TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

Refrain from dichotomous thinking One of the defensive wars in which Muslims engaged in with the Byzantine forces is known as Ghazwa of Mutah (Mutah is located about 600 miles north of Madinah). The commander-in-chief of the Muslim side was Khalid bin Walid. Before the battle got over, Khalid decided to withdraw Muslim forces from the battlefield because he realized that they were disproportionately outnumbered by their opponents. When they reached Madinah, some of the Muslims received them by addressing them as: “O Furrar!” (Odeserters!) To this the Prophet said: “No, they are Kurrar.” (Kurrar means ‘men of advancement’). Those Muslims who thought that Khalid and his army were deserters were thinking dichotomously, that is, they thought either one can fight in the battlefield or lose and retreat. However, the Prophet observed that there was a third option and that is to avoid war and find time to strengthen oneself. History tells us that the Muslims, after three years of preparation, advanced again towards the Arabian border with the Byzantine Empire, and this time they won a resounding victory. Discussion and dialogue instead of confrontation on the battlefield This principle is derived from the treaty signed at Hudaybiyah in 628 AD. At that time, the opponents were determined to engage the believers in fighting, because obviously they were stronger and thus in an advantageous position to win a battle. But the Prophet, by accepting their conditions unilaterally, entered into a no-war pact. It was a tenyear peace treaty. Before the signing of this treaty, the meeting ground between the believers and their opponents had been the battlefield. But after a truce came into effect between the two sides, the area of engagement became ideological discussion. Before this, the two sides only met with each other in battlefield, but now when they met each other instead of fighting they would converse and discuss matters. As a result of the interaction, within two years, majority of the opponents became followers of the Prophet. Thus, Islam emerged as victorious because its ideology was able to win people over to its side. For bringing about social change, Islam advocates the evolutionary method, rather than the revolutionary method.