The Examples Set by Two Prophets

The Non-Confrontational Methods for Peace hands of the king, the Prophet Joseph adopted the formula of political adjustment. In the above Quranic verse, ‘the best story’ implies the best method. The course of action followed by the Prophet Joseph was that he never tried to unseat the king but accepted the political status quo which existed at that time. The result was miraculous. Joseph was able to command all the affairs of ancient Egypt without his being on the throne. It was this method that made his story ‘the best story’. God has set this example through His Prophet so that the later generations may follow it and achieve success in the same way as the Prophet Joseph did. The other story is that of the Prophet Muhammad. He started his mission in the first half of the seventh century in Arabia. At that time Arabia was a polytheistic region, and Makkah was the centre of this culture of idol worship. When the Prophet Muhammad started his mission of tawhid, or monotheism, all the tribal leaders opposed him. They created all kinds of problems for him and his companions. Then in 628 AD at Hudaybiyyah, some ten miles from Makkah, the Prophet initiated negotiations to establish peace in Arabia. The tribal leaders were highly opposed to entering into any kind of peace agreement. The Prophet Muhammad, very wisely, accepted all the conditions presented by the opposite party and in return they finalized the Hudaybiyyah Agreement, which was a ten-year no-war pact.