Page 165 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

The Age of Peace

accepting that disparity is a positive feature of human life,
one has to concede that, according to the creation plan of
the Creator, the entire system of the world has to be based
on interdependence. Acceptance of this fact will help to
eliminate violence from society.
Unwillingness to acknowledge the disparity that is
characteristic of human society will result in rivalry between
people. In the name of removing disparity from the world,
people will engage in confrontation and violence. A never-
ending cycle of violence will then come into existence.

If, however, people were to accept disparity as a reality, the
culture of cooperation would be promoted in society. Every
individual would seek to cooperate with his fellow men and, in
this way, a collective culture would be given encouragement.
The culture of collective cooperation undoubtedly helps to
establish peace in society.

Unwillingness to acknowledge the disparity that is
characteristic of human society will result in rivalry between
people. In the name of removing disparity from the world,
people will engage in confrontation and violence. A never-
ending cycle of violence will then come into existence.

Those who are engaged in violence, are not fighting against
any person or group, but rather against the very creation plan
of the Creator. There are a number of commandments in the
Islamic scriptures which forbid violence. The reason is that the
culture of violence runs counter to the divine creation plan.
According to this plan, if a person or group possesses political
power, others should consider this situation as God-given and
should not engage in a campaign to unseat those in power.
In other words, the creation plan requires that the status
quo should be maintained. The principle of ‘status quoism’ is

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