Lucidly written and expansive in scope, the book Islam and World Peace by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan clears up the misunderstandings that abound on the subject of Islamic teachings about peace and war. It clearly states the authentic position on these matters, which is that Islam is a completely peaceful religion. In Islam, peace is the general rule or norm, and war is only an exception. Of the various names or attributes of God mentioned in the Quran, one is As-Salam, or ‘The Source of Peace’. That is to say, God is Peace. Islam’s mission centers on tawheed, the oneness of God. The Quran and the Prophet’s life clearly aim to transform people’s minds and hearts so that they love just the one God, fear Him alone and make Him their greatest concern. This is the beginning of the Islamic mission as well as its finale. Ideal for students, scholars and the average reader, this brief and readable book provides keen insight into topics such as, the culture of peace, the ‘Islamisation’ of violence, terrorism, Islamic jihad, hijacking and hostage-taking, to name but a few, and, essentially, how to counter violent extremism by presenting the ideology of peace in Islam.
