TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both—man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible. THE HUDAIBIYAH REVOLUTION S INCE time immemorial, people have believed that war is the most powerful means of attaining one’s purpose. Some people even think that the only way to end war is to wage a war in return! They talk about ‘war for peace’, insisting that if you want to attain peace, you must go to war! They argue that the only way to establish one’s power is with a sword or a gun. A Persian couplet says: One who wields the sword, controls the commerce. But the experience of history proves the opposite; that no positive result has ever been attained through war. It has always been the case that the vanquished have refused to accept defeat. And, the fire of revenge burns in its heart. It reassembles its forces and initiates a war of revenge against the victor. This sort of thing has happened repeatedly in history creating a vicious cycle of war-defeat-revenge. This has been the case in Muslim history too. Early Islamic history reveals that the Battle of Badr took place in the year AD 624. The battle resulted into a decisive victory for the believers. The defeated Quraysh suffered 70 casualties, but the matter did not end there as they were now fired with the thirst to exact revenge. Returning to Makkah, they started to prepare for a new war. The next year, they attacked Madinah and the Battle of Uhud took place. In this battle, the believers had to face defeat and at least 70 of them were killed in the fighting. At the end of the battle, the leader of the victorious party, Abu Sufyan, stood atop a hill and loudly declared, “Today, we have avenged Badr!”