Justice without forgiveness is just revenge by another name. Breaking the cycle of oppression lies in building a future where even our enemies are safe
Well said, sir. The parties to the many conflicts in the region fundamentally do not want peace; they want to win. And a basic premise regarding human nature is that revenge is normal. Hence the call for submission to a transcendent authority. Unfortunately, the sacred depends upon the profane for all of its manifestations.
You say that forgiveness is maligned & misunderstood as weakness. In the Islamic mind, does that also mean shame/disgrace? In what circumstances, if any, is forgiveness seen as a positive thing in Islam?
How can that mindset be changed apart from Christianity in which forgiveness is both one of the greatest virtues and a requirement?
Islam actually upholds forgiveness as one of its highest virtues. Yet in Syria, and across much of the Middle East, cultural norms have recast forgiveness through the prism of power: the weak forgive, the strong avenge. This dynamic is further distorted by a common conflation of the aspirational with the real. Because we aspire to strength, we convince ourselves that retribution affirms it. Thus, we mistake the language of vengeance for the language of power—and, in doing so, lose sight of the deeper strength that lies in forgiveness.
Well said, sir. The parties to the many conflicts in the region fundamentally do not want peace; they want to win. And a basic premise regarding human nature is that revenge is normal. Hence the call for submission to a transcendent authority. Unfortunately, the sacred depends upon the profane for all of its manifestations.
You say that forgiveness is maligned & misunderstood as weakness. In the Islamic mind, does that also mean shame/disgrace? In what circumstances, if any, is forgiveness seen as a positive thing in Islam?
How can that mindset be changed apart from Christianity in which forgiveness is both one of the greatest virtues and a requirement?
Islam actually upholds forgiveness as one of its highest virtues. Yet in Syria, and across much of the Middle East, cultural norms have recast forgiveness through the prism of power: the weak forgive, the strong avenge. This dynamic is further distorted by a common conflation of the aspirational with the real. Because we aspire to strength, we convince ourselves that retribution affirms it. Thus, we mistake the language of vengeance for the language of power—and, in doing so, lose sight of the deeper strength that lies in forgiveness.