Page 41 - Non-violence and peace-building

Non-violence and Peace-building in Islam

In this regard, Abdullah ibn Abbas, as reported in
the Tafsir al-Qurtubi , is also said to have remarked:
1
If someone behaves in an ignorant way with
you, you must respond to his ignorance with
tolerance.

The principle that the above-mentioned Quranic
verse (41:34) reveals is also the solution to the problem
of inter-communal violence. That is to say, instead of
reacting to provocation, one should adopt a positive
approach and method. This is the only solution to the
problem of violence between communities. There is
simply no other effective way. If there were, the problem
would have been solved by now, because in the past
all these other methods have been tried but they have
miserably failed.
The only way to end communal violence involving
Muslims is for Muslims to stop thinking in communal
terms, and, instead, to adopt the Quranic way of thinking.
Muslims are very well aware of the rewards for reciting
the Quran, but they do not know about the rewards for
obeying the Quran. The Quranic commandments are
actually laws of nature, on the basis of which God has
established the system that governs this world. It is by
following these laws that the cosmic system is able to
function perfectly. Similarly, it is by adhering to these
laws that human beings can order their lives in the
appropriate manner.

In the light of Quranic teachings, one can derive

1 A famous commentary on the Quran by the noted scholar al-
Qurtubi (d. 1273 C.E.).

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