Policy of Peace in Islam

Now the question arises that when according to the very law of nature the political power at Jerusalem can never eternally remain with one nation, what is the way to worship at al-Masjid al-Aqsa for the believers. Each Muslim naturally has the desire to enter this mosque and prostrate before God like the Prophet Muhammad and other Prophets did. Now if this prostration in worship is linked to the fact that a Muslim can be blessed with this greatest favour only when this land enjoys Muslim political rule, the millions of Muslims including the former Saudi King Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz (1906-1975) would have to leave this world with this cherished desire buried in their hearts, failing to experience such precious feelings of being able to prostrate for the Almighty God at a place where the Prophet Muhammad alongwith all the Prophets had prostrated before God. What is the solution to this problem. Its solution lies in the very Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. To sum it up, separation of the political aspect of the matter and the taking of its religious aspect—availing the possibilities by avoiding the problem. Here are certain examples of this Sunnah of the Prophet. 1. The Prophet Muhammad emigrated to Madinah from Makkah in July 622. In Madinah he alongwith his Companions used to pray for about one and a half years (till the end of 623) in the direction of al-Bayt al-Maqdis. In the beginning of 624 the injunction was revealed in the Qur’an to turn their face towards the Sacred Mosque at Makkah for saying prayers (2:144). When this injunction regarding the change in Qiblah (Direction of prayer) was revealed, another injunction was revealed alongwith this in these words: “O believers, seek assistance in prayer. Allah is with those who are patient (2:153). Patience has a general connotation to it, but on this occasion it had a particular connotation that was, that at the time when the injunction of making Ka‘bah as Qiblah was revealed, 360 idols were placed in Ka‘bah. Ka‘bah at that point of time had practically become a centre of polytheism. In this way the believers could have felt reluctant to set the direction of their prayer, being believers in Monotheism, toward a structure which had practically turned into a centre of polytheism. They were asked to put this aspect in the slot of patience and be ready to carry out this injunction. As history tells us, this state of affairs continued for a long period of six years till the conquest of Makkah. That is, for six years Muslims continued to say their prayers in the direction of Ka‘bah which housed hundreds of idols, it was in the full sense of the word an active centre of polytheism. This state of affairs ended