Through Force or Faith? — Page 42
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 42 leaves the hearts and minds. Peace cannot be established in the world until it is firmly driven into the minds of the people and governments that harbour the feeling of this racial, ethnic and national superiority—that we are all children of Adam and our being is the result of the union of man and woman under the laws of nature and, as human beings, we are all equal in the sight of God. In God’s sight, if one is superior, it is on the basis of right- eousness; and whose level of righteousness is higher is known only to God. No one is to judge his own righteousness as he is not to determine its standard, for he cannot estimate its quality. Therefore, Allah, the Exalted, says that your rank, or you being better or higher than another human being, has nothing to do with your race or tribe or colour or your wealth or your high standing in your society. The superiority of a nation is not in its dominion over weaker people. These secular powers and govern- ments may have a rank in the eyes of the world, but not in the sight of God, the Exalted. And what is not acceptable in the sight of God, the Exalted, cannot succeed in the apparently good objec- tives for which it is being used. Islam considers all human beings to be one family. When they will live like a family, they will care for each other’s welfare just as the members of a family, who have mutual love and affection, care for each other. In this verse, Allah, the Exalted, has defined the concept of tribes and nations as a means to help recognize each other whether a Pakistani, a German or an African. Otherwise, as a race, you are all human. The emotions that a rich person has are the same as that of one who is poor. The emotions of a European are the same as that of an African. The emotions that those from the east have