Lessons from History

The Experience of History leadership, he planned his country’s future along peaceful lines – unlike his infamous predecessor, Adolf Hitler, who, with his aggressive tactics, had led Germany to defeat and ruination. With Adenauer’s peaceful approach, Germany slowly recovered from the damages suffered during the war and eventually became the number one nation of Europe. This experience of the twentieth century serves as an eyeopener for all those who still think in terms of violence and believe that they can achieve their goals by fighting. Islamic history is likewise replete with similar experiences. In the thirteenth century, the Tartar and Mongol armies attacked the Abbasid Caliphate, destroying everything from Samarqand right up to Aleppo. In the process, there were some clashes between the Muslims and the Mongols, with the Muslims finally being subjugated. All their fighting had been in vain. The Muslims were so demoralized that it began to be said: ‘Don’t believe it, if someone says that the Mongols have been defeated.’2 Then, a new situation developed, with the Muslims abandoning violence under compulsion and becoming engaged in a peaceful mission. The British orientalist T.W. Arnold (1864 – 1930) in his book The Preaching of Islam reports that this peaceful process resulted in the majority of the Mongols accepting Islam.3 Thus, the problem that could not be solved by war was solved through peace. Narrating this story the Lebanese American scholar Philip K Hitti (1886 – 1978) observes,