DO NOT CONFRONT THE ENEMY

In a hadith recorded in the Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet is said to have remarked that one should not desire confrontation with one’s enemy, and that one should ask for peace from God. (Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith No. 2966) This means that if someone becomes hostile towards you, you should not respond with hostility and begin fighting them. Rather, despite this person’s enmity, we should seek to avoid quarreling with him. Even though he treats us as his enemy, we should try to avoid fighting with him.

When, in this hadith report, the Prophet tells us to ask God for peace, it means that we should adopt the path of peace, rather than confrontation, and that along with our peace-loving efforts we should seek succour from God. Your plea to God should not be for the destruction of the enemy. Rather, you should ask, ‘O God! Bless me so that, despite people’s enmity, I do not take to the path of violence and confrontation, but, instead, that I carry on with the journey of my life walking on the path of peace.’

From this we learn that according to the law of nature, peace is the general rule, while violence is an exception. We also learn that if a person or group appears to be one’s enemy, confrontation is not the only way to respond. A better and more effective way is to solve the problem of an enemy through peaceful actions. The power of peace is both more effective and beneficial than the power of violence.