MAY 9 Islam: The Ideological Super Power

According to Imam al-Zuhari, Sulh-e-Hudaybiyya was the greatest victory in the history of Islam. Prior to this whenever Muslims and their rivals encountered one another fighting ensued. But after the reconciliation the state of war ended and peace prevailed. Now they began meeting one another in normal, tension-free atmosphere. This interaction naturally led to an exchange of ideas. When someone heard anything of Islam and found it appealing, he would go in, without fail, to enter into the fold of Islam. That is why after a mere two years of Sulh-e-Hudaybiyya such large number of people entered the fold of Islam as had never happened before (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah Vol. 4, p. 170). This great increase in term of numbers resulted in making Islam a religion of majority in Arabia, this greatly facilitated its dominance throughout the land. 2. The second well known example of the caravan of Islam having reaching an impasse concerns the first half of the thirteenth century with the emergence of the brute force of the Tartars. They were able to destroy the Muslim power almost completely. It seemed as though the journey of Islam has once again reached an impasse, finding no way out for its further advancement. Exactly at the same point in time the ideological power of Islam appeared. Muslims being in no position to take up arms to encounter them, diverted their field of action by silently engaging themselves in peaceful da‘wah work among the victorious Tartars. This act of da‘wah verified the dictum of the Qur’an that through da‘wah the opponents of Islam will become its supporters and friends (41:34). The historians have acknowledged this event in quite clear terms. Philip K. Hitti, for instance, remarks, in his famous book The History of the Arabs: “The religion of the Muslims had conquered where their arms had failed (p. 488) 3. Now in the twentieth century the history of Islam has once again apparently reached an impasse. Our enormous amount of sacrifices have yet to succeed in taking the caravan of Islam forward. According to al-Imam Malik the state of affairs of Muslim Ummah will be reformed by following the same course of action as were followed by the Muslims of the first phase to rectify their matters. In the light of this remark it can be safely said that we must once again opt for this tested method of the past. We must take such steps as put an end to the hostile situation prevailing between Muslims and non-Muslims. This would result in peaceful interaction