TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

The Quran has clearly stated that, for believers, political power is a gift from God, and not a goal to be striven for. declared that religious freedom was a fundamental right for all, and could not under any circumstances be abrogated. THE AGE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM The first stage of the cessation of fitna, which brought with it the dawn of religious freedom, was accomplished in Arabia. This development took place during the lifetime of the Prophet. During his last days, on the occasion of his final Haj, the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, preached a sermon, generally known as the Sermon of the Last Pilgrimage, in the presence of all of his Companions. One of the points in his address on which the Prophet laid emphasis was that God had sent him “as a mercy to all mankind,” and that this being so, they should communicate this message of peace to all people everywhere. In obedience to this injunction given by the Prophet towards the end of his life, his Companions travelled far and wide beyond the boundaries of Arabia. Indeed, they spent the rest of their lives carrying out their Prophet’s command. Thereafter, their successors, as well as the disciples of these successors, continued to make it their mission to disseminate the teachings of Islam, to the point where finally, the message of Islam had reached the greater part of the known, inhabited world of that age. This method of conveying the message from beginning to end was carried out in an entirely peaceful manner. Wherever there is political power, the element of coercion cannot be far away: political confrontations must, therefore, be avoided at all costs if the process of dawah, that is the task of conveying of Islam, is to be set in motion and continued in an atmosphere of freedom. That is to say that they had to abandon the path of political confrontation in favour of continuing their activities in non-political fields, such as education, dawah, the service of the Quran and Hadith, etc. The Quran has clearly stated that, for believers, political power is a gift from God, and not a goal to be striven for. THE PEACEFUL PROPAGATION OF ISLAM A major aim of the revolution brought about by the Prophet and his Companions was to remove all obstacles in the path of calling people to God so that such conducive conditions would prevail as would