The Times of India | January 05, 2026
During a visit to the US in June 2011, I was invited to an American church in Philadelphia to deliver a lecture on the importance of peace. When I had completed my address, a Christian scholar asked: ‘There is a well-known teaching in the Bible, “Love your enemy” (Matthew 5:44). Can you refer to any such verse from the Quran?’ I said, ‘Yes, you can read verse 34 of Chapter 41 of the Quran. The translation of this verse is:
“Good and evil deeds are not equal. Do good deeds in return for bad deeds; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.”’ (41:34)
This Quranic verse is based on the law of nature. According to the law of nature, there is neither a permanent friend nor a permanent enemy. People fall into two categories: some who are actual friends, and others who are potential friends. One must discover this fact and by right planning, try to turn this potential into actuality.
Those who are engaged in violence in the name of jihad tend to take things at face value. That is, if someone appears to be an enemy, they instantly declare him an enemy and initiate a bloody war against him. This is an example of their failing to go below the surface of things. However, if they looked at things in a deeper way, they would find that those whom they regarded as their enemies had, in reality, the potential of being their best friends. Therefore, instead of waging war against them, they should have made them their friends through peaceful dawah work, that is, by conveying the message of God.
According to the law of nature, all men and women are children of Adam and Eve; that is, all human beings share a common ancestor. This means that mankind constitutes a single global family, in which all men and women are blood brothers and sisters. In the modern age, this biological reality has become a scientifically established fact. It is no longer merely a religious narrative, but one affirmed by anthropological research (see “The Search for Adam and Eve,” Newsweek, January 11, 1988).
Acceptance of this biological fact makes it possible—at least in theory—for all human beings to live as members of one global family rather than as rival groups. There is now virtually no justification for tribal, national, or any other form of war in human society.
We rarely hear of violent conflict erupting within a single family. In principle, the same should apply to all of humanity, for scientific research shows that humankind is one family. Consequently, old forms of hostility ought to come to an end. The time has come for all of humanity to live on earth in harmony as a single family. Such harmony is no longer merely an ethical ideal; it is a practical way of life whose validity has been demonstrated through scientific study.
In the present age, the scientific community has abandoned several ancient theories. For example, the heliocentric theory has replaced the old geocentric theory. The same approach is applicable to war and peace. The demands of a realistic assessment of current affairs and scientific thinking should make people give up violence and adopt the peaceful method as their only possible course of action.
The fact of common ancestry has forever done away with the equation of ‘we and they’. Now the only valid equation is one that is based on the concept of ‘we and we’. To initiate war, therefore, is like waging war against one’s own family members rather than against any outside group. War is now the act of a pre-civilized age and not of modern civilization.
This universal fact is set forth thus in the Quran:
‘…whoever killed a human being—except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land—shall be regarded as having killed all mankind, and that whoever saved a human life shall be regarded as having saved all mankind.’ (5:32)
War has only one serious upshot: the killing of others. In effect, war is an act of mass murder. In this sense, it is the worst form of heinous crime. War signifies the killing of humanity, whereas peace signifies the giving of life to humanity.
From the foregoing arguments, it is clear that the only option before us is not war, but peace.
Killing a human being is not like killing an animal. To kill a member of humanity is akin to killing one’s own self. If a person truly understands this reality, they will never subject another human being to violence. When one person kills another, it is due to ignorance. If this lack of awareness were remedied, violence could be brought to an end. Therefore, the most effective way to counter violence and war is to promote universal education.
Source: The Age of Peace
