Peace: The Summum Bonum

would have never arisen at all. Modern education would have deconditioned Muslims, but since they did not accept it their progress did not happen. Muslim youngsters from the world over are being recruited by ISIS. How should it be tackled? T he problem is not of ISIS, but of our literature and media. A negative mindset was fostered among the youth by the ulema and by the literature on the political interpretation of Islam. ISIS simply availed of the opportunity to recruit these negative Muslim youth. Some problems do not have a short-term solution as people so desire. The real solutions to such problems can be had through long-term effort—by discussions, intellectual development and spreading of the right literature. We should work on a long-term peaceful solution as short-term planning or violence cannot work, because every act of violence perpetrates revenge. There are groups that use the Prophet’s seal and name on their flags and perpetrate violence. Can this be called as an Islamic war since it has the Prophet’s seal? Not at all. This is completely un-Islamic. Islam does not teach war, it only speaks of peace. Sometimes, an established government takes up arms in a limited sense, as a mark of defence. Full-fledged war is not allowed in Islam. The mission of Islam is to purify an individual – how is that connected to war? Islam is only peace, from the beginning to the end. Some Muslims say, if we do not protest on small issues, even praying will become endangered. Is this right? T his is a false and baseless doubt. We need to understand the spirit of the age. There is never an obstruction to praying – if there is an obstruction, it is only to violence. As long as we understand the spirit of the age and remain peaceful, no one is going to restrict us from praying. What is your advice to Syrian Muslims? T he entire world is praying for Syrian Muslims, so are we. It is not only a matter of praying, it is also matter of changing their mindset. Muslims do not change their way of thinking and that is why all the prayers are not yielding any result. Had the prayers of millions of Muslims