Witnesses of Mercy for Peace and Reconciliation

61 WITNESSING MERCY FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIAT ION you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,” connects religions with peace and mercy. Perhaps his letter to the Christians of Najran testifies of such, in which he said: “None of His bishops will change, nor monks, nor priests, nor any of their rights or powers, nor their closeness to Allah and His Prophet forever; what they made right and recommended for them is not afflicted with injustice and wrong-doers.” 6 To those of you in attendance, mercy in my religion is connected to: v Allah the Almighty the Gracious and Merciful v The messengers (PBUH) who brought mercy v The worshippers, for prayer begins with mention of mercy v Behaviour that begins with greetings of peace and mercy. Just as in any society, people draw closer towards prin- ciples and more separate according to those who abide by the principles, thus for some of them, their stance has been seen a deviation from mercy. By virtue of interest and specialisation, my experi- ence in dealing with terrorists and extremists is vast. In writing and in discussion, I have aimed to find a way to bring them to the way of Muhammad (PBUH) who has preserved rights for everyone who has them. My country is one of those that has been most affected by the extremism of terrorists who view reli- gion partially. They did not understand if they read what the Exalted One said, that: “Allah does not forbid you from befriending those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes – from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. Allah only forbids you from befriending those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion, and forbids that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers.” 7 I hope that my contributions in dealing with terrorism contribute to the spread of peace and mercy through- out the earth, such that groups and their countries are not subjected to plunder and violence. One of the great- est challenges to understanding mercy in Islam is the adoption of a partial view, similar to looking through a peephole, or relying on sunglasses to read a text. Thus, understanding becomes misunderstanding. We have been plagued by terrorists and those who misunderstand our religion, both of whom have a partial view. Media studies and writings have been affected by individuals and groups that are members of Islam. Islam has been charged with the actions of those individuals or groups. It is alleged that Islam has no mercy. Part of the effort in my studies, writings, and lectures is to discuss those who have an erroneous understanding of Islam, and to deal with this misunderstanding, and to show that it’s not right to judge a religion itself by the actions of individuals that profess that religion. These discussions