Tackling Intolerance in Society

Tolerance can be understood as continued endurance of something painful or accepting the existence of opinions or behaviors different from one’s own. When we say that today’s world is increasingly becoming intolerant, we are referring to the opposite of the second meaning of tolerance. Intolerance is a malaise present in the east and west. In our own society, we have glaring instances of intolerance in the form of violence against minorities, crimes against women, snubbing of dissent by censoring media and polarized politics. Let us outline a few broad underlying causes of these various manifestations of tolerance and remedies for controlling intolerance.

There can be some general underpinning reasons of intolerance. First and foremost, misjudging members of the opposite community or any person with different views appears as the most likely cause of intolerance. Poor judgments occur due to insufficient knowledge of the “other”. An interesting example is that of “orientalism”. This is a field of knowledge perpetuated by the Western academics about the East which has produced many stereotypes about the Orient. Insufficient knowledge about diverse communities also causes fear of exploitation, anger and hatred. As a result, there is intolerance of divergent point-of-views. Thus, inauthentic knowledge produces false judgements, resulting in intolerance of the other.

Another related reason of intolerance is a sense of perceived injustice. This means that one person or group considers the opposite community to be tyrannical towards their interests. Intolerance occurs when these claims are based on emotionalism instead of facts. For instance, the traditional rivalry between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the political rivalry between different parties etc. These feelings of perceived injustice or threat to one’s interests give rise to anger and hence, cause intolerance. Besides, repression, miscommunication, fatigue and worry etc. can also be other causes of intolerance.

The remedies for intolerance are based on the level of individual, society, media and government. On a larger scale, media and political parties must avoid fanning news which can cause divisions in society. But most importantly, we should be concerned with improving our individual selves so that we can become tolerant of opposing school-of-thoughts. It must be remembered that even members within a family are different. So, one needs to express oneself and listen to others’ perspective calmly and rationally. A mutual agreement should be reached based on consensus. Besides, empathy with others’ perspective can help bridge the gap between opposing stances and reach a middle ground. So, a combination of objectivity and empathy can help create tolerant atmospheres.

Special care must be taken to avoid anger and use the best possible speech and tone during conversations and even during arguments. The Quranic injunction is to,

“utter words directed to the right”

(Al-Quran, 33:70).

Tolerance can be expressed by stating your point truthfully and appropriately without reducing the truth, exaggerating it or getting angry. Regarding anger, one should keep in mind that Allah loves those who,

“control their anger and forgive people”

(Al-Quran, 3:134).

Once a man approached the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) for advice, and he advised the man thrice to not be angry. Indeed, many of our troubles begin with the wrong use of speech and uncontrolled anger. Another way to mitigate intolerant behavior is to verify the authenticity of news. A beautiful and tolerant society can be ensured if each individual follows these steps and makes a positive impact on one’s own family and social circle.