CONFLICT-RESOLUTION

established in God-consciousness (48: 26). It was because the believers did not behave as their opponents did that the Treaty of Hudaibiya was possible. God termed this treaty as a ‘clear victory’. Two years after this treaty, the whole of Arabia came under the sway of Islam. If Muslims were to act according to this above-mentioned Quranic verse, all of a sudden their history would take a different turn. It would also put a complete end to communal violence. In many cases, communal riots break out because, in the face of the prejudiced ways of others, Muslims react in exactly the same way. This escalates the conflict, and then turns into rioting. In many cases, Muslims have reacted to the provocation of others by expressing the same sort of prejudice themselves. But if, instead, they had adopted the method that the Quran recommends, their response would have been totally different. And then, many lives would have been saved. According to a Hadith contained in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, Abdullah ibn Masud says that the Prophet related that evil cannot be wiped out through evil. Rather, evil can be wiped out only through goodness. This Hadith expresses a divine principle. The entire world is governed by this principle, that every evil can be put to an end only through goodness. Had this not been the case, evil would have completely overwhelmed the world. Contrary to what Islam tells us to do, Muslims are today engaged in trying to put an end to evil by resorting to evil themselves. They want to end provocation by resorting to provocation, to end hate by resorting to hate, to end enmity by resorting to enmity, and to end communal prejudice by resorting to communal prejudice. All of this is completely against divine principles. Such efforts can never succeed. If Muslims insist on continuing this way, they will have to setup an imaginary world of their own liking, because they certainly cannot succeed in the real world in this manner . o The Prophet related that evil cannot be wiped out through evil. Rather, evil can be wiped out only through goodness. Intellectual Discovery An intellectual discovery is the most thrilling experience.