Page 19 - Non-violence and peace-building

Non-violence and Peace-building in Islam

should mention the Prophet simply as ‘Muhammad ibn
Abdullah’ (‘Muhammad, son of Abdullah’), because
the Quraysh did not accept him as a prophet. And so,
in response, the Prophet told the man who was writing
the document to mention him simply as ‘Muhammad
ibn Abdullah’.
Had the Prophet made the matter into a question of
right versus wrong, he would never have accepted this
demand. But he did not make this an issue of right and
wrong. Rather, he saw only its practical aspect. Since
at that time there was, in practical terms, no other
solution, he agreed to leave out the words ‘Prophet
of God’ and to have himself referred to in the Treaty
document simply as ‘Muhammad, son of Abdullah’.

The issue of communal violence and its solution is
similar to this in an important sense. In accordance
with the above-mentioned sunnah or practice of the
Prophet, it is incumbent on Muslims not to make the
issue of communal violence a dispute over of ‘right’
versus ‘wrong’. Instead, the only thing they should
consider is what the practical solution of the issue is
and then adopt it. If Muslims do not stop seeing the
issue in terms of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, their attitude will
only indicate their particular mindset, rather than their
devotion to the Truth. Devotion to the Truth lies in
adopting the sunnah or practice of the Prophet of God,
and not in any other approach or method.
Today, Muslims everywhere are engaged in fighting,
even on petty matters, and in this way are destroying
themselves. They imagine that in doing this they are
engaging in jihad. But it is actually nothing of the sort.

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