PEACE IN ISLAM

people. A few people find it difficult to accept even the existence of beliefs that oppose the ones that they hold, once used to hold, or that their culture or family holds. Their resistance can be passionate and occasionally violent. Anyone who wishes to stay on the path of truth will need to exercise great patience. He should bear all hardships with fortitude and not blame others. Patience is another name for the non-aggressive or peaceful method. This means that one who stands up for the truth ought not to counter violence with violence. He must unilaterally adhere to peaceful ways. Sanctity of Human Life The Quran says that, if someone kills another person, it is as if he had murdered all mankind. (THE QURAN 5: 32) Murder is a horrendous act. The killing of a human being is permissible only when the danger that person poses to society can be resolved in no other way. Killing a single human being without proven justification is equivalent to killing all human beings. The difference between the two is only one of degree and not of the nature of the act itself. Killing one human being is just as horrendous as killing all human beings. Such an act breaks all traditions of respect for life. According to Islam, to die while fighting for a just cause is to achieve martyrdom, but we cannot court death deliberately or use our own deaths as weapons. The above verse of the Quran shows the great importance of peace and security in Islam. If someone is unjustly killed, Islam demands that the entire society become so greatly agitated over this offence that people work together to restore peace and security. It should be treated as a matter of the greatest urgency, as if all of humanity were under attack. Clarification of a Fallacy There is a verse in the Quran that says, “Kill them wherever you find them.” (THE QURAN 2: 191), which leads people to believe that Islam is a religion of war and violence. This is simply not true. This verse relates only to those who attacked the