Page 90 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

Lessons from History

This peaceful planning worked, and within thirty years, Japan
had emerged as the number one country of Asia.

Germany’s modern history took a similar course. As the
first post-war Chancellor of Germany (1949 – 1963) German
statesman Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (1876 – 1967)
led his country from the ruins of World War II to being a
productive and prosperous nation. A thorough statesman, who
spearheaded Germany’s intellectual leadership, he planned
his country’s future along peaceful lines – unlike his infamous
predecessor, Adolf Hitler, who, with his aggressive tactics,
had led Germany to defeat and ruination. With Adenauer’s
peaceful approach, Germany slowly recovered from the
damages suffered during the war and eventually became the
number one nation of Europe.
This experience of the twentieth century serves as an eye-
opener for all those who still think in terms of violence and
believe that they can achieve their goals by fighting. Islamic
history is likewise replete with similar experiences.

In the thirteenth century, the Tartar and Mongol armies
attacked the Abbasid Caliphate, destroying everything from
Samarqand right up to Aleppo. In the process, there were
some clashes between the Muslims and the Mongols, with the
Muslims finally being subjugated. All their fighting had been
in vain. The Muslims were so demoralized that it began to be
said:

‘Don’t believe it, if someone says that the Mongols have
been defeated.’
2
Then, a new situation developed, with the Muslims
abandoning violence under compulsion and becoming
engaged in a peaceful mission. The British orientalist T.W.
Arnold (1864 – 1930) in his book The Preaching of Islam reports
that this peaceful process resulted in the majority of the
3
Mongols accepting Islam. Thus, the problem that could not be

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