The Culture of Peace

violence, it is this mentality of constant complaint that is seen to be at work. This world has been created in such a way that most people will often be led to complain about each other. In this regard, what we need to do is to dispel a complaint about someone as soon as it enters our minds. However, what generally happens is that a complaint is formed, first in our conscious minds, and then, if we constantly obsess about it, gradually it seeps into our unconsciousness. And then it becomes so deeply entrenched that after this it cannot be rooted out. In this situation, the wise approach is to nip all complaints in the bud. You should remove them soon as they appear in your mind. If you do not do this, they will gradually become an integral part of your psyche, and, after this, your thinking will become negative. You will start thinking of others as your enemies. You might even, if you get the opportunity, resort to confrontation and physical violence against those you have complaints against, even if this is entirely counterproductive for you. The formula for nipping complaints in the bud is suggested in the following Quranic verse: Whatever misfortune befalls you is of your own doing (42:30) This means that whenever you have a complaint against somebody, what you should immediately do is to turn the direction of the complaint towards yourself. You should search for some explanation of the issue in which you yourself emerge as the culprit. When you realise that the mistake is actually yours, and not someone else’s, you will set yourself to rectifying your mistake and not waste your time making demands and protesting against some imaginary enemy.