FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Dr Farida Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Sufism’ and ‘A Study of World’s Major Religions’. She has translated into English many books authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently the chairperson of CPS International, she is a regular contributor of articles to various publications. Dr Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
RELIGION AND HUMANITY
GOD tells us in the Quran: “We have indeed honoured the Children of Adam, and provided for them means of transportation on land and sea, and given them wholesome food and exalted them high above the greater part of Our creation.” (17: 70)
This shows that man by his very creation deserves regard and respect. This respect is man’s natural birth right, regardless of which community he belongs to.
According to a Hadith: “That person is not one of us who is not merciful to our younger ones and respectful to our elders.” According to another Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said, “One who believes in God and the Last Day must honour his neighbours; one who believes in God and the Last Day must honour his guests.”
Anyone, even if belonging to a religion you follow or of any other religious tradition, whether he belongs to one community or another; whether he belongs to friendly group or an opponent group, in all cases is worthy of respect.
There are a number of such commands to the believers in the Quran and the corpus of Hadith which lay great stress on showing due respect to humankind. For this is an important area in which we are actually being tested about our faith in God. Our love and devotion for God finds expression in this world in the form of our relations with other human beings. One who is a true lover of God has an inner urge to love all of God's creation.
Respect for humankind is one of the basic teachings of lslam. Anyone, even if belonging to a religion you follow or of any other religious tradition, whether he belongs to one community or another; whether he belongs to friendly group or an opponent group, in all cases is worthy of respect. According to the teachings of Islam, human beings are to be respected, despite their differences. Even where antagonism is displayed, we have to adopt the way of avoidance of conflict and continue to show respectful behaviour. In the eyes of Islam, all human beings are equal and deserve our respect.
Dr. Farida Khanam
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.