Chapter One

Peace and Islam status quo all at once is the harder option; an easier option is to avoid such an attempt, and, instead, to work within the existing boundaries. Taking recourse to violence in the event of a conflict is more arduous, while responding to the situation by seeking reconciliation through peaceful methods is far less so. Reacting to aggression with counter–aggression is always a tough proposition, while responding with patience, steadfastness and tolerance is the easier way. Protesting and stirring up people to solve a particular problem is patently difficult to do, whereas acting quietly and without any great hue and cry is an easier solution. Bringing about reform by radical means presents many problems, while adopting a gradual, step-by-step policy is by far the simpler approach. Acting in the heat of the moment with fiery passion and without stopping to consider the consequences is hardly a prudent course to adopt, while taking steps wisely after considering their likely results is a smoother path to take. To oppose existing rulers is a task fraught with much trouble and danger, while steering clear of the rulers and focusing instead on educating and guiding people is a much easier course. These instances illustrate what is meant in the above-quoted hadith by giving preference to easier options rather than to harder ones. The fact is that in Islam, peace is the rule while war is the exception. The entire range of Islamic teachings and the practical life of the Prophet testify to this. The Prophet’s Model The Prophet Muhammad received his first Divine revelation in Makkah in the year 610 C.E.. The mission for which God had appointed him was to inculcate belief in tawhid, or the oneness of God. Now, with regard to this mission, there was a major issue that he had to deal with. And this was that the Kabah, which is in Makkah and which the Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael had built for the worship of the one God, had, in later times,