Principle 88 — Unilateral Tolerance

The Prophet of Islam said, “Forgive the one who wrongs you.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 17452) This is a teaching of great wisdom. Oppression can end only with forgiveness. Retaliation and counter oppression can never bring oppression to an end.

This saying of the Prophet of Islam is a teaching based on result-oriented action. If a person commits an act of oppression, the oppressed should first think that his response should be to alleviate rather than increase his oppression. By thinking in this manner, the oppressed will find that forgiving the oppressor is the greatest form of revenge. Without doubt, forgetting the oppression of the oppressor is the easiest way to end oppression. Forgiving the oppressor is not an act of cowardice, rather it pertains to high moral principles. One should forgive an oppressor as a matter of principle and not out of helplessness.