By
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The power of peace is far greater than the power of violence. One, who failing to recognize this truth, adopts a violent course of action in order to achieve his goals, demonstrates his own foolishness. For peace is the way of the wise, while violence is the way of the foolish. While peace is power violence is actually a weakness.

Peace and war are not just two equal modes of achievement in the simple sense of the phrase. Rather they reflect two different standards of humanity. One who adopts the path of peace raises the level of humanity, while one who adopts the path of violence decidedly lowers it.

In moments of crisis, when the individual opts for the way of peace, he cultivates positive thinking. He raises his moral standards. He goes from strength to strength in the improvement of his own character. Indeed, he gives a practical proof of his being a human being. On the contrary, when a man opts for the path of violence to solve his problems, he slides down the slippery slope towards perdition. He makes it all too clear that he is suspect as a human being.

Inclinations towards peace or violence serve as indicators of the true character of the human being. If the former proves the humanity of the individual, the latter proves his animality, despite his appearing to be a human being.

Peaceable behaviour is indicative of self-control. Self-control is undoubtedly a very great strength: it saves man from engaging in negative activities like violence. One who does not have the power of self-control will be enraged at times of provocation and will hurl himself into violent activities. Controlling one's anger is the way of the peaceful person, while losing one's self control when provoked is the way of the violent person.

In any controversy, one way to attempt to settle matters is for both parties to enter into violent confrontation. The better way to settle disputes is to effect reconciliation at the very outset. Reconciliation is like a safety valve in any situation where there are conflicting interests and where tempers can become explosive. So at times of provocation, the best course to adopt is a conciliatory rather than a confrontational one.

However, it rarely happens that such reconciliation as can be effected exactly reflects the desires of both the parties. In the majority of cases, reconciliation is possible only on a unilateral basis. That is, one party has to suppress its own inclinations and show a willingness to put an end to the dispute in accordance with other party's wishes.

Why is this kind of unilateral reconciliation better? The main benefit is that without wasting one's energy and time in unnecessary wrangling, one is able to carry on a constructive course of action, whereas a state of confrontation puts a full stop to all such activity.

History shows that any success on the part of an individual or a community has been achieved by adopting the conciliatory method. The path of clash and confrontation has never led to any genuine success in this world. Reconciliation is vital, because it gives man the opportunity to utilize available opportunities to the fullest extent, whereas confrontation leads to his entire energies being channelized into planning the destruction of others. The work of construction, therefore, is never engaged in, although the secret of true success lies in construction and consolidation rather than in destroying supposed enemies.

Many people justify violence by saying that they have been the victims of plots and conspiracies and so must put an end to this by fighting. This excuse is quite baseless. What is generally regarded as a plot is, in actual fact, a manifestation of that plan of nature which has been established in the present world as a natural law.

In the present world, the actual problem for a community is not that it has enemies plotting against it. The actual problem is that it has failed to purge itself of the weaknesses that provide others with the opportunity to exploit it. An established state of peace is a safeguard against this kind of exploitation. Violence means rendering oneself insecure by breaking the defense line. While violence is a weakness, peace is the power in the hands of a peace-loving person.

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