The modern age has witnessed violence as never before. It is because people do not possess a complete ideology that favours peace. Adhering to peace is possible only when there is a powerful justification for peace, whereas the sole justification for violence is the force of public sentiment. While violence is instinctive, peace calls for strict mental discipline and self-control to be exercised. Man needs a complete ideology of peace. An ideology of peace acquires meaningfulness only in God’s plan of creation. The present world has been designed by its Creator as a testing ground for humanity, in which man has been granted complete freedom of will. However, this freedom is not meant to produce anarchy. Its objective is to demonstrate whether man, despite having total freedom, can lead a disciplined life. The test of a man is that he raises himself from the level of amorality to the level of human ethics; despite experiencing feelings of hatred and having the urge to be violent, he should become the embodiment of love and peace. When negative sentiments corrode his heart, he should be able to rid himself of them and make himself a positive thinker. Despite possessing total freedom, he should become an example of moral, disciplined behaviour of his own free will. Understanding the creation plan of God, one finds a complete ideology of peace, following which one can exercise strict mental discipline and self-control. It is the beginning of a peaceful society. Those who thus conduct themselves in this manner will pass God’s test and be selected by the Lord, the Creator and Sustainer of this universe, as the beneficiaries of eternal paradise.
The Quran says: Copy Arabic text (4:128) This means peace is the summum bonum.
I discovered that in the West freedom is considered the summum bonum. But this is a wrong notion. The West has no point of reference. They simply proposed an idea that came to their minds and they began to believe that freedom is the summum bonum.
The Quran says that peace is the summum bonum. When I thought about this, I realized that freedom cannot be the summum bonum. If you cannot use something in an unlimited way, it cannot be the summum bonum. You cannot use freedom in an unlimited way because that can create anarchy and you become harmful for others. Saying that total freedom is the summum bonum is irrational. You live in a society. You don’t live alone. If you are in Iceland all alone, you can say freedom is the summum bonum for me. You can do anything, move your hands and legs in anyway and jump around. But you live in a society. In a society, you have to be conscious about not being harmful for others. So you cannot use freedom in an unlimited way when you live in a society. Freedom cannot be the summum bonum. But as for peace, you can use it as much as you want. When you are peaceful, you won't create problems for anyone. Peace is the only thing that can be utilized in an unlimited way.
I got a point of reference from the Quran. The Quran says that peace is the summum bonum, and not freedom. Freedom can be used only in a limited way. But peace will remain peace in every circumstance. Suppose you have an enemy. I personally don’t believe that any person is an enemy, however, people do think so. If you become unilaterally peaceful with your enemy, what will happen? You won't lose anything at all. You will be in a position to avail all the opportunities. If you become peaceful even with an enemy, you still stand to gain. Becoming peaceful means making yourself capable of utilizing opportunities.
The formula of peace is indeed great.
Peace is the only way which is good in every situation. If there is a greatest good, it is peace. If you become peaceful in family, society, community and or the world, you won't lose anything, irrespective of the extent to which you become peaceful. You won't even make others suffer losses. When I took the Quran as a point of reference, I realized that freedom is not the summum bonum. Rather peace is the summum bonum.
