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.
PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS
IT is a well-known fact that the Prophet of Islam was a supremely successful man in human history. But he was not just a hero, as Thomas Carlyle has called him. According to the Quran he was a good example to be followed. He has shown us the way of achieving success in this world.
By studying the life of the Prophet we can derive those important principles which were followed by the Prophet. In short, the Prophet of Islam was a positive thinker in the full sense of the word. All his activities were result-oriented. He completely refrained from all such steps as may prove counter-productive. He always followed positive methods to achieve his goal.
Begin from the possible
This principle is well explained in the following saying of the Prophet’s
wife Aishah: “Whenever the Prophet had to choose between two
options, he always opted for the easier choice.” (Al-Bukhari)
To choose the easiest option means to begin from the possible, and
one who begins from the possible will surely reach his goal.
Seek advantage in disadvantage In the early days of Makkah, there were many problems and difficulties. At that time, a guiding verse in the Quran was revealed. It said: “With every hardship there is ease, with every hardship there is ease.” (94: 5-6)
This means if there are some problems, there are also opportunities at the same time. And the way to success is to ignore the problems and avail the opportunities.
Change the place of action
This principle is derived from the emigration of the Prophet to Madinah.
This was not just a migration from Makkah to Madinah, rather it was to
find a more suitable place for conveying the message of God, as history
proved later on.
Make a friend out of an enemy
The Prophet of Islam was repeatedly subjected
to practices of antagonism by his opponents.
At that time the Quran enjoined upon him
the return of good for evil. And then, as the
Quran added, “You will see your direst enemy
become your closest friend.” (41: 34)
A good deed in return for a bad deed has a conquering effect over your enemies. And the life of the Prophet is historical proof of this principle.
In controversial matters, one should adopt the principle of pragmatism instead of stubbornly refusing to compromise the ideal. One should focus on resolution of the issue, even if it involves making temporary adjustments.
Turn minus into plus
After the Battle of Badr (a defensive war),
about 70 of the opponents were taken as
prisoners of war. They were all literate
people. The Prophet announced that if any one of them would teach
ten Muslim children how to read and write he would be freed. This
was the first school in the history of Islam in which all of the students
were Muslims, and all of the teachers were unbelievers. A quote from
a British Orientalist best describes the Prophet’s personality: He faced
adversity with the determination to wring success out of failure.
The power of peace is stronger than the power of violence
When Makkah was conquered, all of the Prophet’s direst opponents
were brought before him. The Prophet instead of keeping them as
captives or punishing them simply said: “Go, you are free.” The result
of this kind of behaviour was miraculous: all his opponents became
one among the believers.
Refrain from dichotomous thinking
One of the defensive wars in which Muslims engaged in with the
Byzantine forces is known as Ghazwa of Mutah (Mutah is located
about 600 miles north of Madinah). The commander-in-chief of the
Muslim side was Khalid bin Walid. Before the battle got over, Khalid
decided to withdraw Muslim forces from the
battlefield because he realized that they were
disproportionately outnumbered by their
opponents. When they reached Madinah,
some of the Muslims received them by
addressing them as: “O Furrar!” (O deserters!)
To this the Prophet said: “No, they are Kurrar.”
(Kurrar means ‘men of advancement’).
Those Muslims who thought that Khalid and his army were deserters were thinking dichotomously, that is, they thought either one can fight in the battlefield or lose and retreat. However, the Prophet observed that there was a third option and that is to avoid war and find time to strengthen oneself. History tells us that the Muslims, after three years of preparation, advanced again towards the Arabian border with the Byzantine Empire, and this time they won a resounding victory.
Discussion and dialogue instead of confrontation on the battlefield
This principle is derived from the treaty signed at Hudaybiyah in
628 AD. At that time, the opponents were determined to engage the
believers in fighting, because obviously they were stronger and thus in
an advantageous position to win a battle. But the Prophet, by accepting
their conditions unilaterally, entered into a no-war pact. It was a tenyear
peace treaty. Before the signing of this treaty, the meeting ground
between the believers and their opponents had been the battlefield.
But after a truce came into effect between the two sides, the area of engagement became ideological discussion. Before this, the two sides only met with each other in battlefield, but now when they met each other instead of fighting they would converse and discuss matters. As a result of the interaction, within two years, majority of the opponents became followers of the Prophet. Thus, Islam emerged as victorious because its ideology was able to win people over to its side.
Gradualism instead of Radicalism
This principle is well-established by a Hadith narrated in Al-Bukhari.
The Prophet’s wife Aishah says that the verses of the Quran that were
revealed in the beginning were related mostly to Heaven and Hell. And
then after a long time when people’s hearts had softened and become
inclined towards Islam, the specific commands to desist from adultery
and drinking came down. This clearly shows that for bringing about
social change, Islam advocates the evolutionary method, rather than
the revolutionary method. In other words, change is brought about in
a gradual manner rather than abruptly.
Pragmatism in controversial matters
During the writing of the Hudaybiyah Treaty, the Prophet dictated these
words to Ali: “This is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad,
the Messenger of God and Suhayl ibn Amr.” Suhayl ibn Amr was the
representative of the Quraysh who were opposed to the Prophet. The
Qurayshi delegate raised objections over the words ‘Messenger of God’.
He stated that the Quraysh did not believe
that Muhammad was in fact a prophet. He
demanded that instead of ‘Messenger of God’,
the words ‘Muhammad, son of Abdullah’ be
written. The Prophet promptly accepted this
demand and directed Ali to erase the words
‘Messenger of God’ after his name and write
‘son of Abdullah’.
A good deed in return for a bad deed has a conquering effect over your enemies.
The Prophet gave importance to the signing of the peace treaty, instead of insisting on the words ‘Messenger of God’ to be written on the agreement. This gesture of the Prophet implies that in controversial matters, one should adopt the principle of pragmatism instead of stubbornly refusing to compromise the ideal. One should focus on resolution of the issue, even if it involves making temporary adjustments.
The principles outlined above throw light on how the Prophet of Islam attained what historians term ‘supreme success’.
Unfortunately, today some Muslims have abandoned these teachings of the Prophet. They are wrongly indulging in violence in the name of Islam. Those Muslims who do not disown these actions and choose to observe silence in this matter are also responsible. The need of the hour is to unite and work towards changing mindset of the terrorists.
We must go by the dictum, ‘win the mind, win the battle’. The truth is that terrorism is based on an ideology, which can only be dealt with by a counter-ideology based on peace.
Centre for Peace and Spirituality has devoted itself to the task of presenting a peaceful counter-ideology based on Islamic scripture. Our goal is to educate and enlighten people about the peaceful teachings of Islam so that they can abandon the course of violence and re-discover and utilize the power of peace.