The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 22
22. Essence of Islam-III bearance on every occasion. Had man been told merely to exercise forgiveness and forbearance, hundreds of moral acts that depend upon indignation and retribution would have become impossible. Human nature, which makes man what he is, is that God has invested man as much with the faculty of forgiveness and forbearance as with the sentiment of indignation and revenge. God has placed reason over all these faculties as the arbiter. . Therefore, man realizes his true humanity when both these types of faculties are exercised under the control of reason. That is to say, these faculties should be like the subjects and reason should, like a just ruler, be occupied with fostering them, enhancing their beneficence, settling their conflicts and resolving their difficulties. . For instance, on occasion one gets angry whereas it is gentleness that is really called for. On such occasions, reason intervenes to restrain the anger and activates gentleness. And at times the occasion demands anger but gentleness takes hold instead. On such an occasion, reason rouses anger and quells gentleness. In short, in-depth research shows that man has been sent into this world well equipped with a variety of faculties; perfection of his nature lies in exercising every faculty on its proper occasion; there should be anger when anger is called for and mercy when mercy is needed and not that there should be only gentleness and all other faculties should remain suspended and inactive. The display of gentleness on its proper occasion is an excellence, but the tree of man's nature which has many branches would not be considered perfect by the flourishing of only one branch. . It would only be considered complete when all its branches flourish and no branch exceeds or falls short of its appropriate norm.