War,peace and Non-violence

Part Two : Islamic Movement and Peace

In this paper the author addresses the Islamic movement in particular because of the difference of opinions there is amongst the various groups and sects of the movement. Otherwise he calls upon all Muslims, and upon all mankind for that matter, to adhere to peaceful and non-violent means in all as pects of life.

In line with his political views, Imam Shirazi calls for the creation of an international Islamic reform movement in order to help attain the salvation of the Muslim Community, as this can be seen in many of his works. Subsequently this in turn would then fac ilitate the salvation of mankind in general. In this work he emphasises on the Islamic movement although his discussions on peace and non-violence usually take up a more general tune. Imam Shirazi 5 4 The Holy Qur'an: The Cattle (6): 124.

then goes on to emphasise that such a movement must adopt peaceful policies in all aspects and domains . . . This paper is an extract from Chapter 4 of Imam Shirazi's book Towards Islamic Revival pages 141 - 174. Chapter 4 of this book discus ses Axiom 4 of the 6 axioms the author envisages for the Islamic movement.

The Movement Must be Peaceful The motto of Islam is 'peace'. Hence when one Muslim meets with ano ther he will say to him: 'al-Salam Alaykum' meaning 'Peace be upon you' and the other will answer: 'Alaykum al-Salam' 'Upon you be Peace.' And in the same way that he begins with a greeting of peace upon his brother, he will end his meeting with a farewell greeting of peace, saying when he wishes to leave: 'Peace be upon you.

' Islam then is the religion of peace, hence Allah, Exalted is He, says in the Holy Qur'an: {Enter into a state of peace one and all.} (2:208) Wars, blockades, and other forms of violence are only emergency measures and not the norm and they go against basic Islamic principles.

Their nature is that of d ire necessity as in the eating of 'unlawful meat' or the like and the basic principle is that of peace. Hence in Islam, war is taken at face value. However, despite this, Allah Almighty says: {And whoever assaults you then assault him in the same way that he assaults you.} (2:194) Then in another place He says: {But to forgive is closer to piety.} (2:273)

The way of the Prophet (S) and Fatima (A) and the impeccable Imams (A) was thus. Peace was their watchword in all their affairs and even in their battles, and the unparalleled success of the Prophet o f Islam (S) and the Imams (A) was for reasons all stemming from the peace that they endowed themselves with in all their affairs.

Hence we find that the 'Abbasids, Umayyads, and Ottomans proceeded in a way that only earned them an ill reputation. Whereas the true leaders of Islam have only a good reputation and are known by the people for peace, kindness and forgiveness:

We ruled and forgiveness was our nature, when you ruled blood flowed as a river flows.

Enough for you now is this difference between us, for every vessel will show what substance it holds. The fact that Islam encompasses peace is one of the reasons for its initial progress and for its second age of progress after the attacks of the Crusaders from the west and the Moguls from the east. And through peace we hope for the advancement of Islam in this century which has been so full of attacks from east and west alike on its lands.

The Messenger o f Allah, Muhammad (S), progressed, as we have said, thro ugh peace that he adopted as a mantra. One example of this is Mecca55 , the capital of unb elief and idolatry and the capital of waging war against the Messenger of Allah (S). The people of Mecca confronted the Messenger of Allah by every possible means. They banished him, killed his daughter Zaynab, confiscated his wealth and killed many of his followers.

Finally they tried to assassinate him so he fled secretly to Madinah but they continued their plots against his holy mission. Despite this, after more than twenty years, when the Messenger (S) wanted to conquer Mecca, he made preparations then proceeded to conquer that city peacefully without one drop of blood being spilt.

Among the preparations he made were when he took possession of Khaibar, he took as spoils a large hoard of golden vessels as many as twenty thousand in number and of differing sizes. The Messenger (S) sent a number of these vessels to be shared out amongst the poor of Mecca even though they were unbelievers, polytheists, and warring against the Messenger of Allah (S). When these golden vessels arrived for the people o f Mecca, they were confused and amazed.

They said: 'We fight this man, we confiscate his pro perty, we kill his fo llowers and his relatives and he deals with us in such a kind manner.'

This was an overture from the Messenger of Allah (S) to bring Islam to Mecca and to destroy the idols and to establish peace between the people. When the Messenger of Allah (S) conquered Mecca, Abu Sufyan, his archenemy, came and the Messenger of Allah (S) pardoned him. Not only this but he made his house a sanctuary saying: 'Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe.

' Then he turned to the wife of Ab u Sufyan, Hind, the woman famous for her immoral acts and attacks on the Messenger of Allah (S). She who had torn open the abdomen of Master of the Martyrs Hamza, and amputated his ears and his nose and mutilated him in the most vile manner, taking out his liver and chewing it in her mouth.

This woman, this 'war criminal' was sent by the Messenger of Allah a document of pardon. By this, the Messenger of Allah (S) recorded the most magnificent example in the history of creation of forgiveness even of his most ardent enemies. The Messenger of Allah (S) accepted the Islam of Hind and he made it a condition upon 5 5 The peace treaty between the Muslim and Quraysh (the Muslims' adversaries) was broken by Quraysh, and this consequently lead to the peaceful conquest of Mecca without any bloodletting.

her that she should not p rostitute herself which points to the fact that she was a famo us prostitute before Islam. The noble Qur'anic verse, which the Messenger of Allah (S) recited to Hind, also points to this fact where Allah says:

{And if the believing women come to you to pledge their allegiance to you on the basis that they do not associate partners with Allah, nor steal, nor commit adultery . . .} (60:12)

Similarly, the Messenger of Allah (S) forgave the people of Mecca and spoke the historical words: 'Go ye for you are at liberty.' He did not seek to reclaim his houses or the houses of his companions that had been confiscated by the Polytheists. And when he took the key to the Ka'bah from the custodian, the Qur'anic verse was revealed: {Allah orders you to convey all things held in trust to their rightful owners.} (4:58), as some exegeses have said, and after he destroyed the idols he returned the key to the custodian.

The Messenger of Allah (S) also opened the way to bring Khalid (Ibn al- Walid) to the religio n by saying to his brother Walid ib n al-Walid:

'I am amazed at your brother Khalid, he is a clever man, why has he not entered Islam?, And why has he not said the two testaments of faith (shahadatayn)?' When Walid came to his brother Khalid, and conveyed to him the speech of the Messenger of Allah (S) about him, Khalid was amazed that the Messenger of Allah (S) would seek to win him over with such kindness since he had been fighting a full-scale war against the Messenger of Allah (S). This became a reason for Khalid accepting Islam and joining the Muslim army as is well documented in the chronicles.

Through this peaceful means, the Messenger of Allah (S) gained dominion over the hearts of the people of Mecca before he gained dominion over their bodies. And when he did gain dominion over their bodies, they followed his lead and obeyed him and said of him: He is a noble brother and the son of a noble brother.

The chroniclers report that Mecca at this time was the capital of unbelief and Polytheism, hypocrisy and blood letting, selfishness and pride. When it surrendered to the Messenger of Allah (S), most of the people did not announce their entry into Islam but rather remained on the way of Polytheism. The Messenger of Allah (S) did not coerce them to accept Islam ever but instead left them to themselves so that they would live by themselves under the rule of Islam to enter Islam in the future.

The Messenger of Allah (S) made a man named 'Atab the governor of Mecca. He was a young Muslim man of deep faith who was nearly twenty years of age. He fixed the sum of nearly two talent of Silver as a daily pay for him.

The chroniclers mention that Mecca no longer made war after that and succumbed to the rule of 'Atab without any need for an army or security force or force of arms or other power. This because the Messenger of Allah (S) had gained hold of their minds and hearts and the heart, if it becomes allied to a person is not able to rebel o r resist.

In this way, the people of Mecca began to sense the correctness of the Islamic way and that in it they would still have their authority and leadership and their honour and their wealth would remain in their own hands and their sacred objects would remain sacred.

Sa'ad ibn 'Ubada took the banner during the first moments of the conquest of Mecca. Then he began traversing the streets of Mecca proclaiming: 'Today is the day of slaughter, today the women will be captured.' When the Messenger of Allah (S) heard this he said to Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A): 'O 'Ali, take the banner from Sa'ad and proclaim the opposite.

' Imam 'Ali (A) then took the banner from the hand of Sa'ad and began to proclaim in the streets and alleys of Mecca: 'Today is the day of mercy, today the honour of the women will be protected.'

Meaning that today we have come to you with mercy and to unite your ranks and to bring about a brotherhood between you, and today your women will remain with their honour and their chastity. These actions of the Messenger of Allah (S) were a prime cause for the unparalleled submission of the holy city of Mecca to the Messenger of Allah (S).

War, accusation, slander, backbiting, insinuation, enmity, hatred, egotism, pride, deception and the like are the causes of the decline of nations and individuals alike. On the contrary, the human being is a slave to virtues. Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen (A) says: 'I wonder at he who buys slaves with his wealth, why does he not buy the freemen with his mora ls?'

In any case, it is imperative that the Islamic movement that is striving to establish a worldwide Islamic state adopts peace as its mantra and syllabus and method to attract the widest possible audience. Through this God's aid and assistance may be achieved.

The Noble Consequences of Peace

Those involved in the Islamic movement must be characterised by peace in their thought processes, in their speech, and in their actions in dealing with both the enemy and the friend. For the consequences of peace are noblest and it is fastest in reaching the desired goal. Peace and peace making are principles which bring about the advancement of the peacemaker. Whereas the non-peace-maker or the violent person will always remain behind.

The greatest Prophet (S) said to Imam 'Ali: 'O 'Ali, the noble traits of this world and the next are mildness of speech, magnanimity, and the forgiveness of he who wrongs you.'

What is no t meant here is the forgiveness of the unjust transgressor who does not repent, but rather it is the forgiveness when in power. The poet has turned these words of the Messenger of Islam into verse form saying: The noblest of virtues are epitomised in three;

Mild speech, magnanimity, and such forgiveness as can be. Meaning that if o ne is in position of power, to forgive and pardon he should do so, and be mild in speech not violent which, if he was, he would end up being distanced from the people.

In another hadith in praise of the faithful it is said that the believers are: 'humble', meaning that they are humble and not so unpleasant th at the people will fear to be around them and beside them, for the vio lent unpleasant person is generally avoided by the people.

The (Islamic) movement which wishes to bring together the people and guide them to the straight path ought to adopt mildness, for the people will gather round he who is humble, mild, cheerful and friendly as is found in the hadith about the qualities of the believer: 'The believer is humble, mild, cheerful and friendly, joy is on his face, sadness in his heart.' This is how the person who seeks to gather the people should be.

If the motto of the movement was to be violence, the movement would lose all legality in the eyes of the people and they will come to think that just as the movement is violent against its enemies, it will in evitably become violent against them some day. The poet says:

Have patience in the face of the envious, for your patience will kill him, Just as the fire will eat itself up if it does not find that which will fuel him.

This is a fact. The violent person acts violently with friend, foe and stranger alike, whereas the mild person acts mildly with both friend and enemy. Hence many hadiths carry the commendation of mildness, gentleness, compassion, and love. It is related from the Prophet Jesus (A) in a beautiful speech attributed to him: 'You have been told to love thy friends, but th is is not wha t is important, for even the tithe collectors love their friends. I say to you love thine enemies.

' It is clear from the speech o f Jesus that this does not result in benefiting the enemy as much as it results in benefiting the person himself, for the person who loves his enemy will try to establish good relations and a connection with him which is what can cause the enemy to cease his enmity.

There is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (S) which says: 'Give gifts to each other, establish love between one another ', meaning that the giving of gifts to each other causes mutual love to be established between people. There are many other hadiths in the same vein reported from the Prophets and the Imams (Upon whom be peace).

The Islamic movement must then be characterised by peace and make peace its motto so that people may have confidence in it. Any movement which carries out a violent act or two vio lent acts will be blamed by the people for any subsequent violent acts which appear in society, just as the thief who has stolen once will be blamed for other thefts that take place.

In the proverb: 'The mind connects a thing with the most general and the usual.' If the movement is the subject of the suspicion of the people who connect it with violence and the like then the people will desert it and it will no t be able to reach its goal.

As well as adopting the conditions of creating awareness, organisation, and observing general principles, the Islamic movement must also be based upon the following four foundations of peace and peace-making, mild ness, compassion, and kindness. The hadith and traditions of the Messenger of Allah (S), his story, his history, his battles and military campaigns all make clear how mild and p eaceful he was and the fine results he gained because of this.

For example, we can see how the Messenger of Allah (S) after conquering Mecca dealt with the city's people in such a kind an d lofty way that he was able to achieve two things:

The first is that he was able to loan from Safwan ibn Umayyah, one of the major Polytheists, four hundred suits of armour. During the Age of Ignorance, Safwan had been in the position o f the minister of war for the Polytheists and he had many suits of armour which he would supply to the fighters in the wars which took place between the tribes and clans.

When the Messenger of Allah (S) requested from Safwan that he lend him this armour he had no hesitation in giving them to the Prophet because he had experienced his kindness and tasted peace under him during the conquest of Mecca.

The second, the Prophet (S) was able to create an army of two thousand men who were with him on the battle of Hunein which happened directly after the conquest of Mecca. Thirty thousand warriors from the tribe of Huwazin and other tribes had gathered in the valley of Hunein near Mecca to attack the Messenger and kill him and his companions.

The Prophet had with him ten thousand of the Mujahidin from Madinah and the two thousand men from Mecca making in all twelve thousand fighters, warriors, horsemen, and armoured men. Hence the Messenger was able to fight the peo ple of Hunein in this bitter war, which the Holy Qur'an mentions.

The Messenger of Allah (S), with his companions from Madinah, and those who had joined up with him from Mecca, was able to rout the enemy army and provide a victory for Islam, and this ended the resistance of the unbelievers throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula. This is because of the morals of the Prophet and his peacefulness, his compassion, kindness, open-handedness, truthfulness, and trustworthiness.

After the battle of Hunein had ended, he returned the armour to Safwan. The Muslims had won in this battle a great deal of booty and the chronicles report that Safwan looked at the camels, which had been won by the Messenger of Allah (S). The Messenger saw this and said: 'Do you desire these camels O Safwan.' He said: 'Yes O Messenger of Allah.' So the Messenger said: 'Give Safwan ten of the camels', so they gave him ten. Then he said: 'And another ten', and he continued to give him until he had given one hundred camels to Safwan.

In truth, this giving was to the people of Mecca as a whole because Safwan had an important family and relatives and in those days when the chieftain obtained something it meant that his followers and family would also obtain a share in that thing.

In this way, the Messenger of Allah (S) was able to draw the attention of the Polytheists in Mecca and they began to enter into Islam and testify the two testaments of faith without violence or warfare and without the spilling of blood but rather out of love for Islam, for they saw in Islam a refuge and a shelter, and leadership, friendship, wealth, fraternity, and a lessening of problems. Hence, the Islamic movement must learn from the Messenger of Allah (S) how to act and make peace.

Peace . . . always

To continue the discussion about the peaceful treatment of the friend and the foe, which is one of the vital fundamentals upon which the struggles of the international Islamic movement should be based, peace initially is bitter and difficult. It requires self-contro l, forgiveness, and turning a blind eye, and the capacity to act decisively and in the best possible way. Allah Almighty has said, in the Holy Qur'an:

{Repel (evil) with tha t which is best for then you will find that your former enemy will beco me your warmest ally. But none shall achieve this but the patient ones and none shall achiev e this except one blessed with great fortune.} (41:34-35)

One should always be looking towards the goal and realise that revenge inhibits the reaching of that goal. Hence we see that the Prophets and Imams (A) and reformers always tended towards peace not only before they had power but even after they had power.

The well known tradition reports that the Messenger of Allah (S) was extremely angry at Wahshi the killer of Hamza (A) who was one of the stalwarts of Islam as indeed were 'Ali and Ja'far, the sons of Abu Talib.

They were the staunch supporters of the Messenger of Allah (S) and his assistants in his wars and military campaigns and they had a position of pride and honour amongst the Muslims. Because of this, Hind, th e wife of Abu Sufyan said to al-Wahshi: 'If you kill Muhammad, or 'Ali, or Hamza I will reward you with such and such and I will free you from your bondage.' Al-Wahshi replied: 'As for Muhammad, I cannot kill him because his companions surround him.

As for 'Ali, I have no way against him for when he enters the field (of battle) he is so self aware that nothing escapes his notice be it in front, to his right or left or behind him. But I am able to kill Hamza for when he enters the field he is not self-aware.

He entered the battle and took advantage of him and attacked him. Hence Hamza was killed in that vile way, and Hind made a horrible example of him. Because of this, the Messenger of Allah (S) became very angry at Wahshi. Then one of his companions came to him after a time and said: 'O Messenger of Allah (S) will you forgive Wahshi, for he desires Islam.' The Messenger of Allah said: 'Then I forgive him.'

Indeed the Messenger of Allah (S) did forgive him and he entered Islam and became a good Muslim. He (Wahshi) used to say after that: 'I must aid Islam as I used to aid unbelief against Islam.' Wahshi took part in battles and had an important role. He took part in the story of al- Yamamah and he served Islam as he used to serve unbelief against Islam.

Hence we can see the excellent consequences, which arose from the forgiveness of the Messenger of Allah and his acceptance of the Islam of Wahshi.

In the same vein, the Messenger of Allah (S) also forgave Habbar who was one of the most uncouth of the people of Mecca and one who had stirred up trials and tribulations for the Muslims. He had caused the death of Zaynab, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (S) who was a pious woman who resembled the Messenger of Allah (S) in her morals and her looks as she resembled her mother Khadijah (A). She was with a child when Habbar caused her fall from the saddle and the child miscarried. She remained ill because of this until her death.

The Messenger of Allah (S) was aggrieved at this and called for Hab bar's blood and when he conquered Mecca, Habbar fled to the mountains because the Prophet had said: 'Kill Habbar even if he is clinging to the curtains of the Ka'bah.' This because he was considered to be an ill- mannered unco uth person who stirred up trials as we previously mentioned.

Then a man came to the Messenger of Allah (S) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, you have forgiven everyone, so forgive Habbar also. You are most forgiving and noble.' The Prophet said: 'I forgive him.'

History records the kindness of the Messenger of Allah (S) and his patience and his decisiveness. These noble qualities deserve to be recorded as miracles. How great the man must be to reach this state where he forgives the killer of his uncle Hamza and the killer of his daughter and his still born grandson - Zaynab and her child.

Because of this we see that Islam b egan to spread because the ethics of Islam shone out impressing the people. This is the type of Islam that a person should believe in, the type, which around whose banner h e is able to rally in all goodness and peace.

The international Islamic movement must colour itself with the same tint of forgiveness, peacefulness, peace, and peace-making. Not just with its friends and relatives, but also with strangers, and enemies as we see in the stories of the great reformers.

One Muslim commander took control of some territory after a civil war and a rebellion. A group of officers who were considered to be war criminals were arrested and sentenced to death by execution. When that chief, that patient, honest, kind, and intelligent man, took th e death warrant he threw it to the floor and said: 'To have those officers above ground alive is better than to have them below ground dead. I grant them free pardon so set them free.

' Those who had b rought the death warrant were amazed but they could not disobey his orders so they went and freed the officers. Then these officers became the most earnest servants of Islam. They served their homeland in another war after that as an expiation for their previous ill acts. The chief said: 'Do you see how effective kindness, patience, forgiveness and peace can be. If we had ordered the death of those officers, who would have led the army? Who would have defeated our enemy when they attacked us?'

So it is imperative that the watchword of the Islamic movement be 'peace' in word, deed, and writing, and peace in all circumstances and with all the people.