Yahya - Justice and Tolerance in the Qur'an (2003)

48
JUSTICE AND TOLERANCE IN THE OUR'AN
5:32) It is a very serious crime to slay even a single innocent
person.
On the other hand, anti-Semites and other racists baulk at
living together in peace with people of different races or
creeds. (eg. German racists (Nazis) and Jewish racists
(Zionists) were opposed to Germans and Jews living
together. Both sides rejected it, citing concern for the
degeneration of their respective races.) However, in the
Qur'an, there is not the slightest distinction between races;
the Qur'an advises that people of different faiths live together
in the same society in peace and happiness.
The Qur'an even discriminates between those who do not
believe in God and religion and those who are actively
hostile to it. God commands Muslims to make their position
clear to those who are hostile, while He orders them to treat
with justice to those who do not show such hostility:
God does not forbid you from being good to those who
have not fought you over religion or driven you from
your homes, or from being just towards them. God
loves those who are just. God merely forbids you from
taking as friends those who have fought you over
religion and driven you from your homes and who
supported your expulsion. Any who take them as
friends are wrongdoers. (Qur'an, 60:8-9)
In the Qur'an, we are commanded not to make
judgements about people just because they belong to a
particular race, nation or religion. In every community, there
are good people as well as wicked people. The Qur'an draws
attention to this differentiation. For instance, right after