Islam, let us reiterate even at risk of repetition, means peace. And when Islam says peace, it is peace in letter and peace, in fact in toto. Therefore, the mercifulness of Islam is comprehensive, all inclusive. It encompasses not only the people living in Arabia or in any other Muslim country, but all human beings, friends or foes, living in normal social ambience or at war, even enemies. It also includes all other living creatures, e.g. animals, the rights of whom we hardly care to fulfil.
In a situation of conflict or chaos, more often than not, people especially those wielding some sort of power – forgetting that power belongs to the Lord Creator and whatever power they have in their hands are only delegated power for which they will be subjected to accountability in the Day of Judgement – turn violent and beat ‘others’ so brazenly and mercilessly that even beasts stand ashamed. They do not spare even the hearth and home and whatever they find lying around of what they consider ‘others’; they choose to destroy them at their brutal best.
When we turn to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) – the Mercy to the Worlds – we find that he has prohibited people from hitting anyone in the face even at the time of battle or war. Abu Huraira relates that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “If somebody fights (or beats somebody) then he should avoid the face.” (Bukhari) He meant to say that if and when any one of you fights with his brother, he should avoid his face, for Allah created Adam in His own image.
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), in a hadith narrated on the authority of Imam Muslim, said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited us from hitting across the face and branding on the face (of an animal).” In another hadith narrated in Muslim by Ibn Abbas, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) has invoked Allah’s curse for the one who beats an animal in the face: An ass with a brand on the face happened to pass before the Prophet (ﷺ). Thereupon he said, “May Allah curse the one who has branded it (on the face).”
Why special mention of face here? It means that one should avoid hitting or slapping the face, even if this is regarding one of the Islamic Hudood (the corporal punishment determined by the Shari’ah), because the face is the index of a person as it encompasses all beauties; its parts are sensitive and include most of the senses of perception. Also, hitting the face may cause defects or impair the various organs like the eyes, the nose and the head, and it may cause disfigurement. And the disfigurement in the face is visible. It affects the entire personality.
In our modern laws too, the people entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order are prohibited from striking – if they need to do so – any organ above the waist of a person they happen to chase. If they follow their own laws, they can discharge their duty without blemish and help maintain peace and justice on earth.