History of Dawah An Analysis
In an environment of peace, all kinds of opportunities present themselves. That is why the Creator desires peace to be maintained at all costs.
The Quran is the Book of the Creator of the Universe. The object of the Quran is to make man aware of God’s creation plan. In chapter 3, the Quran has this to say: “Do they seek a religion other than the religion of God, when everything in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or unwillingly?” (3:83)
Man’s success lies in his adopting the religion of God. In this matter, man has no other choice. There are two aspects to the religion of God—monotheism (Tawheed) and peace (salam). Monotheism provides the ideological base of this religion of the universe. All the theoretical or intellectual, and practical demands of religion are linked with or are produced by the ideology of monotheism. The starting point of monotheism is the discovery of the Creator of the universe. When one has discovered this reality in the real sense, the whole of his life gets moulded accordingly. We learn from the Quran that all the Prophets brought this message of monotheism.
The word peace tells us of the social demand of the religion of God. Peace is established by maintaining the normal, natural state of human society. Maintaining this natural state depends on all the constructive activities of life. The truth is that from the social aspect, the position of peace is that of the summum bonum. Peace is another name for a healthy society. Without peace, no human activity, religious or worldly, can flourish in a society.
Man has been created with freedom. When he properly uses his freedom, a normal environment is produced in society. Therefore, all kinds of healthy activities are carried on without any obstacles. On the contrary, when man misuses his freedom, such an environment is produced in society as has been called fasaad or creating mischief in the Quran (7:85). In such circumstances, no task can be performed properly.
Chapter 4 of the Quran states: “Reconciliation is the best.” (4:128) Reconciliation means peace and conciliation, that is, at the time of controversy, avoiding clash and confrontation and, instead, opting for such a peaceful way that the conflict is resolved without unnecessary friction. And once again, the task is to create a normal environment for peaceful activities.
What is the cause of controversy in life? The real reason is not that someone has become your enemy and is conspiring against you. Rather the real reason for this situation is to be found in God’s creation plan. The Creator has created man in a state of freedom. Everyone is free to make use of his freedom as he likes. This state of affairs produces an environment of competition and challenge. If this challenge is taken in a negative sense, it leads to controversy and conflict, but if it is taken in a positive sense, it becomes an incentive for progress.
God loves that peace prevails in human society. Peace accords with God’s creation plan, while violence goes against it. Chapter 10 of the Quran has this to say: “God calls man to the home of peace.” (10:25)
In this verse of the Quran, ‘home of peace’ or Darus-Salaam means, in fact, the Paradise of the Hereafter. Paradise is a place of peace in the total sense. The same peaceful life is also required of man in this world. The truth is that those who are proved to have led a peaceful life in the present world are the ones who will be held deserving of entry into Paradise with total peace in the Hereafter.
Contrary to peace is violence and war. Therefore, scholars have defined peace as the absence of war. But this is a negative definition of peace. The positive definition of peace is the presence of opportunities. The greatest quality of peace is that it opens the door to opportunities. In an environment of peace, all kinds of opportunities present themselves. That is why the Creator desires that peace should be maintained at all costs; peace must prevail, whatever the price to be paid.
