Non-Violence and Peace-Building in Islam

peace-building. This is what this book seeks to do. Although it touches on all three aspects, its central focus is on the first aspect—conflict-prevention. After all, if conflicts are prevented at the very outset, violence can be done away with. Amicably negotiating differences before they degenerate into a conflict is, this book suggests, the most sensible way for us to handle conflicts. A common thread running through these essays is the assertion that one should differentiate between Islam and Muslims: one should judge Muslims in the light of Islamic teachings and not vice versa. Islam, as I show, citing Quranic passages and examples from the life of the Prophet Muhammad, provides inspiration and appropriate guidance for peaceful relations between Muslims and other communities and for non-violent conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution and peace-building methods and approaches. Contemporary instances of Muslims resorting to violence in the name of their religion is, I stress, in complete contrast to Islamic teachings. The approach to conflict-prevention, conflict-resolution and peace-building outlined in this book is based on the Quran and the life of the Prophet. It draws lessons from these sources that can be applied to efforts to negotiate differences and conflicts at all levels—from between individuals to between communities and entire countries. The book also cites many empirical examples from the particular Indian context, but the lessons these provide are of universal relevance. According to the Creation plan of God, everyone is free. But when an individual is free, he can also misuse his freedom. As a rule, whenever people find themselves in problematic situations—and life is full of such contingencies—there is a tendency to make an immediate response. This kind of instant reaction, however, serves only to add new problems to the