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.
TERRORISM: A GRAVE THREAT
TERRORISM is one of the gravest threats the world is facing today. The tragedy and irony of it is that most acts of armed violence by groups or individuals are being carried out in the name of religion, especially Islam.
Any terrorist or any individual can fulfil a given mission properly only when he is ideologically convinced of its validity. Ideology provides man with the necessary inspiration. Without an ideology, he fails to summon the requisite energy and enthusiasm so vital to the success of any struggle. This is as true of terrorism as it is of any other field of human endeavour.
Some countries are engaged in crushing terrorism in the name of Islam through military action, but that alone will not suffice to eliminate this phenomenon. Apart from often being armed to their teeth, today’s terrorists are consumed by the ideology of their cause. So, engaging them is not simply an issue of gun versus gun. It has to be an issue of ideology versus ideology.
Violence always begins in the mind; it needs to be uprooted therefore, from the mind itself. We have to find an ideology of peace with which to confront the ideology of violence; without that there will be no end to the violence. Terrorists are people of a different breed; their ultimate goal is not necessarily victory. Death too is a desired goal. According to their self-devised ideology they believe that if they die in a militant struggle, they will instantly enter Paradise. Thus for them both victory and defeat will have equal value—in either case they believe that they are the winners.
On the strength of the above mentioned misleading ideology, terrorists can sustain their militancy for an indefinite period of time, even for many generations. But although they belong to a different breed, they are not a people apart. They are an integral part of the contemporary society they live in. And the greatest source of their strength is the ideological factory they run, aimed at brainwashing the youth. This brainwashing goes on unceasingly, and there is always a long queue of those who want to be recruited and end up as martyrs.
Terrorism will persist in one form or another until the ideology of violence is countered with another ideology based on peace. But let us first understand the ideology of violence that is resulting in terrorism. This ideology is that Islam is a political system and that it is the duty of all Muslims to establish the political rule of Islam in the world. This kind of thinking was not prevalent during the time of Prophet Muhammad or his Companions. It is a later innovation. This was developed over the last few centuries by a handful of people and has become widespread in the Muslim world today. This has led to the present day violence.
Ideology provides man with the necessary inspiration. Without an ideology, he fails to summon the requisite energy and enthusiasm so vital to the success of any struggle.
A group of Muslims especially among the youth have become obsessed with this ideology and are trying to establish the political rule of Islam, thinking it to be their ticket to Paradise. Having failed to achieve this objective of establishing Islamic rule by peaceful methods, they have started resorting to suicide bombing. The reasoning behind this seems to be, ‘If we cannot eliminate non-Islamic rule, let us at least destabilize it and pave the way for Islamic rule.’
After studying Islam by referring to its original sources—the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (the Hadith)—one can say with certainty that the political interpretation of Islam is an innovation and the real Islam, as followed by Prophet Muhammad and his early followers, is based upon peace, compassion and tolerance.
A new strategy must now be adopted, a strategy that requires developing a full-fledged ideology of peace to counter the ideology of violence. The ideology of violence is prevalent all over the world and is so deep-rooted in the minds of not only the extremists but also of many common Muslims that it is important to expose this ideology for what it is and show in detail how it contradicts Quranic teachings. Everyone will thus see the stark difference between the two.
Time and again throughout the ages, people have risen in rebellion and made their mark on human history, but seldom did they attain the level that the Islamists of today have taken it to. There are two main reasons for this state of events—modern weaponry and modern media. These are the twin factors that have propelled terrorism into the limelight.
Another aspect of this phenomenon which must be questioned is the terrorists’ ideology. The extremists call their terrorist culture ‘Islamic Jihad’—clearly a misnomer—and portray their actions as having been carried out under the banner of Islam. In this manner, the religion of Islam gets falsely linked with terrorist activities, and its name gets besmirched.
Contrary to common belief, Islam, by definition is a religion of peace. The very word Islam (from the Arabic silm) means peace. According to the teachings of the Prophet, peace is Islam. In other words, peace is a prerequisite of Islam. The same is stated in the Hadith:
A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands people are safe.
Terrorism will persist in one form or another until the ideology of violence is countered with another ideology based on peace.
Further, one of the attributes of God mentioned in the Quran (59: 23) is As-Salam, which means ‘peace and security’. Thus God Himself is a manifestation of peace. Indeed ‘God is peace’. The Quran (5: 16) likens divine guidance to the paths of peace. Paradise, which is the ideal human abode, is called the ‘Home of Peace’ (10: 25). It is also said that the people of Paradise will wish one another peace—this indicates that the social culture of the people of Paradise will be based on peace.
The movement of the terrorists is a movement against humanity. To put an end to this movement, what is required is to bring about a deconditioning of its adherents. This can be done only by meeting them on an intellectual level and impressing upon them the true and positive picture of Islam based on the ideology of peace rather than on their deceitful ideology of violence.