Isyaku Bala Ibrahim
Peace is a universal word thus very absolute. It explains the harmonious relationships that exist among creatures of our dear earth. It explicates the cordiality among all creatures in relations to their Creator. It is what ensures continuity and balance of the earth. Continuity in this wise means no society can progress without it. Any set up characterized with constant rancor and acrimony will never prosper. It is therefore a priceless thing, and that is the more reason why people and countries will go to the extreme to maintain it.
The most important ingredient of peace is love as most people believed love creates or leads to peace. Though, those who often break it are always in hurry to reinstate it. We should all be conscious of the fact that it is when peace is achieved that love sets in. Nonetheless, it is an interesting and debatable argument on which comes first ‘love’ or ‘peace’. It will not be off point if I say ‘peace is love’, after all, we all love peace.
We as human beings are the most sophisticated creature and reasonable also, yet very deadly with ourselves. We are a specie that kill each other over worthless things, through lies, politics, racism, struggle for possesses, just name it. Even leopards do respect their kind, no matter how hungry, they do not hunt themselves. But human beings regrettably do. Man does not even stop at destroying one another but extends it to its environment. Why is this so for us human?
Why does peace prove too elusive to keep these days? People are not happy with themselves, with their neighbours, even their societies. Lack of this happiness could be linked to our negative attitudes toward our customs, norms, law, or scriptures. Diplomacy, dialogue, and understanding have in most cases failed humanity. Today, there are more peace charter, advocacy groups and organizations at the local, national and international levels, yet, we are still fighting and killing each other. Avoiding wars have become the greatest challenge of humanity now than ever. Countries are in crises internally and externally due to activities of warmongers, the confronters, occupiers, oppressors; thus there are wars everywhere – civil wars within states, apartheid and occupations of other peoples’ lands, colonialization and neo-colonialization of the weak countries by the powerful nations, ideological warfare, war on terror, and thus the resurgence of freedom-fighter groups and movement everywhere. With all these in mind we cannot but agree more that something is definitively wrong with the world and its inhabitants. All these have created confusion in the world. The world is confused and so do the people that live in it. What went wrong that we are doing all these to ourselves?
Racism, pride, oppression, and injustice are the greatest enemies of peace; they fuel crises, create havoc and confusion. Unfortunately, these are the things the world have embraced as its new order and claiming ignorance of the serious disaster this order is capable of inflecting on others. So, they are all elements that create disorder among people, societies and hence enemy of peaceful co-existence. In our collective aspiration to live in a descent environment will require us knowing what peace is all about, what it stands for between us and other creatures; and between all of us and our creator altogether.
In religion, peace is very central to our existence. it also clear that our shared aspiration that will lead or guarantee our salvation and struggle for eternity lies in keeping it. For one, all religions preach peace and it is the ultimate sense of what humanity hope to achieve.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the greatest ambassador of peace ever lived. Peace was at the nucleus of the religion he helped and spread. He initiated and signed lots of treaties to give peace a chance during the evolution of Islam in that period of ignorance. War or jihad had always being the last option after several restraints by the prophet against Jihad which will continue to be a self-defense in Islam. It is a great sin to start a war or Jihad in Islam, Jihad is an instrument of defense against the unrepenting oppressors, aggressors, occupiers or confronters to protect the victims and the innocents, the society and the religion.
Religion is not a weapon of war and should not be use as such, but it is an instrument of peace, justice, fairness to all irrespective of our differences: tribes, cultures, religions and race. It is a weapon of love and peace, working towards achieve human salvation.
The word Islam is derived from the Arabic word ‘salam’ which simply means ‘peace’ and that is the more reason why Islam is mostly defined as ‘the religion of peace’. In an attempt to broadly capture the essence of Islam as the custodian of peace and how it is spread among people, and societies which is hinge on an individual or a nation seeing peace through the following categorization:
i. Be at Peace with Allah (God)
ii. Be at Peace with One’s Family
iii. Be at Peace with One’s Neighbours
iv. Be at Peace with Oneself
Be at Peace with Allah (God)
I will like to start this with these questions about life. Who created us? why are we created? What does our creator require from us? What we need to do to please Him, what do we need to avoid to also please Him and make our lives better? A life devoid of its creator is useless and purposeless. The soul is desirous of being obedient to its creator. But this desire is often misdirected as people relate to their environment and influenced by others (family, friends, colleagues etc) with different creed and faiths.
Every creator or inventor of a particular thing or equipment will provide a manual for effective and efficient use of the implement and often will provide tutors to guide the potential customer on its usage. This is exactly why Allah sent down his manuals to different nations through His prophets and messengers who served as tutors that guide humanity and demonic world to salvation. It is done as result of God’s unquantifiable love for His creatures which man and jinn (demon) are such best and loved creatures. God Almighty said, “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds” (Qur’an 95:4).
The central point here is the purpose of our creation which is to belief, serve and worship God Almighty only, as He stated, “And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Qur’an 51:56). In another chapter, He said, “Then let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.” (Qur’an, 2:186). It also entails honouring and believing in His angels, prophets, scriptures and the divine destiny. The Qur’an insists that true believers believe in all scriptures and make no distinction among God’s messengers as it stated, “O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His apostle, and the scripture which He hath‑ sent to His apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). And who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His apostles, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray.” (Qur’an 4:136) O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His apostle, and the scripture which He hath‑ sent to His apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). And who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His apostles, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray. (4:136)O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His apostle, and the scripture which He hath‑ sent to His apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). And who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His apostles, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray. (4:136)
God out of infinite mercy sent down different books to different generations for their guidance such as, Suhuf (Book) of Abraham (AS), the Torah of Moses (AS), the Psalm of David (AS), the Gospel of Jesus Christ (AS), and the last Testament, Qur’an of Muhammad (SAW) which God himself described, “This is a perfect Book; there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the righteous” (Qur’an 2:3). These manuals of life and soul are targeted at ensuring the well-being of human and jinn (demon) kinds in their journey to eternity. These kinds (servants of Allah) can only be at peace with Him, the Creator only when they are obedient on what He says and avoid what He prohibits. It is all about being totally subservient to Him alone as stipulated in these manuals (Holy Books) and nothing else. These manuals are around, how many have we studied and hence learned from?
However, God Almighty promised humanity paradise and good things in this life when they obey and follow his guidance and warned them of the great consequences of not believing and obeying His decrees in these divine manuals. Most people today derive pleasure in going against the scriptures, the sayings of the prophets and have designed artificial degrees for themselves thereby countering God stipulations on the following: idolatry (sculpture of gods, prophets etc), taking lives through (unjust killings (murder, wars, abortion, homicide, honour killing, massacre, genocide etc), usury and interest (conventional banking, insurance, personal borrowings, buying and selling), homosexuality (rights, marriages, clergies etc), rapes & abuse, adultery & fornication, alcohol consumption, pork eating, gambling, corruption, injustice, aggression, oppression, hate etc. There are also harvests of our tongues such as laying, backbiting, slandering, gossips, abuses etc. and these things are all great sin.
Sin is simply going against Allah. It is when human beings and demons go against the instituted manual of how to conduct their lives, spreading injustices among themselves; it is the unjust conduct of one against the other. Injustice of any kind leads to problems in the world among people. All those that engage in the above sins will not have peace with God, their creator. People and societies that do not have genuine peace with God Almighty will not have one with others and unfortunately that is the genesis of acrimony and rancor among them. Countries and people who use lies and injustice to cause unquantifiable problems in the world such as killing one another through wars, robbery, corruption etc. and forgetting that we are one family from a single source and created by one God as He decreed “And among His (Allah) Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations of your languages and colours: verily, in that are signs for those who know.”(Qur’an: 30.22). He also continued that, “…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity. Then although there came to them our messengers with clear (guidance), yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.” {Qur’an 5:32}
So, when we recognize God Almighty as our only creator and the general overseer of our affairs Who has given us sufficient guidance through His books, angles and prophets to spread peace in the world. Then, is it peace one is spreading when we hate each other because of others religion, tribe or race? I believe there is no compulsion to accept any other religion but there is tolerance and friendship in humanity. We are only employed to spread the message of peace with wisdom not to force people to accept it or kill or hate them if they do not. Ours is just to do our best and leave the rest to God Almighty and it is only then we will have genuine peace with Him and in the world.
to be continued
