Dousing the Fires of Violence

not the proper way to respond. The right way to respond is that if someone plants a bomb, you must defuse it. The above-quoted Quranic verse indicates that throwing a bomb in retaliation for a bomb thrown by someone else is not the way that God wants us to behave. God wants us to respond in situations like this by seeking to defuse bombs and render them ineffective at the very outset itself, so as to prevent the disruption of peace. It is natural that one will inevitably face various unfavourable conditions in society. No human society has ever been free of these. The solution to this problem is not to try to eliminate these conditions. Rather, their real solution is that we must make sure that we do not add an additional, undesirable condition to the already existing ones. We must not add one more bomb to the existing number of bombs. In this way, we can help prevent unfavourable conditions from further worsening. And, in this way, we can solve them. This is the real and effective solution to the problem. There is no other possible solution. Strife After Reform The Quran tells us: Do not corrupt the land after it has been set in order. This is for your own good, if you are true believers. (7:85) This Quranic verse indicates a fact of nature—that this world has been created perfectly. Here, everything has