NO EXTREMISM

PEACE IN ISLAM ~ 139 ~ in the Hereafter should be the target of the human struggle. In this way he dispelled the notion that worldly progress should be one’s aim in life, for that is what ultimately results in all kinds of confrontation and violence. His formula for better living was to make oneself useful to others, and if that was not possible, then at least to do others no harm; no one should be regarded as an enemy; even the enemy must be given fair treatment, for only then would the realization come that one’s enemy was potentially one’s friend: the ‘enemy’ always has it in him to be a friend. PEACE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES The Prophet of Islam was a peace lover to the ultimate extent. His opponents repeatedly attempted to draw him into war, but on each occasion he avoided becoming entangled. However, sometimes in view of unilateral aggression, he had no option but to fight purely in self-defence, and for a limited duration. Badr is one such battle. History shows that at the exact moment when the armies of both sides were standing ready for battle,