Through Force or Faith? — Page 284
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 284 َو اَل ِغْبَت َداَسَفْلا يِف ِضْرَاْلا َّنِا َهّٰللا اَل ُّبِحُي َنْيِدِسْفُمْلا …and seek not to make mischief in the earth, verily Allah loves not those who make mischief ( S u rah al-Qa s a s , 28:78). As the older religions were not universal, we are not expected to find any instructions in them about international affairs. For the first time, Islam threw light on international relations. Islam declared that all nations are equal ( S u rah an-Nis a’ , 4:2, S u rah al- H ujur a t, 49:14). No nation is ‘children’ of God, and other are ‘dogs’ as is the opinion of the Bible (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Amos 3:2; Matthew 15: 26). The Holy Prophet s as said that no Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, and no white has any superiority over black (Musnad Ahmad bin H anbal; B ā qī Musnad Al-Ansar, Number 22391). The Bible said that progeny of Ham shall always be slaves of others, and the Jews have said that Ham’s progeny was black (Genesis 9:24, and its interpretation Babylonian Talmud, Sandhedrin 108 B). Islam also presented the teachings that differ- ences between races and tribes are only for the sake of identifica- tion and recognition. God is not a relative of anyone; whoever will listen to Him and submit to Him, being righteous, shall be close to Him and shall be loved by Him: َدْنِع ِهّٰللا ْمُكىٰقْتَا١ؕ َّنِا َهّٰللا ٌمْيِلَع ٌرْيِبَخاَهُّيَاٰۤي ُساَّنلا اَّنِا ْمُكٰنْقَلَخ ْنِّم ٍرَكَذ َّو ىٰثْنُا َو ْمُكٰنْلَعَج اًبْوُعُش َّو َلِٕىٓاَبَق اْوُفَراَعَتِل١ؕ َّنِا ْمُكَمَرْكَا O mankind, We have created you from male and female; and We have made you into clans and tribes that you may recognize one another. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most