Surah Ha-Mim as-Sajdah, Footnote 37

To fully understand the significance of this statement as well, one must keep in view the circumstances in which this guidance was given to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and through him to his followers. The situation was that the call to truth was being met with extreme obstinacy and fierce, aggressive opposition, in which every bound of human decency and honor had been broken. Every kind of lie was being told against the Prophet and his companions. All manner of tactics were being used to defame him and to turn people’s opinions against him. Various accusations were being pinned on him, and an army of hostile propagandists was busy planting doubts in people’s hearts against him. Every kind of persecution was being inflicted on him and his companions, to the point that a considerable number of Muslims were forced to leave the country. Furthermore, a scheme had been devised to stop his preaching: a group of troublemakers would constantly lie in wait, and whenever he opened his mouth to call people to the truth, they would raise such an uproar that no one could hear him. These were such discouraging circumstances that all paths of outreach appeared, on the surface, to be blocked. It was at this point that the Prophet was given this remedy for overcoming opposition.

First, it is stated that good and evil are not equal. That is, however terrifying a storm of evil your opponents may raise, against which goodness may seem utterly helpless and powerless, evil nevertheless carries within itself an inherent weakness that eventually brings about its own ruin. For as long as a human being remains human, his nature cannot help but feel revulsion toward evil. Not only the associates of evil, but even its own standard-bearers know in their hearts that they are lying, that they are being unjust, and that they are being obstinate for the sake of their own interests. This fact, far from earning them respect in others’ hearts, lowers them even in their own eyes, and plants within them an inner unease that undermines their resolve and courage at every hostile move they make. Against such evil, if that very goodness which appears utterly powerless keeps working steadily, it eventually prevails. For, in the first place, goodness by its very nature wins over hearts, and no matter how corrupted a person may be, he cannot help but feel its worth in his heart. Then, when good and evil stand face to face in open struggle, with the true character of both fully exposed, few people, after a period of such contention, remain unmoved—unrepelled by evil and unwon by good.

Second, it is stated that evil should not be met with mere goodness, but with goodness of the very highest order—that is, if someone wrongs you and you forgive him, that is simply goodness. Goodness of the highest order is that, when the opportunity arises, you do good to the very one who has treated you badly.

The result of this, it is stated, is that even the worst enemy will eventually become a close friend. For this is simply human nature. If you remain silent in response to an insult, that is certainly a virtue, but it will not silence the one who insulted you. But if you respond to an insult with a prayer for that person’s good, even the most shameless opponent will be left ashamed, and thereafter will rarely be able to open his mouth against you again. Someone who lets no opportunity to harm you slip by, if you simply keep enduring his excesses, may only grow bolder in his mischief. But if, on some occasion, he is in danger of harm and you save him, he will come and fall at your feet, for scarcely any mischief can stand its ground against such goodness. Even so, it would be wrong to take this general principle to mean that every enemy will necessarily become a close friend through such supreme goodness. There are indeed some people of such wicked disposition in the world that no matter how far you go in overlooking their excesses and answering their evil with kindness and good, the venom of their sting does not diminish in the slightest. But such utterly wicked human beings are about as rare as their opposite—people of pure goodness.