Non-Violence and Peace-Building in Islam

I f your house is on fire, you will immediately get into action to try to put out the flames. Now, there are two ways of doing this. The first way is to act according to the principles that the Creator of this universe has set for dousing a fire. The other way is that, overwhelmed by emotions, you to try out some other method, a method of your own making. You are free to choose either of these two methods. But the results of the two are not the same. God has set pouring water as the method for putting out a fire. You cannot extinguish a fire by pouring petrol on it. If you do that, it will only add to the fire. The same holds true for other challenges in life. If God has made patience the secret of success in this world of His, you cannot attain success through impatience. If God has made positive action the means to arrive at a particular result, you cannot hope to get there through fiery speeches, angry rhetoric and inflammatory statements. If God has established pragmatism as the solution to worldly problems, you cannot get what you want through emotionalism. If God has placed the secret of reform and progress in the silent transformation of individuals, you cannot hope to progress by stirring up agitation and strife. If God wants us to get ahead in life by acknowledging our mistakes, you cannot advance by trying to prove others to be criminals and yourself to be faultless. If God has established a rule that if you want to pluck a rose, you can do so if you steer clear of the thorns, you won’t be able to obtain the rose if you start fighting against each thorn that you come across. This world is a place for us to be tested. This is why every human being has been given the gift of free will. But this freedom is of action alone, and not that of obtaining results or the fruits of our actions. Undoubtedly, we are free to do whatever we like to, but we have not been given the power to