The very word Islam (from the Arabic root silm) implies peace, and all the teachings of Islam are based directly or indirectly on this principle. There are teachings of the Prophet that say that ‘Peace is Islam’, and that, ‘God is peace’ (Sahih al-Bukhari). Similarly, there is another Hadith (teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) that says that a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands, people are safe. One of the attributes of God described in the Quran is ‘AsSalaam’, which means ‘peace and security’. That is to say that God’s Being itself is a manifestation or embodiment of peace. In the Quran, divine guidance is likened to the ‘path of peace’ (5:16).

In Islam, Paradise, the eternal ideal and the ultimate objective of every human is called the ‘Home of Peace’ (10:25). It is also said that the people of Paradise will wish peace for one another, which is another indication of the importance of peace in the ideal society.

Peace is the norm in Islam; war is an exception. All the teachings of Islam and the life of the Prophet of Islam testify to this. There is a Hadith that says that God grants to gentleness what He does not grant to harshness. That is to say, a peaceful approach is distinctly superior to violent approach.

Peace in the Quran

The Quran is undoubtedly a book of peace, not a book of war and violence. This can be seen from the fact that all of the Quran’s pronouncements are directly or indirectly related to peace. Its opening invocation is—“In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful”, and this verse is repeated in the Quran 114 times. This is an indication that the greatest attribute of the Supreme Being who sent this book to us is His mercy. We could say that the theme of this entire book is God’s all-embracing compassion.

Judging by its consequences, the way of peace is far better than confrontation or conflict. According to the law of God for humankind, “Reconciliation is the best.” (4:128)

God has decreed success only through reconciliation, and not through violent courses of action. The Prophet’s wife Aisha said that the Prophet’s general policy was always to choose the easier (non-confrontational) path (Sahih al-Bukhari).

This means countering aggression with aggression is a hard option and countering aggression with patience and forbearance is an easier option. A radical approach is more difficult than a gradual one. Peace is always the easier option in achieving the desired results.

The Prophet of Peace

Due to the intolerance and violent extremism of small groups of people who call themselves ‘Muslims’, Islam is currently widely perceived to be a religion of violence, with objectives that appear to be achievable only through terrorism. This, however, is untrue.

Islam is not the name given to the behaviour or the actions of a particular group of people who call themselves ‘Muslims’. Islam is a religion which has certain beliefs and ethics, and people who say that they hold those beliefs and value those ethics are called Muslims. It follows, then, that the behaviour of Muslims must be judged by the principles of Islam and not vice versa. Islam cannot be evaluated based on the actions of Muslims.

The Quran is undoubtedly a book of peace, not a book of war and violence. This can be seen from the fact that all of the Quran’s pronouncements are directly or indirectly related to peace.

If individuals calling themselves ‘Muslims’ adopt terrorism, then the responsibility for their actions lies with them, not with the religion they profess. In spite of their professed Islamic agenda, the actions of such people cannot be deemed Islamic.

Islam is the name of the revealed religion professed by the Prophet Muhammad, and exemplified in his life. The Prophet Muhammad was a prophet of peace, not a prophet of violence. In the Quran, he is called a ‘mercy to humankind’.

He was a peace-loving personality in the complete sense. His peaceloving nature was so heightened that he did not even like to hear the name Harb, which meant war, and guided the parents of the child to change it to Hasan which meant goodness. He believed in cultivating a peaceful character. He wanted his followers to do good works for the people, giving them the message of peace and prosperity and not of death and destruction.

The battles that took place during his life were only incidental and under exceptional circumstances, rather than being the main feature of his life. However, most of the Prophet’s biographers have painted an altogether different picture. Instead of presenting him as a prophet of peace they have portrayed him as a prophet of violence.

The battles which were fought during the Prophet’s time were related to the culture then prevailing amongst the Arab tribes. Before the Prophet’s birth there was an ongoing conflict between two major tribes of Madinah. It is said that this war continued for 120 years and thousands of people perished in these battles, the prominent one of which was known by the name of Battle of Bu’ath between Aws and Khazraj tribes.

Islam is the name of the revealed religion professed by the Prophet Muhammad, and exemplified in his life. The Prophet Muhammad was a prophet of peace, not a prophet of violence. In the Quran, he is called a 'mercy to humankind'.

The Prophet Muhammad was born at a time when Arabia was divided into many different tribes, each with several clans, all vying for domination. Fights between tribes and clans over trivial issues were common. Due to this culture, there were skirmishes between the Prophet’s followers and their opponents. Most of the incidents that have been presented by the biographers of the Prophet as battles can be better classified as minor skirmishes instead.

He began his mission of conveying God’s guidance to humankind in a peaceful manner. There was never any act of violence by the Prophet against those who objected to his teachings or oppressed him and his followers during the entire thirteen years of his life as a prophet in Makkah. While he was in Makkah, his teachings were always those of patience, tolerance and avoidance.

The Prophet and his followers had to face the hardships of a three year social boycott by the opposing Makkan tribes, and they faced this patiently enduring harshest difficulties. His opponents plotted to kill him, so he quietly left Makkah with a few of his Companions to Madinah. He gave the same advice to his followers.

Even in Madinah, his opponents did not leave the Prophet and his followers in peace. They did everything possible to make life miserable for them. At such a time the following verse was revealed: Will you not fight against those who have broken their oaths and conspired to banish the Messenger? They were the first to attack you. Do you fear them? Surely God is more deserving of your fear, if you are true believers. (9:13)

These hostilities resulted into the two battles of Badr and Uhud.

After these battles when the Prophet got to know that his opponents were marching towards Madinah with an army of 10,000, he employed a strategy of avoidance by creating a trench outside Madinah because of which an armed conflict was averted.

If we compare the Prophet's battles with other battles in history, we will find that the mission of the Prophet was a nonviolent mission; and the battles that happened were defensive in nature and under exceptional circumstances.

The Prophet was on a divine mission to present God’s message to humankind. Any mission of communication can only be successful when the circumstances are harmonious and peaceful. For an atmosphere of peace, though, a price has to be paid, and that was in the form of perseverance in the face of all obstacles; in ignoring the problems whilst availing of the opportunities. The Prophet’s opponents were constantly provoking him and his followers to engage with them in battle over petty issues, but the Prophet and his Companions always chose the divine teachings of patience and forbearance to circumvent every conflict. The Quran says: “Whenever they kindle the fire of war, God puts it out.” (5:64)

Further we have the example of the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiya where the Prophet unilaterally accepted all the conditions of the opponents. This treaty was broken by the opponents resulting in their surrender. The Prophet, in spite of the atrocities they had done did not even allow them to be insulted and, instead, announced a general pardon in the following words: “Go, you all are free”.

If we were to objectively study the entire 23 years of prophetic life, it would be absolutely clear that the Prophet Muhammad was a prophet of peace. If we compare the Prophet’s battles with other battles in history, we will find that the mission of the Prophet was a nonviolent mission; and the battles that happened were defensive in nature and under exceptional circumstances.

The number of people killed in these battles was very few when compared to the casualties of many other battles in history.

In comparison to the above sampling of battles from history, the defensive battles fought by the Prophet were those at Badr, Uhud and Hunain. The combined total duration of actual fighting was equivalent to only 1½ days. The total number of casualties in all these battles was 1,018.

Because of a lack of objective understanding of the Prophet’s life, Muslim biographers have misrepresented the facts by ignoring the prevailing customs and culture of the time. Due to this, their writings about the Prophet’s life show a war-like pattern.

On the other hand, non-Muslim biographers of the Prophet have adopted a different approach. These people have largely ignored the main events of the Prophet’s life choosing to focus on a few, exceptional incidents that they have used as the basis of a picture of the Prophet’s life they have painted, that portrays him as a warrior prophet.

They have also been unable to see the Prophet’s life as different from Muslim culture, which has led them to assume that terrorism in the name of Islam is an outcome of the teachings of the Prophet of Islam. The true modest personality of the Prophet appeared to many of his biographers as deficient in some way or the other. This image of the Prophet appeared to them as falling short of the standards of leaders of other peoples of the time, who were great conquerors and warriors. Hence these biographers tried to present an image of their Prophet as a warrior, which, in their eyes was a superior image.

However, this picture of the Prophet is totally baseless and selfassumed. In truth, the Prophet’s was a peace-loving personality. The example of the Prophet was not one of overpowering people by fighting with them; rather it was by winning the people over with love and compassion.

The Quran says:

Believers, obey God and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. (8:24)

It is obvious from an understanding of the Quran that the mission of the Prophet was different from that of emperors and kings. The mission of kings is one of conquests and wars. On the other hand, the mission of a Prophet is not to rule over people, but to bring about a spiritual transformation in them and to teach them God-oriented living.

The mission of the Prophet was different from that of emperors and kings. The mission of kings is one of conquests and wars. On the other hand, the mission of a Prophet is not to rule over people, but to bring about a spiritual transformation in them.

From the above analysis, it should be obvious that the Prophet Muhammad was a prophet of peace, and not a prophet of violence. The approach to the biography of the Prophet by both Muslim and non-Muslim biographers is not correct.

We, the members of CPS International founded by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan are working for the mission of the Prophet. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, the recipient of many peace awards has dedicated his entire life for this cause. He has been re-engineering the minds of the people towards peace and positivity. Maulana often says, ‘Terrorism is an ideology of violence and we have to counter it with the ideology of peace’.