Page 106 - Non-violence and peace-building

Practice What You Preach

superiority over and against other communities. Islam
has now become for them simply a thing to boast about,
not something to be acted upon.
This holds true across the board, with regard to all
the communal or collective affairs of Muslims today.

Let me clarify this point with the help of an example
that relates to the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. Often, when
Muslim leaders and thinkers speak about the Prophet’s
life or the Quran, they highlight, with much fervour and
gusto, the Prophet’s policy of patience, as exemplified
in the events related to the signing of this Treaty. They
proudly declare, “Makkah was won through this Treaty,
not through war!” But, at the same time, when it comes
to the question of the conflicts present-day Muslims are
involved in with other communities, their practice is
completely contradictory to the spirit of the Hudaybiyah
Treaty. Muslim leaders excel in highlighting and
hailing this Treaty, but this Treaty is possibly the most
important Islamic teaching that they continuously and
consistently ignore.
Take the instance of a famous Muslim paper. Several
years ago, it published a long article on the Hudaybiyah
Treaty. It explained that the Treaty facilitated Islam’s
victory over Arabia. According to the article, the crux
of the Treaty was that, despite all kinds of provocations
from their opponents, Muslims would unilaterally
abstain from reacting. Avoiding confrontation, they
would focus on constructive and positive work and
would thereby gain success. In the words of the author
of this article:

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