The Russian novelist and moral philosopher Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) ranks as one of the world’s great writers, and his “War and Peace” has been called the greatest novel ever written world-wide.
Although he was born into nobility, Tolstoy spent much of his life as a champion of Russia’s peasant class, notably in the field of education.
After traveling throughout Europe, Tolstoy returned to the family estate and devoted himself to raising a family and writing his great moral novels “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”.
From the 1880s until his death, he devoted himself to more spiritual and philosophical matters, writing several essays on ethics and morals and coming to terms with his own Christian conversion
Tolstoy’s literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist.
Leo Tolstoy was one of the great rebels of all time, a man who during a long and stormy life was at odds with the Church, government, literary tradition, and his own family. Yet he was a conservative, obsessed by the idea of God in an age of scientific positivism.
Tolstoy’s persistent quest for the meaning of life, the moral ideal, the covert general regularities of existence as well as his spiritual and social criticism run through all his creative work. Since the 1870s he has paid more attention to the subjects of death, sin, penance, and moral revival.
In the context of his quest for an exemplary model of ethical behavior, Tolstoy took a special interest in the study of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which led him to hold great admiration and love for him. He was attracted by the Prophetic traditions which matched up and concurred with his ideas.
The philosopher noted the prejudice of the entire missionaries in Russia, where they made a number of baseless claims against Prophet Muhammad, in an attempt to paint a distorted picture of the religion of Islam and its prophet to the Russians. He deployed what he learnt in this regard in order to reveal the true picture and express his love for the ethical heritage and meanings contained in many of the sayings of the Prophet. Later on, he wrote a book entitled “Selected Sayings of the Prophet” in which he gathered the Prophetic traditions that encourage people to attain to the highest of their human potential
Tolstoy stated in this book:
Anyone who wants to verify the tolerance in Islam should only read the Quran carefully. Its verses are indicative of the high spirit of Islam, such as: [And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among your-selves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided] (3: 103)?
Tolstoy also said:
I am one of those who are very much impressed by the Prophet Muhammad who was chosen by the One God to have His last message revealed through his soul, heart and mind. He chose him to be the last prophet; hence, no other prophets would come after him. His acknowledgement of the prophets, who had been sent by God before him to produce the global social building for which Muhammad had been sent to complete, is indubitable evidence that he came with Islam to conclude the social building for the entire humanity everywhere.?
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Appendix
The verse 3:103 that is quoted by Tolstoy in different translations:
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QARIB: and hold fast to the bond of Allah, together, and do not scatter. remember the favor of Allah bestowed upon you when you were enemies, and how he united your hearts, so that by his favor you became brothers. and how he saved you from the pit of fire when you were on the brink of it. and so Allah makes plain to you his verses, in order that you will be guided. |
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SHAKIR: and hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited, and remember the favor of Allah on you when you were enemies, then he united your hearts so by his favor you became brethren; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then he saved you from it, thus does Allah make clear to you his communications that you may follow the right way |
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PICKTHAL: and hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate. and remember Allah’s favour unto you: how ye were enemies and he made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by his grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and he did save you from it. thus Allah maketh clear his revelations unto you, that haply ye may be guided, |
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YUSUFALI: and hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favour on you; for ye were enemies and he joined your hearts in love, so that by his grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire, and he saved you from it. thus doth Allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided. |
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