TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE
We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both-man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible.
THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE IN ISLAM
SCHOLARS have defined peace thus: “Peace is the absence of war.” This definition is absolutely correct. Peace in fact means the absence of a situation of war or violence.
However, some hold this definition of peace to be inadequate. They say that justice should accompany peace; that peace devoid of justice is no peace. But setting such a condition for the attainment of peace is impractical. Peace on its own does not bring justice. Justice is not necessarily an element of peace. Peace in actual fact, opens up opportunities. It creates favourable conditions to strive for justice and other constructive ends. Peace is always desirable for its own sake. Everything else comes after peace, not along with peace. The case of Japan is a concrete example of the success of this formula.
Peace on its own does not bring justice.
Justice is not necessarily an element of peace.
A peace policy always serves as a peace ‘bomb’, in the sense that it conquers the enemy without any bloodshed. History shows that the peace bomb has always proved to be mightier than the violence bomb.
A peace ‘bomb’ means life and progress, whereas a violence bomb means death and destruction. Peace enhances creativity, whereas violence does the very opposite. The power of a peace ‘bomb’ is based on love, while that of a violence bomb is based on hatred.
According to Islam, peace is therefore not just an absence of war; peace opens doors to several different opportunities that are present in any given situation. Planned activities are possible only in a peaceful situation. It is for this reason that the Prophet Muhammad went to great extents to establish peace. The Treaty of Hudaybiya, between the Prophet and his opponents, provides one such clear example. Details of the peace treaty show that no clause regarding justice was included. Instead the conditions of this treaty were quite against justice. But the Prophet accepted this treaty not because it gave them justice, but because it paved the way to work for justice. It is for this reason that the Quran says ‘reconciliation is the best’ (4: 128).
According to Islam, the only practicable formula for obtaining peace is:
‘Ignore the problems, avail the opportunities.’
Given the importance of peace, the Quran has clearly declared that there can be no aggressive war in Islam. Muslims can engage themselves only in a defensive, not in an offensive war, irrespective of the circumstances (2: 190).
Peace in actual fact, opens up opportunities and creates favourable
conditions to strive for justice and other constructive ends.
Similarly the Prophet Muhammad has observed: “God grants to gentleness (rifq) what He does not grant to violence (unf)”. (Sunan Abu Dawud)
The Quran describes the Prophet’s mission thus: We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind. (21: 107)
No wonder, the Prophet Muhammad so earnestly used to entreat his Lord in his daily prayer: “O God, You are the original source of Peace; from You is all Peace, and to You returns all Peace. So, make us live with Peace; and let us enter Paradise: the House of Peace. Blessed be You, our Lord, to whom belongs all Majesty and Honour!”
A Counter Ideology
There is no doubt about the fact that the terror attacks worldwide are highly condemnable. However, the big question in the minds of everyone is, how to solve this problem? People the world over are trying to find a solution to this menace. Even as authorities are trying to crush terrorism through legal action, reformers are trying to curb it by engaging in condemnation. However both of these methods have apparently proved ineffective.
The present problem of terrorism is based on an ideology, and an ideology cannot be countered through legal action or by mere condemnation. We have to develop a counter-ideology to overcome it.
UNESCO states that ‘Violence begins from the mind’, it has to, therefore, be uprooted from the mind itself. This succinctly captures the root cause of terrorism. To eliminate this root cause, we need to initiate our efforts by beginning from the right starting point—that is, re-engineering the minds of individuals by taking them away from the culture of violence and bringing them closer to the culture of peace.
To understand this, let us take two parallel examples from history. The American campaign against Communist Russia and the American campaign against Saddam-led Iraq. Where the US succeeded in curbing the menace of Communist Russia, the same US failed to cope with the menace of Saddam-led Iraq. This is because America met the communist challenge at an ideological level while it opted for military action against Saddam’s Iraq.
Terrorism will persist in one form or another until the ideology of violence is countered with another ideology based on peace.
Ideology of Violence
The ideology behind present day terrorism is that, Islam being a political system, it is the duty of all Muslims to establish Islamic rule in the world. This thinking was not prevalent during the time of Prophet Muhammad. It is a later innovation developed in the last few centuries by a handful of people. Having become widespread in the Muslim world today, it has led to the current violence. It has influenced many Muslims, especially the vulnerable youth. They have become obsessed with establishing the political rule of Islam, thinking it to be their ticket to Paradise. Failing to achieve this objective by peaceful methods, they resort to suicide bombing. The idea being that if we cannot eliminate the non-Islamic rule, then let us at least de-stabilize it and pave the way for Islamic rule.
The political interpretation of Islam is an
innovation and the real Islam is based upon peace, compassion and tolerance.
Having studied Islam through its original sources—the Quran and Hadith— it can be said with certainty that this political interpretation of Islam is an innovation and the real Islam is based upon peace, compassion and tolerance.
Ideology of Peace
Peace is not prevalent in the world as people the world over are acting intolerantly and indulging in acts of violence, saying, “Give us justice and peace will ensue.” But when people, ostensibly seeking justice, stoop to violence, peace can never prevail. Peace is always desirable for its own sake, and every other desirable state comes after peace, not along with it. When peace is the desired state, the maxim to be followed is: Ignore the problems, and avail the opportunities.
Once people become tolerant and obtain peace for its own sake, it opens up opportunities to strive for their ideals. Eventually this leads to justice and other constructive ends.
Peace is always desirable for its own sake, and
every other desirable state comes after peace, not along with it.
This ideology of peace can counter the ideology of violence and is based on the original sources of Islam. The Prophet of Islam provides a great historical example in his negotiation of the Hudaybiya peace treaty by unilaterally accepting all the opponents’ conditions. While not receiving justice or rights, he gained a 10-year no-war pact. This gave him and his Companions an opportunity to work uninterruptedly on a constructive program. Using this peaceful non-political program, they were able to consolidate themselves so thoroughly that without waging war they acquired Makkah peacefully.
This example shows that Islam is a truly peaceful religion and the Islamic method is a completely peaceful method.
What can be done?
What can be done in the present alarming situation? What is the practical solution to the present state of affairs? There are two parts to the solution. Half the solution depends on the work of government agencies, with the remaining left to non-governmental organizations.
In every country, there are strict laws to curb violence and terrorism, but are of no avail unless enforced by governmental agencies. All those elements involved in heinous acts of terrorism must be punished in a fitting manner.
The second half of the task pertains to the re-engineering of the minds. This task has to be undertaken by non-government agencies. An entirely peaceful task, the re-engineering of people’s minds can be achieved only through education and positive training, which naturally includes a counter-ideology to violence. Once this is done, the ultimate peaceful result will be achieved through the combined efforts of both governments and reformers.
An ideology cannot be countered through legal action or by
mere condemnation. We have to develop a counter-ideology to overcome it.
The common man in every community has a major role in this process. First is not to believe in rumors. One should not believe anything however genuine it sounds, until thoroughly enquired. This will remove misunderstandings prevalent on both sides. Historically, it is misunderstandings that have always led to violence and war.
In Conclusion
The ideology of peace in Islam banishes the notion that there can be anything acceptable about terrorism. Islam is a religion unequivocally committed to peace and the Islamic method is equally so. By following the ideology of peace, each individual’s mind can be re-engineered, away from the culture of violence and closer to the culture of peace. o
No Complaints
Complaining about things is a fruitless exercise.
One is sure to find plenty to complain about in life.
Wisdom lies in forgetting the unpleasant things which are an inevitable
part of life, bury grudges, and carry on seeking to fulfill one’s true purpose in life.