The Solution to
Kashmir and Palestine
On the evening of 13th October, during a meeting, Dr. Walt Weber asked some questions related to Muslim politics. One question was about solving the Kashmir issue. I said that the solution to the problem lay in a principle of Nature that can be expressed in a saying: ‘Politics is the art of the possible.’ I stated that I had deeply studied the Kashmir issue and have repeated one point for years—end the problem by accepting the Line of Actual Control as the international border.
Dr. Weber also asked about how to end the violence in Palestine. I said that I had repeatedly been presenting a proposal to the Palestinians and would say the same thing to them. I said that there is a narration about the policy of the Prophet Muhammad that shows that whenever he had to choose between two options, he would always leave the more challenging option and adopt the easier one. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 6786) Therefore, in line with this narration, the Palestinians should abandon the violent action method and adopt a peaceful method. Following this, violence would automatically come to an end.
Dinner that night was organised at Burgenstoc Hotel, located on top of a mountain. Jakob von Uexkull, a senior journalist in Stockholm, was among the people I met. I had a long and detailed conversation with him. He remarked that the case of modern Western man was a case of search for meaning. He opined that modern Western man had lost faith in materialistic civilisation and was searching for something else, but he had not been able to obtain it so far.
During our conversation, a reference was made to American author Samuel Huntington’s book, The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order. I stated that the book had wrongly represented Islam. The book’s author had made Muslim communal efforts synonymous with Islamic jihad, although such efforts had nothing to do with Islam. After that, I introduced Mr. Uexkull to some of the authentic teachings of Islam.
Another person I met was a German called Alfredo Sfeir Younis, who was then living in Geneva. He seemed a very erudite man. I had a detailed conversation with him about Islam. To begin with, I asked him several questions regarding his field. Then, he said that I was only asking him questions but not saying anything about myself. That is how the topic of our topic turned to Islam. Mr. Younis said that he had read an English translation of the Quran but that his knowledge of Islam was minimal. Following this, I spoke with him about Islamic teachings. He listened to my words with great attention.
