God Calls to the Home of Peace

The following is a verse in the Quran which is of relevance to the present situation of Muslims:

‘And God calls to the Home of Peace.’ (10:25)

Here, ‘Home of Peace’ means Paradise, Paradise being the place of ideal peace. God Almighty calls to all mankind: ‘If you are desirous of entry into eternal Paradise, you shall have to adopt the culture of peace. You shall have to develop your personality along peaceful lines.’

In another verse the Quran, referring to Paradise, describes its environment thus:

‘They will not hear therein any vain or sinful talk, only the words of peace and tranquillity.’ (56:25–26)

This is the best description of Paradise. It is an ideal place. It is a perfect society. There will be no nuisance or uncalled for activities there. In Paradise, the culture of peace will prevail in every sense of the term. Implicit in this description of Paradise there is a warning to all: ‘O people, if you want to find entry into Paradise, abandon all kinds of violent activities. Adopt the culture of peace. Paradise is a hate-free place. Those who live in hate in this world can never be settled there.’

The Prophet was a peace-loving person in the complete sense of the word. It is a fact that some battles did take place during the lifetime of the Prophet, but all of these were fought in self-defence. One of these was fought at Badr in 624 AD. The traditions tell us that when the battle was taking place, the Prophet Muhammad was sitting some distance away from the battlefield in a makeshift camp. He was seen drawing some lines on the sand. Major Akbar Khan, a writer, making the assumption that his actions must relate to the battle, observed,

‘The leader of Islam was making his next war plan.’

This judgment was based only on conjecture, without taking into account the facts. But when we look at other traditions, it becomes clear that what the Prophet was doing at that time was making a plan to establish future peace.²

This tradition tells us about the thinking of the Prophet. His mind was not political, but only prophetic. His concern was not to establish his rule in the world but to convey to people a non-political message.

We know this from another Hadith, in which it is said that the Prophet was once sitting among his companions, when the angel Gabriel appeared. At that time an angel descended from the skies. Gabriel told the Prophet:

‘“O Muhammad this angel has come down to earth for the first time since it was created.” The angel said to the Prophet: “O Muhammad, God has sent me to you. He has asked me to question you: what do you want to become—a king-prophet or a messenger-prophet?” Gabriel said to the Prophet: “Adopt the way of modesty for the sake of your Lord, O Muhammad.” The Prophet answered: “Messenger-prophet.”’

This tradition tells us about the thinking of the Prophet. His mind was not political, but only prophetic. His concern was not to establish his rule in the world but to convey to people a non-political message.

Similarly, there is a prayer of the Prophet which says:

‘O God, You are peace. Peace comes from You and peace returns to You. O God, bless us to live in peace. O God, give us entry into the Home of Peace. O God, You are the greatest.’

These words and what actually happened after the battle tell a very different story. In the above war the Prophet had participated out of compulsion, because his opponents had launched an offensive. But later the Prophet continually tried to avoid war, and finally during a negotiation he unilaterally accepted the conditions of his opponents only so that there could be peace between the two parties. In this way, the Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyyah came into being.

The truth is that war is against the creation plan of God. According to God’s scheme of things, every person who is born on earth should develop his personality along spiritual lines. He should remove all negativity from within and make himself totally positive in mind. According to the Quran, every person should strive to develop a sublime character. (68:4)

In brief, God’s plan is that the process of character building should continue uninterruptedly in the life of every individual. This process can fructify only in an atmosphere of peace, and not of violence and fighting. In such a situation, it is not just to some human being’s design that the war-mongers run counter: it is the divine plan with which they are at variance. This is tantamount to jeopardizing God’s scheme of things.

Taking the option of war is a crime which God will never forgive. A clear proof of this is that those who have opted for war have not been able to achieve the desired results, even after making great sacrifices over many decades. Indeed, all that they have done is bring ruination to the lives of Muslims as well as to the lives of others.