MAY 9 Islam: The Ideological Super Power

MAY 9 Islam: The Ideological Super Power Muslims number more than one billion today. If you go round the world to study the minds of Muslims inhabiting various regions you will probably come to the conclusion that Muslims all over the world share the feeling that the history of Islam had reached an impasse. Despite enormous sacrifices no way out is in sight. It is our firm belief that Islam offers guidance at all times and in all situations. Therefore it must certainly be able to offer us a clear guidance as regards the present state of affairs. I must say that it does exist in a very clear form. The history of Islam provides us two very clear examples of bringing into play the da‘wah power of Islam. 1. The first guiding example recorded in the early period of Islamic history is that of Sulh-e-Hudaybiyya. As we all know, the Prophet of Islam was compelled to migrate from Makkah to Madinah. The majority of Muslims followed him. Consequently Madinah became a centre of Muslims. However, afterwards the event took a more serious turn. The opponent of Islam now started armed onslaughts against the Muslims. Yet after several full scale wars and so many minor armed conflicts the balance failed to tip on any side. Apparently the history of Islam reached an impasse. At this critical juncture, according to the Qur’an, the Prophet of Islam was shown the straight path in this matter (48:3-4). This straight path was to create a conducive atmosphere for peaceful da‘wah work by ceasing armed conflicts altogether. Accordingly the Prophet in the 19th year of his prophethood entered into a peace treaty with his Arab opponents. This step put an end to the state of war. This event is referred to in the history of Islam as Sulh-eHudaybiyya. This peace treaty diverted the field of encounter between Islam and its rivals from the battlefield to Da‘wah field. This peaceful activism brought incredibly revolutionary results. The power of peace proved itself far superior to the power of war. This treaty rendered a widespread interaction between Muslims and the opposing group possible in normal atmosphere. In this way the peace treaty cleared the path for the direct propagation of Islam to take place. The opponents came to accept Islam in great numbers, ultimately the numerical power alone sufficed for the victory of Islam.