TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE — Manifesto of Peace

TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both-man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible. MANIFESTO OF PEACE P EACE is the only religion for both—man and the universe. In a peaceful environment all good things are possible, whereas in the absence of peace, we cannot achieve anything of a positive nature, either as individuals, or as a community. The same holds true at national and international levels. What is Peace? Scholars have defined peace thus: “Peace is the absence of war.” Peace in fact means the absence of a situation of war or violence. While this defines the essence of peace, there are some who consider it to be inadequate. They say that peace should be accompanied by justice; 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. That is, justice is not necessarily an element of peace. What peace does, in actual fact, is 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 Hudaybiya Peace Treaty The Prophet of Islam provides a clear historical example in his method of negotiating of the Hudaybiya peace treaty. On this occasion he brought matters to a successful conclusion by unilaterally accepting the conditions of his opponents. In this peace treaty, the Prophet had apparently not received justice or his rights. What was in effect a 10-year