DOES ISLAM PERMIT VIOLENCE? No

everyone is born in this world with a good nature. But sometimes, people temporarily go against their natural selves and become ‘enemies’. But if they are treated with unilateral good behaviour, they will return to their original nature. And enemies of the past will be transformed into friends of the present. Let us examine the reasons why people resort to violence. One reason is ideological extremism. Without zealotry, there will be no violence. The Prophet of Islam enjoined upon us to shun extremes. He observed— “There is no extremism in religion.” HADITH reported by AL-NASAI, IBN MAJAH and AHMAD Another reason for resorting to violence is anger. Islam regards anger as one of the major moral evils. The Quran defines true believers as those who “when angered are willing to forgive.” Obviously, if according to the teachings of Islam, people forgive and forget, then the need to resort to violence will not arise at all. The third reason for resorting to violence is the fact that violence has come to be regarded as a supremely powerful means of achieving a goal. But the Quran puts an end to this line of thinking also. According to the Quran, violence is a negative reaction yielding no result but destruction. It is neither a useful nor a positive means of achieving any objective. The Quran teaches us that no disagreement should be allowed to reach the level of a confrontation, and that attempts should be made to bring it to an end by adopting measures of reconciliation. The Quran says— “Reconciliation is best.” THE QURAN, 4: 128 A conciliatory, rather than a confrontational, course of action should be adopted to deal effectively with any disagreement. It is obvious that if the Perpetration of violence is expressly forbidden in Islam.