FROM MAULANA’S DESK

The peace-loving person first thinks and then acts. The violent person first acts and then thinks. There is hope in peaceful action from start to finish. In violent action, however, there are false hopes to begin with, which are soon followed by frustration. This approach proved successful in the long run. Now, Communism in a very distorted form is restricted to just a handful of countries. The challenge of Muslim militancy should also have been faced with an ideology of peace. The US, confident over its great military prowess, entered Afghanistan, only to suffer loss after loss. The Doha Pact is a reiteration that the age of war is long gone. Even if you are a superpower, you cannot endure the use of violence as a strategy. With the advent of modern-day, advanced and lethal equipment of warfare, war has become destructive for all sides. In the words of Jake Fulton, “There are no winners of war, only survivors.” The Doha Pact is one of the most important events of recent times. It is a glaring example that shows that violence as a means to achieve an end is counterproductive. No one, not even a superpower, can afford war. The only way to resolve conflict is through peaceful negotiations. The strategy of peace is the only viable formula for conflict-resolution in this world. A US citizen working for wounded veterans put it aptly, “Peace in any way, shape or form is a good thing.” (The Times of India, March 1, 2020) Peace is the result of planned action, while violence is purely an aggressive response to any kind of provocation. The peace-loving person first thinks and then acts. The violent person first acts and then thinks. There is hope in peaceful action from start to finish. In violent action, however, there are false hopes to begin with, which are soon followed by frustration. Islam is a religion of nature. It advocates peace at all times. The Quran says, “reconciliation is best” (4: 128). Why is reconciliation taken to be ‘best’? It is because a situation of conflict halts constructive activity. The benefit of agreeing to reconciliation is that one is thereby spared the need to waste one’s time, strength and resources on useless confrontation, so that one can focus on constructive efforts instead. A course of action that is opposed to reconciliation is always and inevitably a course leading to destruction. The Prophet of Islam is reported to have said, “God is gentle and He loves gentleness. He rewards for gentleness what is not granted for harshness and He does not reward anything else like it.” (Sahih Muslim). God loves kindness