TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

The three scriptural religions thus confronted one another in Madinah. The delegation entered with the Prophet into public debate, and these were soon joined by the Jews, thus resulting in a tripartite dialogue between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This was a truly great congress which the city of Yathrib [the earlier name for Madinah] had witnessed. There is a very relevant incident from the life of the Prophet of Islam. Once the Prophet was seated at some place in Madinah, along with his Companions. During this time a funeral (procession) passed by. On seeing this, the Prophet stood up. Seeing the Prophet stand, up, one of his Companions exclaimed: “O Prophet, that was the funeral of a Jew, and not a Muslim!” The Prophet replied, “Was he not a human being?” Here we can see that the Prophet was able to discover a commonality between himself and that Jew. Every person was worthy of respect at all events, because of the common humanity we share with one another. This incident also illustrates how an atmosphere of mutual love and compassion can be brought about in the world only when we consciously rise above all insidious demarcations of caste, colour and creed. Although Islam believes in the oneness of reality, it lays equal stress on the practice of respect in everyday dealings with others, even if it means going to the extent of permitting people of other faiths to come to an Islamic place of worship for religious discussion, and if it is time for their prayers, letting them feel free to perform their worship according to their own ways in the mosque itself. Accepting others has been the rule throughout the history of Islam. It has, in fact, been one of the main underlying causes for its successful dissemination. Here I quote from the Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Islam achieved astonishing success in its first phase. Within a century after the Prophet’s death in AD 632 [the early generations of Muslims]… had brought a large part of the globe—from Spain across central Asia to India—under a new Arab Muslim empire… despite these astonishing achievements, other religious groups enjoyed full religious autonomy.” Encyclopedia Britannica 9/912 And this is the part which I wish particularly to stress: Despite these astonishing achievements, other religious groups enjoyed full religious autonomy. There is only one way to solve the issue of religious differences, and that is: ‘Follow one, and respect all’.