اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Thirty-forth sign of the pious:
لَا يَحِيفُ عَلَى مَنْ يُبْغِضُ وَ لَا يَأْثَمُ فِيمَنْ يُحِبُّ،
He does not oppress his enemy, and he does not commit a sin for the sake of friendship with anyone.
One of the attributes of the believers is that they do not oppress others and do not commit sins, but the pious do not even oppress their enemies and they do not go beyond the moral boundaries and divine limits because of the friendship and love of others. The angel of justice and piety is so strong with them that they behave with friend and foe equally, under her observation. If they are hostile to someone, they do not step the boundaries of religion and humanity. They do not want to suppress their enemy in any way.
Islam teaches us that just as our purpose must be sacred, so must the means we employ for this sacred purpose. For example, we should not lie, we should not gossip, we should not slander; not only we should not lie for our own benefit, we should not lie for the sake of religion, that is, we should not commit immoral acts for the sake of religion, even. Religion does not allow us to be immoral, even for its own benefit.
One should not think that any means can be used to achieve this goal, whether it is legitimate or illegitimate. Some say:
اَلْغایاتُ تُبَرِرُ الْمَبادی
That is, the results prescribe the premise; as long as the goal was the right goal, any preparation is allowed to be used. Such a principle is invalid for Islam. If we want to walk for a sacred purpose, we have to use only one sacred means.
Imam Ali, peace upon him, says:
إِنَّ أَفْضَلَ النَّاسِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ كَانَ الْعَمَلُ بِالْحَقِّ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ وَ إِنْ نَقَصَهُ وَ كَرَثَهُ، مِنَ الْبَاطِلِ وَ إِنْ جَرَّ إِلَيْهِ فَائِدَةً وَ زَادَه
Indeed, the highest people in the sight of God are the ones in whose sight the practice of righteousness is more pleasing than falsehood, even though it diminishes his value and harms him, and falsehood benefits him and increases his value. (Nahj al-Balaghe, 182)
According to Islamic teachings, even in dealing with the enemy, one should not violate the sanctity of divine laws and oppress the enemy. The pious never oppress the enemy in order to appease him. Imam Ali, peace upon him, is the manifestation of morality in facing the enemies.
When the Imam Ali confronted his opponents, the Kharijite group that was working against Ali ibn Abi Talib, advised them to deprive the opposition of financial means and the use of the treasury. The Imam dislikes this behavior of his fellow citizens and says:
أَ تَأْمُرُونِّي أَنْ أَطْلُبَ النَّصْرَ بِالْجَوْرِ فِيمَنْ وُلِّيتُ عَلَيْهِ؛ وَ اللَّهِ لَا أَطُورُ بِهِ مَا سَمَرَ سَمِيرٌ وَ مَا أَمَّ نَجْمٌ فِي السَّمَاءِ نَجْماً؛ لَوْ كَانَ الْمَالُ لِي لَسَوَّيْتُ بَيْنَهُمْ فَكَيْفَ وَ إِنَّمَا الْمَالُ مَالُ اللَّه
Are you telling me to use oppression on people I have authority? I swear by God, I will never do that, as long as I live, and night and day are established, and the stars rise and set one after the other; if this property were mine, I would distribute it equally among the people, however it belongs to God. (Nahj al-Balaghe, 183)
On the other hand, love and feeling do not prevail over the intellect and faith of the pious. They do not fall into the trap of the devil because of love and affection for a person. Love in their hearts not only does not prevail over the love of God, but basically everything they love is centered on the love of God. They choose their friend based on God’s love and obedience. In choosing anyone or anything, they put God at the center of their choice. On this account, whenever someone wants to create a distance between God and them in this way, they will distance themselves from him if he is not corrected; because they are never willing to gain the consent of others at the cost of God’s wrath. The pious, since the criterion of their love and hate is God, never do wrong to their enemies and in their friendship; they do not forget God. They also do not deviate from humanity and morality in order to achieve their goals.
Imam Ali, peace upon him, says:
وَ اللَّهِ لَوْ أُعْطِيتُ الْأَقَالِيمَ السَّبْعَةَ بِمَا تَحْتَ أَفْلَاكِهَا عَلَى أَنْ أَعْصِيَ اللَّهَ فِي نَمْلَةٍ أَسْلُبُهَا جُلْبَ شَعِيرَةٍ مَا فَعَلْتُه
By God, if they give me seven heavens with what is under them, so that I might disobey God and snatch barley bran from an ant, I will not do so. (Nahj al-Balaghe 346)