Peace is not prevalent in the world as people the world over are acting intolerantly and indulging in acts of violence, saying, “Give us justice and peace will ensue.” But when people, ostensibly seeking justice, stoop to violence, peace can never prevail. Peace is always desirable for its own sake, and every other desirable state comes after peace, not along with it. When peace is the desired state, the maxim to be followed is: Ignore the problems, and avail the opportunities.
Once people become tolerant and obtain peace for its own sake, it opens up opportunities to strive for their ideals. Eventually this leads to justice and other constructive ends.
This ideology of peace can counter the ideology of violence and is based on the original sources of Islam. The Prophet of Islam provides a great historical example in his negotiation of the Hudaybiya peace treaty by unilaterally accepting all the opponents’ conditions. While not receiving justice or rights, he gained a 10-year no-war pact. This gave him and his Companions an opportunity to work uninterruptedly on a constructive program. Using this peaceful non-political program, they were able to consolidate themselves so thoroughly that without waging war they acquired Makkah peacefully.
This example shows that Islam is a truly peaceful religion and the Islamic method is a completely peaceful method.
I always convert tension into thinking. One option you have is to live in tension and remain drowned in sadness.
The Quran says: Copy both Arabic texts Both mean: Despair not of God's grace. Don't despair of God's mercy and blessing. Being despaired or having frustration is a sin in Islam. When I feel tensed, I begin to think and pray to God. I discovered something very important.
No one has been able to make this discovery yet. The Prophet was born in Makkah and he received prophethood there. Later on, the Prophet migrated to Madinah.
What was migration?
People think migration means to leave the place of oppression and go to some pther place. They take Prophet's hijrah only in the sense of emigration .But my mind discovered something when I was tensed. Makkah was a place of problems. Madinah was a place of opportunities. I realized that Islamic thinking is not land-based, rather it is opportunity-based. Islam doesn’t give land-based thinking, rather it gives opportunity-based thinking. People are fighting for land. Wherever Muslims are fighting, it's for land. They don't realize that they have to avail opportunities wherever they find them. Our mind's focus is on land which is why we are fighting. We don’t focus on opportunities. Opportunities are available to all. Earlier opportunities were available only in Madinah. Now they are available on a global level. People have land-based thinking. Islamic teaching is aimed at developing opportunity-based thinking. Land is secondary in nature. We should avail of opportunities wherever we find them.
