Going Against the Sunnah (Way) of the Prophet

Any group which desires justice should first of all make efforts to establish peace. The importance of peace is so great that it has to be established, whatever the cost. Peace is seldom established on a bilateral basis. It is almost always established on a unilateral basis. And it is the latter which is the best method of approach. The system of nature is based on opportunities of which, as a rule, there is an abundance. But the environment of hatred and violence acts as a nullifying factor for these natural opportunities. It is the demand of nature that man should first of all rid the situation of all hatred and violence. The moment this is done, one will see the emergence of innumerable opportunities, both secular and religious. The optimal secular use of opportunities would be for people to engage in such constructive fields as education and economic uplift and, in so doing, achieve all kinds of progress. The best religious use of opportunities would be for the believers to engage in dawah work. And by involving themselves actively in the dawah mission, they would be held deserving of God’s highest blessings. In this matter the people of Kashmir enjoy a special position. They are blessed with a great opportunity to establish peace in their State, communicate God’s message to people and be held deserving of God’s great blessings. The Future of Kashmir After the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir became a problem State. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984) describes this as an accident of history (9:32). But the truth is that what happened in the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 was not an accident of history in the simple sense. It was rather the verdict of God. It would appear that there was great divine planning behind this ‘accident of history’. That is, the State of Jammu and Kashmir is now in a position to demonstrate to the world, in the 21st century, that Islam is a religion not of violence, but of peace, in the full sense. History shows that problems always play a positive role in human life. Without problems, human life becomes a victim of stagnation, for problems make people creative. They encourage fresh thinking and, as such, are always the harbinger of a better future. Indeed problems are blessings in disguise. In actuality the problems faced by the people of Kashmir were exactly that. The truth of this is now becoming evident. Going Against the Sunnah (Way) of the Prophet