Page 24 - Non-violence and peace-building

Reform Yourself Instead of Confronting Others

God-consciousness, because, he wrote, the fear of God
is the best form of preparation, the most successful way
and the strongest power. The best way to save oneself
from one’s enemies, he explained, is to save oneself
from sin, because sin is even more dangerous than the
wiles of the enemy. Victory over opponents owes to the
latter’s sinfulness, even if they are more numerous and
better in terms of preparation. If the Caliph’s army,
which was smaller than its opponents, were also to fall
prey to sinfulness, they would not be able to gain victory
over their opponents. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz advised
Mansur to fear his own sins even more than he feared
anyone’s enmity.
The fact is that this world is God’s world, not man’s
world. In this world, one has power only over one’s self.
In reality, no individual or community has any power
over any other individual or community.

This means that in this world whenever you get
anything, you actually get it from God, even if it appears
to reach you through somebody else. Similarly, whenever
something is taken away from you, it is actually taken
away by God, even if it appears that there is a person
behind the loss you have incurred. An intelligent person
is one who in both situations turns to God.
In the face of the treatment that some Muslims face
today in some places, they typically respond in just one
way: by screaming and protesting against what they
brand as ‘oppressor’ people. This is a completely un-
Islamic approach and method. When everything that
happens is from God, then, undoubtedly, whatever
Muslims are facing is also from God. This is why the

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