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Peace, the Norm in IslamBy Maulana Wahiuddin Khan

Islam is, in essence, a peaceful religion. In Islam, peace is the generalrule or norm. On the other hand, war is only a rare exception in Islam.

This rare exception is always as a compulsion in response to the actions

of others. It is not something that Muslims should initiate unilaterally

on their own.

The basic aim of Islam is to transform peoples thinking and to bring

about an intellectual revolution in their minds based on tawhid, or the

oneness of God. A hadithreport contained in the Fath al-Baritells usthat the Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked that if the heart is in a

proper condition, the whole human body would be likewise. Conversely,

if the heart gets spoiled, the whole body gets spoiled. The heart and

body are used in this narrative symbolically to suggest that just as our

bodily health depends on the health of our hearts, the quality of our

religious lives depend on our faith or iman.

The quality of our actions depends on the quality of our thoughts. Thatis why Islam places great stress on nurturing right thinking. This being

the case, war is excluded from Islams basic plan of action. Islam

teaches us to focus entirely, under all conditions, on the awakening of

right thinking and awareness. Psychologists tells us that our thoughts

determine our actions.

War is something that undermines, rather that facilitates, the plan of

human reform that Islam stands for. No matter what ones religion is,the fact is that one can obtain no real gain or benefit through war or

any other form of violence. This is why if all possible efforts to

prevent war are made but, yet, these fail and one is compelled to take

to war, the first thing for the followers of Islam to do is to seek to

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put an end to the war as soon as possible so that in a climate of peace

the real positive work of Islam can carry on unimpaired.

In this context, it is pertinent to discuss the notion of jihad in Islam.

Jihad is, in fact, another name for peaceful struggle. In todaysparlance, it could be called peaceful activism, or, in other words, using

peaceful means to try to attain certain lofty objectives.

The literal meaning of jihad is effort or struggle. The Quran (25:52)

speaks about a Great Jihad (jihad-e kabir)engaging in jihad through

the Quran (25:52). According to ahadithreport, a mujahid, one who

engages in jihad, is he who for the sake of obedience to God combats

his own lower self or nafs. According to another hadith, when theProphet (s.a.w.) returned from the Tabuk campaign (in which no war

took place), he said, We have returned fromlesser jihad togreater jihad.

The lesser jihad is a military struggle, while the greater jihad is the

struggle against ones ownnafsor lower self.

Jihad, if understood correctly, is an entirely peaceful action. At the

individual level, to engage in jihad is to refuse to deviate from Gods

path in the face of the desires and inclinations of ones nafsand the

unfavourable environment that one may confront. It is to face the

difficulties and challenges that stand in ones path and remain

steadfast on the path of the Truth. At the collective level, jihad can

be called a peaceful struggle.

Jihad is linked to intellectual awakening. It entails enkindling among

people a healthy spirit, exhorting them to positive action and seeking

to refine their character. Jihad inspires people to seek to become

beneficial to others, and to be concerned about their welfare. The

weapon used in jihad is love, not hatred and violence.

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Some people misunderstand jihad as the equivalent of war, or what is

called qitalin Arabic. Considering the two to be synonymous is really to

undermine or lower the significance of jihad. The fact of the matter is

that qitalis a very limited and temporary action. On the other hand,

jihad is a continuous and comprehensive or all-embracing action. Jihad

is an exalted action in Islam, which should carry on continuously, every

day and at every moment in our lives. Under no condition should it stop.

When a person seeks to search for the Truth, he is immersed in an

intellectual jihad. When he realizes the Truth, his jihad continues in

his life, taking on added dimensions. He must now engage in jihad or

struggle to the utmost against his own self and his base, Satanic,

desires, and against the difficulties and challenges of his surroundings.

In this way, he strengthens and deepens his faith and trust in God. He

engages in continuous constructive intellectual development, and so his

realization of the Truth continuously develops, till at last he reaches

the highest possible stage.

According to a hadithreport, ones faith increases and decreases. To

save ones faith from erosion requires a continuous jihad. Living in

society, one is repeatedly attacked by negative feelings or emotions,

such as anger, jealousy, revenge, pride, ingratitude, greed and so on.

These negative emotions threaten to weaken or decrease ones faith.

In such a situation, one has to awaken ones consciousness and struggle

against these negative tendencies and inner feelings and eliminate

them. This is a jihad, and without this jihad no one can save his or her

faith from damage, decrease or erosion.