Dear Believers!
According to our great religion, Islam, the body, the person, the dignity, the chastity, and the honor of every human being, whether a man or a woman, a child or an elderly person, are inviolable. For this reason, no person may seek to harm another person’s life, property, or personal rights. No person has the right to act in a manner that might jeopardize the respect and dignity of another person. No person may act in a way or have an attitude that might cause harm to any living or non-living being.
Dear Muslims!
Violence knows no religion, language, race, geography, or social status. No form of violence, regardless of its source, can ever be acceptable. The wrath of our Lord (swt), the curse of angels, and everything that exists on the land and in the skies are all directed against oppressors who resort to violence and take lives that Allah (swt) sees as sacred. There is only disgrace for them in this world. Hell is their only destination in the Afterlife.
Dear Believers!
According to our religion, what matters most is compassion, mercy, and keeping alive. What matters most is not to attempt against or harm a soul Allah (swt) regards innocent. In this respect, it is stated in our divine book the Holy Qur’an as follows, “…Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”[１]
What falls upon us is to gird ourselves with mercy at all times and act with compassion and conscience. We should make compassion and love, affection and kindness an integral part of our lives. We should never forget that breaking a heart is a sin worse than destroying the Ka’bah, not to mention resorting to violence. We must constantly remember that we are the heirs of a civilization whose members refrained from even harming an ant.
May our Lord Almighty (swt) bless us with the ability to make mercy reign supreme in our hearts first, and then throughout the face of the earth.
[１] Ma’idah, 5/32.
FRIDAY KHUTBA OF TOKYO CAMİİ “VIOLENCE AND HUMAN DIGNITY NEVER GO TOGETHER AND HIS SERVANTS“.(PDF)