LESSONS FROM PESHAWAR KILLINGS — Abandon Violence, Embrace Peace

LESSONS FROM PESHAWAR KILLINGS Abandon Violence, Embrace Peace O n December 16, 2014, a group of militants entered the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, and mercilessly gunned down about 150 students and teachers. The terrorist outfit released a photograph of the six-members who carried out the attack. A banner in the background reads as follows: ‘La ilaaha illallah — There is no god, but One God.’ By this demonstration, the people who carried out the attack have themselves given us the criterion on which to judge their act. According to a verse in the Quran, killing of an innocent human being is like killing the entirety of humankind. (THE QURAN 5: 32) In the light of this verse, it can be said that the above incident was equivalent to killing the entirety of humankind 150 times over. Without doubt, there cannot be a crime more heinous than this. Indifference means indirect involvement, which in God’s eyes is as bad as direct involvement. Now, what is the message given by the Quran to grieving relatives? There is a very relevant verse in the Quran in this regard. It says: “Beware of an affliction that will not smite exclusively those among you who have done wrong.” (THE QURAN 8: 25) This is an alarming verse for the relatives of the innocent who have been killed. It is a fact that militancy in Pakistan has been going on for more than 50 years now. However, the people of Pakistan had remained almost indifferent to it as they thought that the militants were targeting others. The Peshawar killings show that remaining indifferent in such matters is not an option. One has to strive to stop these acts, otherwise one would also become its victim. According to a Hadith (words & sayings of prophet), God commanded the angels to topple a town, because its people were engaged in evil acts. The angels said, ‘O God, there is a person living in the town who worships You day and night, and is not directly engaged in any evil.’ God replied: ‘Overturn the town along with that person, as he did not try to stop his people from doing evil deeds.’ (al-Mojam al-Awsat).