The Culture of Peace

The Culture of Peace The above-quoted Quranic verse tells us something about how a person inspired by a worthy and positive purpose in life conducts himself. For such a person to succeed, the only thing that should be a matter of discussion with others is his purpose. For anything else to become a matter of discussion between him and others is for him tantamount to poison. Now, the question arises as to how such a person, who is motivated by a positive purpose in life, can establish a frictionfree atmosphere in his relationship with others. The answer is that this is possible only by his exercise of patience in a unilateral manner. In practical terms, there is simply no other way. A person with a purpose in life adopts a policy of unilateral avoidance of confrontation, through which he is able to establish a balanced atmosphere in his relationships with others so that his journey continues uninterrupted. War Only for Defense The Quran tells us: Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged (22:39) This Quranic verse teaches us an important principle that also relates to inter-community and international relations. And that is that the only legitimate war is one that is fought in defense, in response to clear aggression. All other forms of war are forms of zulm, or oppression, and oppressors have no place in God’s world. As this Quranic verse indicates, wars other than those that are defensive have no justification whatsoever. War is something truly despicable. According to the eternal law of nature, peace is the general rule or norm, while war is an exception. War can be resorted to only under extreme necessity— in order to protect oneself, and that, too, only when all possible