Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 56
56 but if he is the wrongdoer, then embrace him and hug him hard and hold tight his oppressive hand and say, “Brother I stand by you, in all circumstances but Islam does not permit injustice and therefore I will not let your hand do wrong. ” This is the sacred principle that the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has laid down in this Hadith. It is incorrect to put on it the construction, as some do, that a particular language has been used by the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in this Hadith only for purposes of emphasis and that its gist postulates that if your brother is the aggrieved party you should help him but, if he be the wrongdoer, then line up against him. This is not only wrong but also a travesty of the wise wording of the Hadith. If that was the intention of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him), he could very well have enjoined a line-up against injustice, whether its perpetrator was an enemy or a brother. But he did not say so. On the contrary, in this command, he has formulated in the following terms a fine and novel postulate out of two apparent contradictories: 1. A brother is deserving of help in any case 2. Injustice must be resisted in any case If the brother is the aggrieved party, help him and, if he is the wrongdoer, then change the shape of the help by holding his aggressive hand, so that brotherliness is sustained, and injustice is also prevented. This is the compound theory which, fourteen centuries ago, the Prophet of Allah (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) put across to the world from the desert of Arabia. But until today, not one of the progressive nations of Europe or America have attained to its ethical height. If they made a pact of brotherhood with any nation to