Page 87 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

The Age of Peace

the Kaaba as it was in his time and did not make efforts to
reshape it.

This prophetic Sunnah, or practice, gives us an important
principle—that is, never try to change the historical status quo.
Trying to make changes in any long-standing status quo will
almost certainly lead to serious consequences, even including
violence. There are a number of examples in the later history
of Muslims which confirm the veracity of this principle.
Before its partition, Palestine came under the British
Mandate for Palestine. The Mandate was a legal commission
which functioned from 1923 to 1948 and formalized the British
administration of the Palestinian territory that had formerly
constituted the Ottoman Empire. The Mandate reaffirmed the
1917 British commitment to the Balfour Declaration, for the
establishment in Palestine of a “National Home” for the Jewish
people. In 1947 the United Nations proposed a Partition Plan
for Palestine, which recommended the creation of independent
Arab and Jewish States and a Special International Regime for
the City of Jerusalem.
Arab leaders such as Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and
Gamal Abdel Nasser refused to accept the partition plan.
They wanted to reunite Palestine under Arab rule. But they
completely failed.
The Palestinian “jihad” of the Arabs, despite immense
sacrifices, only proved to be counterproductive. During this
period, many opportunities were missed and numerous losses
were incurred.

A status quo is never formed suddenly, but is established
rather through the coming together or accumulation of
several factors over a long number of years. Those who wish
to change the status quo are never in a position to reintroduce
favourable factors. These desired factors arise out of a long

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