In The Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious

Islam and Peace

(By Dr K. Astal)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me a great pleasure to welcome you to the Quality and Peace Supporters Movement and to this meeting and fruitful seminar. My talk will focus on the issue of Islam and Peace as Arabs, Palestinians, Israelis and other parties are already engaged in bilateral and multilateral negotiations.

God the Exalted says : "And if the enemy incline to peace, you also incline to peace, and trust in God" (The Qur'an 8:61).

Peace is a fundamental and basic to life in Islam and war comes only as a matter of necessity, when there is no other way or alternative course of action. Islam came to give peace of mind and happiness to individuals and humanity as a whole, so that people might live in peace and prosperity on the earth. We read in the Qur'an: "God guides all who seek His Pleasure to ways of peace and safety..." (5:17-18).

The word "Islam" means peace and also submission and obedience to the Command of God, Who is the Creator, Master and Sovereign of the whole universe. The word "Islam" and its derivations has been mentioned  more than eighty times in the Qur'an. God is the source of peace and perfection and whoever turns to him for His guidance is blessed with peace, happiness and perfection" (59:23).

The enemies of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) opposed him and stopped him from calling other people to the path of peace and happiness. They showered abuses on him and threw stones at him, but in reply he said, "Peace be upon you" (43:89). He never slackened in his efforts to bring them all to peace and security in the obedience of God's Law. He remind them again and again of the fundamental truth of Islam i.e. peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen

One of several allegations made by the enemies of Islam to raise doubts about Islam and Muslims and confuse the minds of people is the false accusation that Islam supports extremists and terrorism. These baseless allegations are made by those who invaded, occupied and exploited, with worst intentions (and the worst results) of imperialism, are power-hungry individuals or nations, from Alexander to Napoleon, from Romans to Germans, from Mongols to modern European states, and from Russian Dictatorship to American Empire. Wherever such conquests, so motivated, cam and went, they corrupted morality and caused chaos, conflict, tears, bloodshed, and devastation, like a bold thief who bluffs the owner of the house in order to conceal his theft from that very house, turn to besmirching Islam, its Prophet and his glorious Companions.

In no era of history, nor in any region of the world, have Muslims, as Muslims, as individuals, or collectively as government of nation exploited people, nor let others do so where Muslim government had jurisdiction. Islam, in its essence, is the religion of peace and tolerance.

In the first place, Islam has never caused a great exodus of people from their homes and countries, nor has prevented people from working by putting chains on their hands and feet. It has left people free to practice their thinking and belief and protected them in exactly the same way as it protects Muslims. The Muslim governors and rulers were loved and respected fro their justice and integrity, and equality, peace and security were established between different communities. If it had been otherwise, would the Christians of Damascus have gathered in their church and prayed to God for the victory of the Muslims against the Christian Byzantium that wished to take back Damascus from the Muslims? If the Muslims had not been so, could they have maintained security for ages in such a vast state, in which it took more than six months to travel from one border to another?

The early Muslims evaluated the potential of knowledge and art in the lands they went to. No matter which religion those people adhered to, the Muslims held them in high regard and honoured them in the community. They never did what the Americans did to the American Indians, the French to the Algerians, the British to the Australian aborigines,  the Dutch to the Indonesians, the Israelis to the Palestinians. On the contrary, they treated the people of the lands they conquered as if they were from their own people,  from their own religion and as if brothers.

Let me give some historical examples of the Islamic justice and tolerance:

The Caliph ,Umar said to a Coptic Egyptian who had beaten by a Makkan noble: "Go and beat him the same". When ,Umar heard that ,Amr Bin al-,As hurt the feelings of a native Egyptian, ,Umar rebuked him saying, "Human beings were born free. Why did you make them slaves?" As he walked over to take over the keys of the Masjid al-Aqsa, Umar visited and talked to priests in different churches in Palestine. Once while he was in the church, it coincided with one of the prayer times. The priest repeatedly asked Umar to pray inside the church. However, Umar said, "You may be harassed by other Christians later because you let Umar pray in the church". So he went out of the premises of the church and prayed on the ground. These are but few examples to indicate how Muslims were sensitive, tolerant, just and humane towards other people. An attitude of such genuine tolerance has not been reached by any other people or society than Muslims.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The Holy Qur'an says: "Verily, O Mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, (not that ye despise each other). God, the Creator of the whole universe created people to know each other and to establish peaceful relations. Peace is the main core of Islam.

This principle of Islam, explicitly  lays down that the fundamental fact of life in Islam, is peace. However, peace is not forced upon individuals or mankind. Islam has great respect for human life and has done everything it possibly can to save and protect human life. God has enjoined that you should not kill any living being, which God has forbidden, except by justice." This is the declaration of the sanctity of human life by God, Who has made it inviolable as a basic principle. So long as a man respects the right of others to live, no one is allowed to take his life.

It is stated in the Qur'an "That was why we prescribed for the children of Israel: He who kills any person, unless it be a person guilty of manslaughter, or spreading chaos in the land, shall be looked upon as though he had slain all mankind, and who saves the life of any person shall be regarded as though he has given life to all mankind". (5:32)

This again emphasises the sanctity of life in Islam, because it absolutely essential for the safety and preservation of human life. That is why peace is a fundamental fact in Islam, for it provides an opportunity to people to live in security and safety, an essential condition for the preservation of human life.

The Holy Prophet explained this principle very clearly to his people on his last Pilgrimage: "Your blood and your property are sacrosanct until you meet your lord". These verses of the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet make it crystal clear that human life is sacrosanct and that peace is a fundamental truth of Islam that it stands for a peaceful life for mankind.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We  in the Quality and  Peace Supporters Movement believe  that  the  Israeli government should adopt real and concrete peaceful policies and it is not useful to reiterate words of public relations. So we stress on these goals:

1.      To guarantee free access to the Holy places in Jerusalem  and other areas to let an opportunity to all worshippers to worship God in peace and equality

2.      To halt all the settlement activities because the peace can not go hand in hand with building new settlement and confiscation of land policies

3.      To give free movement for people and goods

4.      To declare the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination  including the right to establish an independent Palestinian state.

5.      To release all the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli prisons and detention camps.

6.      To the Palestinian Authority operate freely the airport and seaport and border crossing points

To establish just peace..because peace is not a word of propaganda and public relations..peace needs peaceful policies to let  the peoples of the region to enjoy the fruits of peace.

Through peace all will be victorious,