Humanity, Religion, & Peace: Finding Common Ground -1
The religion of Islam is the religion of peace and tranquility, and this fact stands out clearly in the teachings of the Holy Qur’an which preaches that it is the religion – the complete way of life – that has been perfected by Almighty Allah (God) in the pages of the Holy Qur’an. [If truly followed by mankind], it is a religion of peace, tolerance, harmony, and tranquility for all human beings on this earth. It is for this reason that Allah (SWT) has called this religion “Islam” in the Holy Qur’an, His last testament to mankind, which finds its source from the root word “Salam” which means “Peace” in Arabic.
It is a well-known fact in history that Islam appeared at a time when the people of the world were enveloped in clouds of ignorance. They fought incessant wars against one another and terrorized other nations into submission for the sake of conquest, false pride, and selfglory. They inflicted great cruelties upon one another, and acts of barbarism and brutality were common among them. Among them were those who believed in racial superiority, considering all the other races of the world as inferior to their own, which gave them the right to plunder the weak and the helpless. Mass slaughter, plunder, genocide and other acts of brutality became commonplace on a daily basis, and the people of the world despaired for better lives in a forest where the people behaved worse than the beasts of prey left loose in a jungle.
So when the whole world stood in need of a Prophet, Allah (SWT) sent Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) on this earth to bring about a new world order on this earth. Soon, with the advent of Islam, the world witnessed a remarkable change in the attitude, mindset, and the character of people. The Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (PBOH) through the Divine teachings of the Holy Qur’an began to preach the Divine commands and in a short span of ten years the people of the Arabian Peninsula accepted Islam as their religion. Under the rule of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the message of Islam illuminated itself to the neighboring countries [and emerged as] an Islamic empire that stretched to cover one-third of the world’s population who were among the strongest adherents of Islam to this present day.
The Divine teachings of the Holy Qur’an took hold over the hearts of the people and fashioned their minds in such a way that the world witnessed for the first time an era of peace and tranquility that was unknown in the centuries before them. As the teachings of the Holy Qur’an took a firm hold on the minds and hearts of men, people who were earlier fearful under the tyrannical rule of their tribal chiefs, kings, and monarchs began to breathe freely in the peaceful atmosphere that reigned in the different corners of the Islamic empire.
In brief, the religion of Islam saved the people of the world from the brink of extinction as a human race. The teachings of Islam presented to the world for the first time the idea of peace that all people stood equal before the Divine Law of God irrespective of a person’s position, or whether he was a friend or a foe, rich or poor, ruler or the ruled, people of distinction or the working class, both high and low, and placed them all on an equal footing.
The Holy Qur’an announced, “Whoever kills a person not (to retaliate) for a person killed nor (to punish) for spreading disorder in the earth, is as if he has killed the whole mankind, and whoever saves the life of a person is as if he has saved the life of the whole mankind. And, certainly, Our Messengers have come to them with clear signs. Then, after all that, many of them are there to commit excesses on the earth.” (Qur’an 5:32)
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) had announced time and again in his various sermons, “One of the great sins is to kill someone.” For this reason, Islam strongly unequivocally denounces all acts of terrorism and killing; and teaches all human beings to become united against all forms of injustice and intolerance, practiced in whatever form around this globe in the present day. Islam commands its adherents to imbibe the qualities of love, mercy, and peace which are taught to them in the Holy Qur’an. Terrorism and extremism, on the other hand, are exactly the opposite of what is taught by this Divine religion. The people who give pledge to the communist and fascist ideology, and those who have a narrow racist outlook of life should be suspected as potential perpetrators of intolerance and injustice across the globe.
Terrorism is violence committed against non-military targets to attain certain political objectives. For this reason, terrorism means making innocent people victims of acts of violence without any provocation or moral justification. Among the victims, there could be those people who do not approve and condone the acts of injustice done by their respective governments, and making them the targets of any act of violence goes against all norms of civilized behavior. The criminals who carry out these acts are guilty of spreading mischief and violence on this earth irrespective of their religious labels. The Holy Qur’an, which is a universal book revealed to all of mankind acts as a guide for human beings, leading them to the true path that leads a person to win the pleasure and approval of Allah by our good deeds. In His book, Allah commands all human beings and Muslims to adopt good morals. This morality should be based upon positive concepts such as love, compassion, tolerance, harmony, and mercy to those from other religions. Islam is a religion revealed to mankind with the purpose of constructing a peaceful and harmonious life.
The values set by the Holy Qur’an hold a Muslim responsible for the way he treats all people whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim. Additionally the Qur’an absolutely forbids every Muslim from committing any act of mischief and misconduct, which comprises all forms of anarchy, chaos, and terror that threaten the security, comfort, and peace of their surroundings. The Holy Qur’an clearly states, “Allah does not love corruption.” (Qur’an 2:205)
Wickedness in all forms has been plainly condemned in unambiguous terms, and Allah has commanded all human beings and Muslims to avoid committing all kinds of evils: murder, bloodshed, oppression, and cruelty amongst themselves and upon others. In the present age when acts of terrorism, genocide, and massacres occur all over the world and where innocent people are being savagely killed; and countries which are unsafe, ought to be made secure and safe by upholding the morality preached by the Holy Qur’an. For a Muslim who fears Allah, believes in the Last Day, and has grasped the true morality of Islam, it is impossible to support violence or terror or to take part in such actions in a direct or an indirect manner. And that is why the religion of Islam is the true solution against the acts of terrorism that are practiced by people on one another.
When the magnificent morality of the Qur’an is explained to people in its precise form – in the language in which the Holy Qur’an was revealed along with its translations – then it will be impossible for people to connect the message of true Islam with those who support or join extremist groups that aim at spreading hatred amongst people and aim for chaos to reign in the place of peace and harmony on those people co-existing together in a society.
The first thing that needs to be done to rid the world of the present day insecurity that exists among people and root out terrorism in all its forms, wherever it is practiced on this earth, is to educate people on the teachings in the Holy Qur’an in order to do away with deviant beliefs that are put forward in the name of religion and to teach people the true Qur’anic morality that should be practiced by all believing Muslims, and acquaint them with the basic Islamic principles.