Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 172
172 punished merely out of revenge for the wrong done by him. If on the other hand, punishment would prove more salutary than forgiveness, then he should be punished, and not forgiven out of mere squeamishness, for, otherwise, he would be deprived of a chance of reforming himself, and it would be cruel and not merci- ful to forgive in such a case. A person, therefore, who realizes that forgiveness or punishment would be more effective in reforming a wrong-doer, and yet adopts a contrary course, is guilty of cruelty in the sight of God, even if he has forgiven, for forgiveness, in such a case, amounts to intentional injury to another person’s mor- als. The Holy Prophet sa has expressed the same thing in other words. He says, 'Human actions are those that are the result of intention. ' 74 An act done under the influence of a natural in- stinct or passion cannot be called a human or a moral act; it is the working of an animal instinct or passion. A horse or a donkey, under the circumstances, would have acted in the same manner. A human or a moral act must be the result of deliberation and design. This would show that Islam has realized the true significance of morals and has prescribed rules of conduct in accordance with it. Therefore, only those religions can be compared with it whose moral teach- ings are based on the same conception of morals. To 74 Bukh a r i.