Peace In Islamic Thought
Encyclopedia
As in other religions, peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

is a basic concept in Islamic thought
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...

. The Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 term "Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

" itself (إسلام) is usually translated as "submission"; submission of desires to the will of God. It comes from the term aslama, which means "to surrender" or "resign oneself".

The Arabic word salaam
Salaam
Salaam may refer to:* , the word for "peace" in Arabic, often used as a greeting, see S-L-M for an overview* , one of the Names of God in Islam...

(سلام) ("peace") has the same root
S-L-M
Shin-Lamedh-Mem is the triconsonantal root of many Semitic words, and many of those words are used as names. The root itself translates as "whole, safe, intact".-Salam "Peace":...

 as the word Islam. One Islamic interpretation is that individual personal peace is attained by utterly submitting to Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

. The greeting "As-Salaamu alaykum
Salaam
Salaam may refer to:* , the word for "peace" in Arabic, often used as a greeting, see S-L-M for an overview* , one of the Names of God in Islam...

", favoured by Muslims, has the literal meaning "Peace be upon you". Muhammad (S.A.W.W) is reported to have said once, "Mankind are the dependents of God and the most beloved of them to God are those who are the most excellent to His dependents." "Not one of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." Great Muslim scholars of prophetic tradition such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Al-Haafidh Shihabuddin Abu'l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad, better known as Ibn Hajar due to the fame of his forefathers, al-Asqalani due to his family origin , was a medieval Shafiite Sunni scholar of Islam who represents the entire realm of the Sunni world in the field of Hadith...

 and Sharafuddin al Nawawi
Nawawi
The Arabic nisbah Al-Nawawi denotes an origin from Nawa, Syria.Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was a Sunni Muslim author on Fiqh and hadith.Nawawi may also refer to:* Aznil Nawawi, Malaysian actor...

 have said that the words ‘his brother’ mean any person irrespective of faith.

Concept of Islamic Peace

Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 is a monotheistic religion and according to the Quran all people are children of Adam. Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

 is considered the enemy of humanity, causing enmity among all people. The series of prophets and messengers
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...

 coming from God throughout the ages is to call the people again towards their innate identity of love and friendship
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...

. The good life according to Islam is in submitting to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 and in worshiping Him as The Creator
Creator deity
A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...

 and The Master and to recognize the innate nature of man. The individual who will recognize his true nature on which every person is created will be able to live together in society with peace and affection to each other.
In his Last Sermon
The Farewell Sermon
The Farewell Sermon , also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or The Last Sermon, was delivered by Muhammad on the 9th Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 AH in the Uranah valley of Mount Arafat The Farewell Sermon , also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or The Last Sermon, was delivered by Muhammad on the 9th...

, the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 admonished believers:
  • "Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you."


Jeffrey Wattles holds that the compassion appears in the following statements, some of which are attributed to Muhammad and some of which come from the Qur'an:
  • The Qur'an: “Woe to those . . . who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due”
  • The Qur'an commends "those who show their affection to such as came to them for refuge and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give them preference over themselves"

  • “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
  • "Seek for mankind that of which you are desirous for yourself, that you may be a believer; treat well as a neighbor the one who lives near you, that you may be a Muslim [one who submits to God]."
  • “That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind.”
  • "The most righteous of men is the one who is glad that men should have what is pleasing to himself, and who dislikes for them what is for him disagreeable."


Koran 2:190 Footnote, King Fahd Complex translation, says:
“Jihad is holy fighting in Allah’s Cause with full force of numbers and weaponry. It is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars. By Jihad Islam is established, Allah’s Word is made superior (which means only Allah has the right to be worshiped), and Islam is propagated. By abandoning Jihad (may Allah protect us from that) Islam is destroyed and Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim. He who tries to escape from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfill this duty, dies as a hypocrite.”


Imam al-Ghazzali (d. 1111), the greatest Sufi master, Islamic intellectual, and revivalist of Islam, who is considered the second-greatest Muslim after Prophet Muhammad, wrote of Jihad:
"One must go on Jihad at least once a year… One may use a catapult against them when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire on them and/or drown them… One may cut down their trees… One must destroy their useful book (Bible, Torah etc.). Jihadists may take as booty whatever they decide…"

Rules for Peace

Islamic tradition dictates that prophets were sent by God to every nation. In Islam, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

was sent finally to convey God's message to the whole world, whereas other prophets were sent to convey their messages to a specific group of people or nation. So the ideal nationhood in Islam is beyond all boundaries and differences.

The establishment of Khilafa (the Islamic community) on earth based on the rules of shariah is the ultimate goal of Islam according to the jurisprudential approach. The ummah is not confined to any particular geography, or limited to any specific race; rather it consists of all believers throughout the world from whatever background, language, creed, history or geography. Unlike race, language, history and other such involuntary criteria in nationhood, where the individual has no choice and nationalism and patriotism ask for allegiance to a particular nation and state not chosen by him/her, ummah arms the individual by allowing a choice to be made by him/her in joining or rejecting it. It is therefore a conscious and informed choice that establishes ummah and allegiance to it rather than non-voluntary factors as in
nationhood.

Peace between Muslim and non-Muslim countries

According to all four recognized schools of Sunni jurisprudence (Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafii), war against the infidels goes on in perpetuity, until "all chaos ceases, and all religion belongs to Allah" (Quran 8:39). Islamic law prohibits a peace treaty between a Muslim country and a non-Muslim country because the ultimate goal of Islam is to conquer the world for Allah. An armistice, called hudna
Hudna
Hudna is an Arabic term meaning a temporary "truce" or "armistice" as well as "calm" or "quiet", coming from a verbal root meaning "calm". It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire"...

 between a Muslim country and a non-Muslim country is permissible for a period required to prepare for a war. Encyclopaedia of Islam
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The Encyclopaedia of Islam is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies. It embraces articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and...

 states:
"The duty of the jihad exists as long as the universal domination of Islam has not been attained. Peace with non-Muslim nations is, therefore, a provisional state of affairs only; the chance of circumstances alone can justify it temporarily. Furthermore there can be no question of genuine peace treaties with these nations; only truces, whose duration ought not, in principle, to exceed ten years, are authorized. But even such truces are precarious, inasmuch as they can, before they expire, be repudiated unilaterally should it appear more profitable for Islam to resume the conflict."


Internationally renowned Muslim historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) wrote:
"In the Muslim community, jihad is a religious duty because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force. The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the jihad was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense. But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations."


Professor Moshe Sharon teaches Islamic History at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He wrote:
"Peace in Islam can exist only within the Islamic world; peace can only be between Moslem and Moslem. With the non-Moslem world or non-Moslem opponents, there can be only one solution - a cease fire until Moslems can gain more power. It is an eternal war until the end of days. Peace can only come if the Islamic side wins. The two civilizations can only have periods of cease-fires."


Bassam Tibi
Bassam Tibi
Bassam Tibi , born 1944 in Damascus, lives in Germany since 1962 and, since 1976, he is a German citizen. He is a political scientist and Professor of International Relations. In academia, he is known for his analysis of international relations and the introduction of Islam to the study of...

 is a political scientist, Professor of International Relations, and a Muslim. He wrote:
"At its core, Islam is a religious mission to all humanity. Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world. “We have sent you forth to all mankind” (Q. 34:28). If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call (da’wa) can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. In Islam, peace requires that non-Muslims submit to the call of Islam, either by converting or by accepting the status of a religious minority (dhimmi) and paying the imposed poll tax, jizya. World peace, the final stage of the da’wa, is reached only with the conversion or submission of all mankind to Islam....Muslims believe that expansion through war is not aggression but a fulfillment of the Qur’anic command to spread Islam as a way to peace. The resort to force to disseminate Islam is not war (harb), a word that is used only to describe the use of force by non-Muslims. Islamic wars are not hurub (the plural of harb) but rather futuhat, acts of “opening” the world to Islam and expressing Islamic jihad. Relations between dar al-Islam, the home of peace, and dar al-harb, the world of unbelievers, nevertheless take place in a state of war, according to the Qur’an and to the authoritative commentaries of Islamic jurists. Unbelievers who stand in the way, creating obstacles for the da’wa, are blamed for this state of war, for the da’wa can be pursued peacefully if others submit to it. In other words, those who resist Islam cause wars and are responsible for them. Only when Muslim power is weak is “temporary truce” (hudna) allowed (Islamic jurists differ on the definition of “temporary”)."

Importance of peace

One of the terms meaning peace and peacemaking in Arabic, sulh
Sulh
Sulh is an Arabic word which means "peace" as opposed to war. It is derived from the same root as Arabic word musalaha meaning reconciliation.-Usage:...

, which is used in the Quran, is also the root of the word islah
Islah
Islah is an Arabic word meaning to repair, often translated as to reform or reshape. Also the name of several reform parties.-Related links:*El-Islah*Jamaah Islah Malaysia*Yemeni Congregation for Reform*Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen*Tajdid...

 denoting development and improvement. This term is used to refer to peacemaking. Peacemakers are agents of good and those who breach it are elements of corruption and sin. It is therefore observed that peace and peacemaking are seen in Islamic tradition as part and parcel of human development.

In other words, peace and making peace are seen as "Godly acts worthy of praise and reward". Enmity takes root within and is the cause of conflict amongst humans without; ‘wars start in the minds of men’ reads the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Charter .

Therefore, the main ingredient and instigator of much of armed conflict in history, enmity and hatred, befell mankind as a result of having succumbed to Satanic temptation
Temptation
A temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions, for various reasons: legal, social, psychological , health, economic, etc...

 and deception. The commonality with Kantian as well as Hobbesian perspective in considering enmity and war as ‘state of nature’ (outside of the original dwelling) is all too clear. However, there is a striking difference in man’s approach to the ‘state of nature’. Whilst both Hobbes and Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...

 believe that peace is a better way of life and prescribe an artificial state of peace to promote human security, progress and stability (they, however, disagree widely on how to achieve that state) as a rational discourse, in Islam peace is advocated as a divine quality to be pursued in order to achieve the state of felicity that we were in paradise, man's former dwelling .

Peace and justice

Justice, as outlined in the Quran, refers to balance and is the foundation upon
which creation stands.

Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

 after the Prophet, has an incisive definition of justice. He considers justice to be the placement of everything in their proper order. The issue of proportionality and relativeness is thus an indispensable part of justice.

Quran states in chapter Al Maidah: O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.

Peace based on justice, therefore, would mean a balanced, fair and tranquil state of affairs, where all concerned would enjoy their due rights and protection. Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 is reported to have said once, "
"Mankind are the family of God, and the most beloved of them to God are those who are the most excellent to His family." "Not one of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."
Great Muslim scholars of prophetic tradition such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Al-Haafidh Shihabuddin Abu'l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad, better known as Ibn Hajar due to the fame of his forefathers, al-Asqalani due to his family origin , was a medieval Shafiite Sunni scholar of Islam who represents the entire realm of the Sunni world in the field of Hadith...

 and Sharafuddin al Nawawi
Nawawi
The Arabic nisbah Al-Nawawi denotes an origin from Nawa, Syria.Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was a Sunni Muslim author on Fiqh and hadith.Nawawi may also refer to:* Aznil Nawawi, Malaysian actor...

 have said that the words ‘his brother’ mean any person irrespective of faith.

House of Peace

The ideal society according to the Qur’an is Dar as-Salam, literally, "the house of peace" of which it intones: And Allah invites to the 'abode of peace' and guides whom He pleases into the right path. The establishment of abode of peace on earth means the establish peace in everyday lives, at all levels. This includes personal, social, state and international levels.

According to Islam there will be an era in which justice, plenty, abundance, well-being, security, peace, and brotherhood will prevail among humanity, and one in which people will experience love, self-sacrifice, tolerance, compassion, mercy, and loyalty. In his sayings, our Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, says that this blessed period will be experienced through the mediation of the Mahdi
Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...

, who will come in the end times to save the world form chaos, injustice, and moral collapse. He will eradicate godless ideologies and bring an end to the prevailing injustice. Moreover, he will make religion like it was in the days of our Prophet, cause the Qur'an's moral teachings to prevail among humanity, and establish peace and well-being throughout the world.

Eschatology

Muslims believe that Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

  invited the Children of Israel to follow the true path and showed them many miracles. He is the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

 and, as the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 says, he is the "prophet of God" . Together with his return to earth in his second coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...

 he will be the best judge among all people on earth. The lack of understanding between Christians and Muslims, who believe in the same God, share the same moral values and, as the Qur'an says, are closer to one another in love than all other people, will be repaired and these two greatest of the world's religious communities will be united. The members of the world's third monotheistic religion, the Jews, will also accept Jesus as their true Messiah and find their way to the true religion.

It is believed that with the return of Jesus
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...

, religion will defeat the atheistic philosophies and pagan beliefs with intellectual means; the world will be saved from wars, conflicts, racial and ethnic hostility, cruelty and injustice. Humanity will supposedly enter a "Golden Age" of peace, happiness and well-being.

See also

  • Islam
    Islam
    Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

  • World Peace
    World peace
    World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...

  • Islam and slavery
    Islam and Slavery
    Islamic views on slavery first developed out of the slavery practices of pre-Islamic Arabia. During the wars between different states/tribes in various parts of the world, prisoners/captives were either killed or enslaved...

  • Kingdom of God
    Kingdom of God
    The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...

  • Political aspects of Islam
    Political aspects of Islam
    Political aspects of Islam are derived from the Qur'an, the Sunna , Muslim history, and elements of political movements outside Islam....

  • Salaam
    Salaam
    Salaam may refer to:* , the word for "peace" in Arabic, often used as a greeting, see S-L-M for an overview* , one of the Names of God in Islam...

  • Taqwa
    Taqwa
    Taqwá is the Islamic concept of the fear of God.-Etymology:The term taqwá comes from the Arabic root W-Q-Y from the 8th stem verb, ittaqá "be wary, Godfearing."...

  • 99 names of God
    99 Names of God
    The 99 Names of God, , are the Names of God by which Muslims regard God and which are described in the Qur'an, and Sunnah, amongst other places. There is, according to hadith, a special group of 99 names but no enumeration of them...

  • Catholic peace traditions
    Catholic Peace Traditions
    The following article will trace the ideas and practice of peace in the Catholic Church from its biblical and classical origins into the 21st century. This Catholic tradition, because of its long history and breadth of geographical and cultural diversity, encompasses many strains and influences of...

  • Divisions of the world in Islam
  • Religion of Peace
    Religion of Peace
    The Religion of peace is a political neologism used as a description of Islam. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, some politicians described Islam as a "religion of peace" in an effort to differentiate between Islamic terrorists and non-violent Muslims...


List of articles, conference and journal links that promote interfaith dialogue


Prof David Capes
Prof David Capes
  • [islam-and-terror-from-perspective-of-fethullah-gulen]Islam and Terror: From the Perspective of Fethullah GÜLEN (I. Albayrak)

External links

  • Jihad and Fitna
  • Islam and liberal peace
  • http://www.tparents.org/UNews/Unws0111/MJenkinsAddress.htm
  • http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670291,00.html
  • http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/001164.html
  • http://www.russia.com/forums/open-board/15383-rains-ideal-peace.html
  • Islamology
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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