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Non-Violence and Islam

Islam is a religion in which non-violence is taught.

 NON-VIOLENCE AND ISLAMI

slam is a religion in which non-violence is taught. God doesn’t value fasad, violence according to the Quran. What is meant here by fasad was clearly articulated in verse 205 of Chapter 2 of the Quran: it is this action that leads to destruction of the social order, which causes tremendous losses in terms of life and property.

Conversely, we can safely say that God loves non-violence. He abhors violent activity in human society, resulting in people paying the price with their property and their lives. Other statements in the Quran back up this. We are told in the Quran, for example, that peace is a name of God (59:23). Chapter 5, verse 16 of the Qur’an assures those who seek to please God that they will be guided by Him to “the paths of peace.”

The Quran ‘s entire spirit is in keeping with that concept. The Quran attributes great importance to patience, for example. Actually, patience is set above all other Islamic virtues, with the exceptional promise of beyond measure reward. (39:10) (39:18)

Patience implies a reaction or a peaceful response, whereas impatience implies a violent response. The word sabr expresses the notion of non-violence exactly as it is understood in modern times. The Quran has clearly expressed that patient action is non-violent action. According to one story, the Prophet of Islam observed: God grants that which he does not give to unf (violence) to rifq (sanity). (Sunan, Dawood Abu, 4/255).

Within this hadith the word rifq is used as an antithesis to unf. These terms convey exactly what present-day violence and non-violence mean. The hadith clearly shows the non-violent method ‘s supremacy.

On non-violence God grants what He does not grant to violence. This is not an pleasant affair. It has significant and profound consequences. It embodies an eternal natural law. By the very rule of nature, violence is correlated with all bad things, and non-violence with all good things.

Violent activity brings hate to society, while non-violent activity elicits love. Violence is the way of destruction whereas non-violence is the way of building. It is enmity which flourishes in an atmosphere of violence, while it is friendship that flourishes in an atmosphere of non-violence. The method of violence gives way to negative values whilst positive values mark the method of non-violence. Violence method embroil people in the issues, while non-violence approach leads people to abuse incentives. In short, violence is death, and life is non-violence.

Both the Quran and the hadith added significant importance to jihad. What exactly is jihad? It means fighting, fighting to the utmost. At the beginning, it must be noted that this term is used for peaceful combat as opposed to aggressive combat. One direct proof of this is the Quranic verse (25:52), which says: most strenuously conduct jihad (i.e., the Quranic word) with it.

The Quran is neither a sword, nor a weapon. It is an ideological book. In such a case, performing jihad with the Quran would mean an ideological struggle by the superior philosophy of Islam to conquer the hearts and minds of the peoples.

In the light of this Quranic verse, in fact, jihad is another word for peaceful activism or non-violent activism. Jihad is peaceful activism where qital is violent activism. Therefore non-violence should never be confused with silence or passivity. In the full sense of the word non-violence is action. Alternatively, an expression is more aggressive than that of aggression.

In its sphere, non-violent activism isn’t limited. It is an action course, which can be pursued in all matters. Whenever there is a issue facing people , organizations or societies, one way to solve it is by resorting to violence. The best way is to try and solve the problem through peaceful means, avoiding violence and confrontation.

The first verse of the revelation, as the Quran began to show itself, transmitted the injunction: ‘Read!’ (Iqra) (96:1). We learn about the initiation of Islamic action by continuing this verse. It starts from the point where there is hope that the movement will continue along peaceful lines and not from that point where there are chances that it will be marred by violence.

The efforts to change or replace current structures with violent activism are usually counter-productive. One coup d’etat is always the precursor for a sequence of coups and counter-coups that the average man does not profit from. The truly desirable revolution is one that allows for gradual, beneficial changes. And this can only be achieved on non-violence.

-By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

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