THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE IN ISLAM — Unconditional Peace

THE IDEOLOGY OF PEACE IN ISLAM Unconditional Peace S CHOLARS have defined peace thus: “Peace is the absence of war.” This definition is absolutely correct. Peace in fact means the absence of a situation of war or violence. However, some people hold this definition of peace to be inadequate. They say that justice should accompany peace; that peace devoid of justice is no peace. But setting such a condition for the attainment of peace is impractical. This is because peace on its own does not bring justice. Justice is not necessarily an element of peace. What peace does, in actual fact, is to open up opportunities. It creates favourable conditions that would enable us to strive for justice and other constructive ends. Peace is always desirable for its own sake. Everything else comes after peace, not along with peace. The case of Japan is a concrete example of the success of this formula. A peace policy always serves as a ‘peace bomb’, in the sense that it conquers the enemy without any bloodshed. History shows that the peace bomb has always proved to be mightier than the violence bomb. Peace is always desirable for its own sake. Everything else comes after peace, not along with peace. A peace bomb means life, and a violent bomb means death. A peace bomb leads to construction, while a violent bomb leads to destruction. Likewise, a peace bomb brings progress, while a violent bomb brings annihilation. Peace enhances creativity, whereas violence does the very opposite. The power of a peace bomb is based on love, while that of a violent bomb is based on hatred. According to Islam, peace is therefore not simply an absence of war; peace opens doors to all kinds of opportunities that are present in any given situation. It is only in a peaceful situation that planned activities are possible. It is for this reason that the Prophet Muhammad went to great extents to establish peace at all costs. The treaty of Hudaibiya, between the Prophet and his opponents, provides one such clear