Page 58 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

The Power of Peace is Greater than the Power of Violence

following message to his secretariat by telegram: ‘Kindly wire
instructions how to kill a tiger non-violently.’

The above experience of Indian politics shows that the
power of peace is far greater than the power of violence.
A parallel historical example is that of the Prophet
Muhammad, who started his mission in 610 AD in Arabia. At
that time Arabia was tribal in its culture. Due to the conditions
prevalent in that age, there were initially some violent clashes
between the Prophet and his opponents, and the situation
remained unsettled.
However, the Prophet wisely managed to conclude a peace
agreement, which has come down in history as the Hudaybiyyah
Agreement (628 AD). This was a no-war pact between the two
parties. Consequent upon the pact, the Prophet found ample
opportunities to further his mission by engaging in peaceful
activity. The result proved to be miraculous: within just a few
years, the whole of Arabia had accepted his ideology.
The American writer Michael H. Hart acknowledges the
Prophet Muhammad as the supremely successful man in
history. But, what was the secret of this supreme success?
1
It was certainly ‘peace’. By dint of wise planning, the
Prophet established peace in Arabia, and this allowed him
and his companions to avail of the opportunities that were
subsequently opened up. His miraculous success was due to
this peaceful strategy.
The general policy of the Prophet is given in this Hadith:

‘Whenever the Prophet had to choose between the two,
he always opted for the easier course of action over the
harder course of action.’
2
Here, the easier course of action means the peaceful course
and the harder course of action is the violent course. It was
this policy followed by the Prophet that made him supremely
successful.

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