MARCH 17 — There is this concept in Islam called tasamuh.
Tasamuh is literally translated as tolerance, but there is more to the term. It is derived from the root word samha (s-m-h) that means generosity.
It is said that tasamuh denotes tasahul, which is derived from the root word sahl (s-h-l) which means facile or smooth. The English translation of tasamuh and tasahul is leniency, forbearance and indulgence. (See Ruhaizah Abdul Ghani and Jaffary Awang, ‘Tasamuh Versus Tolerance as Practical Approach to Encounter the Conflicting Issue’, Akademika 90(1), April 2020: 15-23)
Tasamuh clearly is more than just tolerance. It is about the “positive attitude of leniency, forbearance, generosity, facilitating and indulgence”.
In social interaction, it is about forming a good relationship between two parties that cooperatively agree to give and take. (See Jaffary Awang and Kamarudin Salleh, ‘Toleransi beragama dan perpaduan kaum response intelek Malaysia satu observasi ringkas’. In Agama dan Perpaduan Kaum di Malaysia, 2003)
Tasamuh, therefore, is about mutual tolerance and mutual acceptance of religious and cultural diversities.
It is what Malaysia Madani should be about.
*This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
