Chapter One

Peace and Islam as it is for governments. It can be expressed in the form of the following saying: Avoid confrontation, and avail of the opportunities. War to End War The Quran makes the following exhortation: Fight them until there is no more [religious] persecution, and religion belongs wholly to God: if they desist, then surely God is watching of what they do. (8:39) This verse has two parts. Here, the same point is made, first in the form of a negation, and then as an affirmation. It means that the state of persecution or fitna should be put an end to in such a way that an environment entirely free of persecution is established. Or, in other words, the artificial conditions produced by human beings should be replaced by the natural condition laid down by God. The persecution, or fitna, that this verse mentions relates to compulsion in religious matters, which, in ancient times, prevailed all over the world. At that time, monarchy was the norm almost everywhere. The two basic bases or loci of power were political position and ownership of land. Generally, both rested in the hands of the monarch. In this way, almost the whole sphere of human life was practically under the monarch’s control. People were even compelled to follow the monarch’s religion. This sort of coercion was opposed to the natural scheme that God has devised. Because of this, a sort of political centralization prevailed throughout the world. Under this coercive system, people could hardly do anything without the monarch’s consent. Ordinary people simply had no freedom whatsoever. The situation was similar to that prevailing in the Soviet Union under Communism.