and say, "We want to forgive in exchange for the diyah because we are in need and have no money," we say this is not wisdom. Look at the public interests, and if you leave something for Allah, Allah will compensate you with something better. Kill this killer. For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, following Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), made it obligatory to kill the killer who kills by ambush, even if the awliya forgive, even if he has young children who need money, it is obligatory that he be killed. Because killing by ambush cannot be escaped from, since the person is killed in a state where he cannot defend himself, and the one who kills by ambush is a corrupter in the land, and
Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land
إِنَّمَا جَزَاءُ الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا أَن يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم مِّنْ خِلَافٍ أَوْ يُنفَوْا مِنَ الْأَرْضِNow, the noble qualities of character are that a person adopts the noble character that combines justice and excellence in worship, taking the firm stance where firmness is required and gentleness and ease where gentleness and ease are required.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 159 - 178 كلام نفيس عن خلق التسامح وهل يمدح التسامح في كل حال حتى عن القاتل؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
