What It Means - Day 234

"Let there be no harming and no reciprocating harm."

Muhammad, Hadith (Nasr, Study Quran, p. 1165)

Here is one of the most famous, beloved and foundational ahadith, the sayings of the Prophet. It is about as definitive a statement of the fact that Islam is supposed to be a religion of peace as you could possibly imagine. Sadly, the popular perception of Islam is so at variance with this mandate. If I were going to send around this quiz what percentage would get it right?

Who said, "Let there be no harming and no reciprocating harm"?

a) Jesus

b) Mohandas Gandhi

c) Muhammad

d) All of the above

The biggest challenge that folks would have would be that, even if they couldn't place the quote exactly, they would mainly struggle with the fact that d couldn't be the correct answer because Islam is a violent religion that was spread at the point of a sword. Very few people would choose c as the answer.

To be fair, however, there are enough Muslims who could use this reminder as well.