Introduction

“It is undeniable that all incidents of oppression and social injustice are the result of inequality between man and man. Some are powerful,others are weak. Some are rich, others are poor. Now what happens is that the powerful and the wealthy come to regard themselves as being superior to the weak and the poor. They imagine they can oppress others with impunity, their elevated positions being enough to safeguard them from any attempt at retaliation.

“But Islam tells us that every man's fate is the concern of God. All moral issues are finally to be judged in the divine court. God being infinitely more powerful than all of the powerful men in the world. He will pronounce His verdict and enforce it with absolute justice towards one and all. At that time no mortal creature will be able to escape God's verdict.”

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

– The Gospel according to St. Matthew 18, 5

Stahl: “The question is, are they [sanctions against Iraq] missing the mark? We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, this is more children than died in Hiroshima. Is the price worth it?”

Madeleine Albright: “This is a very hard choice, but the price....we think the price is worth it.”

– Interviewer Leslie Stahl questions Madeleine Albright, CBS Television '60 Minutes', 12th May 1996

A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless.

– Proverbs 14:16

Claudia Dreifus: In his book on the Vietnam War, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara wrote that we were “terribly wrong.”

Henry Kissinger: Well, I don't think we were wrong. We made a mistake.

– Interview by Claudia Dreifus, 29 August 2001.