CONFLICT-RESOLUTION

have heard. Sometimes, what they hear is completely baseless, but by the time they realize this, it is too late: they have already taken to violence, resulting in much loss of life and property. Defusing the situation. The Quran instructs us that in the face of provocation, we must refrain from reacting and instead defuse the situation. ….Whenever they kindle the fire of war, God puts it out….. (5: 64) In this verse, ‘God puts it [the fire of violence] out’, means that we must use the God given guidance of patience and avoidance in the face of such situations to restore peace instead of reacting to the provocation by fighting. If Muslims adopt the method of sabr and avoidance in the face of provocation then this response will be like water over the fires of strife and war. If instead Muslims react to the provocation with violence then the response will only add fuel to the fire. In the manner in which bombs are disarmed, defused and made safe, Muslims should defuse the situations of violence and conflict. In ancient times, a common means of provocation was defilement with dirt and filth. In the sixth century CE, when King Abraha made an alternate and imitation Kaaba in Yemen and the Arabs defiled it, he was incensed and set out on a military campaign with a strong force of elephants to destroy the Kaaba in Arabia. In a similar case, when a stranger defiled the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, the Prophet instead of being provoked responded with patience and by cleaning the place the situation was defused. The stranger returned to his tribe and related this incident by proclaiming that, ‘God is witness that in spite of me defiling the mosque, Muhammad did not censure or punish me.’ There are many verses in the Quran that inspire Muslims towards sabr and avoidance. If Muslims adopt this Quranic method of defusing a situation, it will cut the very roots of inter-communal conflict. The need to abstain from ignorant prejudice and provocation. In the context of the Treaty of Hudaibiya, the Quran relates that when the Prophet’s opponents displayed their prejudice against the Muslims, the believers did not respond in the same way. Rather, they remained if Muslims instead react to the provocation with violence then the response will only add fuel to the fire.