ONE of Karen Armstrong’s less-known pieces of writing is a Letter to Pakistan, a booklet whose focus is on peace, kindness and forgiveness as the central feature of Islam and the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). She has a more original piece of advice for Pakistan: compassion should be made part of the curriculum in Pakistani schools, colleges and universities.

Given the hate wave sweeping across Pakistan, this is a sound bit of advice if we realise that compassion is the one component that is absent from Pakistanis’ theory and practice of Islam. Ms Armstrong feels for Pakistanis, because they had “so generously welcomed” her and because the country is being mauled by terrorism.

The British scholar begins by defining two concepts that are diametrically opposite — Islam and jahiliyyah. Originally, she says, Islam was known as tazakkah, which means “refinement, generosity, chivalry”. Its contrast, jahiliyyah, meant “hot-tempered, prone to anger and resentment”. While the unbelievers of Makkah were “brimful of self-importance”, Islam centred itself on the surrender of the ego. In fact, because Muslims were ridiculed and persecuted, the Quran urged them to practise sabr (patience), not retaliate violently and encourage one another to be steadfast.

Iman (faith), she says, requires not only courage in the face of aggression and ill-treatment, it also has “connotations of safety and protection”. She quotes Rumi as saying that “wrath is the distinctive characteristic of kafirun”.

According to Ms Armstrong, plurality is ingrained in the Quran. Muslims are “fortunate” to have a book like the Quran, because, she says, it is “unique in its positive view” of other peoples and other religious traditions. “There is nothing like Quranic pluralism in either the Torah or the Gospel”. Religious diversity is God’s will, because it was the unbelievers who thought their ways were inherently superior to others and who brooked no dissent. On the contrary, the Quran says (5:48) “…And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single ummah. …”

Even though she is talking about TV talk shows in the Western world, the writer’s words hold true for Pakistan. “Do they always know what they are talking about?” she asks. They talk about all subjects under the sun. But if you question them closely you will find out that “the amount of reliable information they possess could often comfortably be contained on a mall postcard”.

She emphasises the etiquettes and manners of debate, and cautions against discourse that is aggressive. Questions and answers, she says, must be exchanged in good faith. Pakistanis must listen to this because often arguments degenerate into bitterness born out of personal attacks by the participants on each other.

Quoting from Socrates’ example, she says nobody must be pushed into a position where he feels uncomfortable. “Each participant should listen sympathetically to the ideas of the others, allow them to unsettle his convictions, and permit their minds to be changed by his contribution.”

During a panel discussion, says Karen Armstrong, participants do not really listen wholeheartedly to their opponents but simply use their remarks “as grist to their own mill” and are thinking about the next brilliant remark they are going to make. This approach is unhelpful when an issue arouses passions. “It can become especially contentious when people claim to speak in the name of God.”

In discourse, she emphasises the importance of hilm (forbearance) and says violent speech was a characteristic of the opponents of Islam. “It is no good responding to injustice with hatred and contempt, because that will simply inspire further antagonism and make matters worse.” The jahiliyyah code believed that violent retaliation should not be held in check. On the other hand, the Quran (14:47) took an entirely different view, emphasising that retribution should be left to God.

She quotes Ibn al-Arabi:

My heart is capable of every form of faith:

A cloister for the monk, a shrine for idols,

A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim’s Kaaba,

The tablets of the Torah, the Quran.

Love is the faith I hold: wherever his camels

Turn, still the one true faith is mine.

To practise this, she advises Pakistanis to perform “just one act of kindness every single day”. This need not be a dramatic gesture; rather let it be a “small kindness” that is unobtrusive and doesn’t attract widespread praise that builds ego. She warns that an ego trip could be counterproductive, for it is not unusual to find do-gooders making “spiteful remarks, indulging in gossip, or pouring scorn on other people’s religious beliefs or cultural practices”.

The writer is a member of staff.