The British educator E. E. Kellet (1864 – 1950) writing about the Prophet Muhammad in his book, A Short History of Religions, observes,

‘He faced adversity with the determination to wring success out of failure.’ (p. 334)

What was the method which led the Prophet to this unusual success? It was adherence to the policy of delinking two issues. One example of this is when in 610 AD the Prophet Muhammad began his mission in Makkah, a town of Arabia, to propagate the ideology of monotheism – that is, believing in the one God and worshipping Him alone. It was the first quarter of the seventh century and in those times the Arabs were mostly idol worshippers.

Four thousand years prior to this, the Prophet Abraham had built a mosque in Makkah in which to worship the one God. It is this mosque which is called the Kaaba. But, in later periods, idol worshippers belonging to various Arab tribes began to place their idols in the Kaaba until, finally, the total number of idols within the precincts of the Kaaba reached no less than 360.

From the point of view of his mission, this was the greatest problem faced by the Prophet Muhammad. Apparently, what he should have done was to begin his mission by purging the Kaaba of idols, even if he had to engage in a violent confrontation with the custodians of the Kaaba.

But the Prophet Muhammad analyzed the situation dispassionately and came to the conclusion that the presence of idols in the Kaaba, although ostensibly a negative factor, also had a positive side to it—that is, because these idols belonged to different tribes of Arabia, people from all over Arabia would come to Makkah all the year round to visit their idols. Therefore, almost on a daily basis, in and around the Kaaba, there would be gatherings of substantial numbers of people. The Prophet Muhammad adopted the policy of delinking two issues: the presence of idols in the Kaaba and the gathering of people there. He decided to temporarily ignore the problem of the presence of idols in the Kaaba and to avail of the gathering of visitors there as an audience for his mission.

The Prophet adhered to this policy of delinking for a period of thirteen years, until finally a substantial number of Makkans became his companions. It is this wise strategy which has been described by E. E. Kellet in these words: He faced adversity with the determination to wring success out of failure. In other words, the Prophet adopted this formula for his mission: Ignore the problems, avail of the opportunities.

The principle adopted by the Prophet Muhammad in ancient Makkah was not, in fact, a religious principle. This principle was based rather on the law of nature. According to the general law of nature, this principle applies to everyone, whether one’s mission be religious or secular.

The truth is that, according to the law of nature, always in every situation two things exist at the same time – problems and opportunities. It can never happen that one aspect should exist and the other not—that is, that problems should exist and opportunities should not. That is why wisdom dictates that before embarking on a mission, a person should review the situation in a dispassionate way, and refrain from launching himself on a course of action with an eye only on the problems, for this is a way of proceeding which goes against nature.

The principle of delinking helps a person to save himself from opting for violent methods when utilizing peaceful means will achieve his goal.

In this world the only practicable method is that which is based on positive planning: that is, ignoring the problem and discovering the opportunities present, and then availing of them. According to the law of nature, this is realistic planning. And in this world, realistic planning alone is successful so far as the result is concerned.

In present times, those who are involved in violence show that they are unaware of the principle of success based on the policy of delinking. Since these people are going against the law of nature, they can never be successful in this world. They are fated only to carve out a history of destruction. They can never create a history of progress and development. The eternal law of the Creator for this world is that the way of violence never works and that only the way of peace is feasible.

Result-oriented action in this world is that which is based on peace. The method based on violence will always be a failure, just as a farmer would be unsuccessful if he dropped a bomb on his field and then expected lush green vegetation to flourish there.

Source: The Age of Peace