NON-VIOLENCE Our Only Hope

companions unilaterally tolerated all such acts of gross injustice. The emigration from Makkah to Medina was also a form of tolerance and avoidance, resorted to by the Prophet in order to avoid clashing with his opponents. One example of this avoidance of armed confrontation is that of the signing of the Hudaibiya peace treaty. When a pitched battle seemed imminent between the Prophet of Islam and his opponents, the Prophet successfully defused the situation by the initiation of peace negotiations, which continued for two weeks. During these negotiations, which took place at Hudaibiya near Makkah, the Prophet of Islam found the other party clinging obstinately to its demands. Therefore, the Prophet unilaterally accepted all the conditions of the enemy in order to arrive at a peaceful conclusion. The purpose of this pact was to end tensions between the two parties and to maintain a normal atmosphere in order that the work of peaceful reconstruction might be performed — the actual goal of the mission of Islam. Immediately after the conclusion of the Hudaibiya peace treaty, the atmosphere did return to normal and all the constructive activities of Islam were resumed in full force. The present world is so structured that conflicts inevitably occur between individuals. On such occasions, Islam tells us not to allow the conflict to escalate to the point of a violent confrontation. This is a policy of patience and avoidance. As a permanent principle, the Quran says: Reconciliation is best. (THE QURAN 4: 128) That is, at the time of mutual conflict reconciliation should be resorted to in order to end the conflict. This is for the simple reason that, by adopting the path of conciliation, we can find opportunities to prevent our energy from being wasted in confrontational actions and to devote all this energy to constructive activities. It is this advantage of a conciliatory course which the Prophet of Islam recommended to his followers thus: “You should not desire confrontation with the enemy; you should ask God for peace.” There is a verse in the Quran that says: Whenever they kindle the fire of war, God puts it out. (THE QURAN 5: 64) It was in this spirit of Islam that when the Prophet came into power in