The Times of India

The Quran describes a particular natural law in the following words: ‘reconciliation is best’ (4:128). In the event of a conflict between two parties, they can engage in violent confrontation. But there is another method they can choose: to immediately come to an agreement and end their conflict. This is what reconciliation is about.

It is very rare for this sort of reconciliation to be equally in accordance with the desires of both parties. In most cases, this reconciliation happens on a unilateral basis. That is to say, one of the two parties sets aside its desires and agrees to settle the dispute according to the desires of the other party.

Why is this sort of unilateral reconciliation taken to be ‘best’? The reason for this is because a situation of conflict calls a halt to constructive activity. The benefit of agreeing to reconciliation is that one is thereby spared the need to waste one’s time, strength and resources on useless confrontation and so can focus on constructive efforts instead. A course of action that is opposed to reconciliation is always and inevitably a course leading to destruction. The method of reconciliation is always, and in every case, a beneficial one.

History is witness to the fact that whenever anyone has attained any success, it has only been after adopting the method of reconciliation. Not a single person has ever achieved any real success through confrontation and fighting. The importance of reconciliation lies in the fact that it provides an opportunity to fully exercise one’s right to use the available opportunities. On the other hand, the path of confrontation leads one to waste one’s energies in trying to destroy others, as a result of which one can engage in no constructive work whatsoever. The secret of success lies in stabilising oneself and building oneself up, and definitely not in the destruction of hypothetical enemies.

Source: Islam and World Peace