SEPTEMBER 21
Policy of Peace in Islam
Islam is a religion of peace. The Quran calls its (Quranic) way ‘the paths of peace’ (5:16). The Quran calls the policy of reconciliation as the best policy (4:128) and that God does not love the disturbance of peace (2:205).
According to the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, a believer is one from whom people feel secure as regards their life and wealth.
One practical question arises in this regard that in the present world, for one reason or another, differences, political as well as non-political, as always, arises among individuals as well as groups, Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Now if people refuse to tolerate differences, insisting on ending the differences as soon as they are born, this would result in fighting. With the result that peace could never be obtained in the world. How then in such a situation can peace be secured?
One recent example of this difference is that of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a very ancient historical city. With an added speciality that billions of people believe it to be their sacred place. Jerusalem is a symbol and centre of inspiration for the three great semitic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For Jews it is a living proof of their ancient grandeur and centre of national history. For Christians, it is the scene of their Saviour’s agony and triumph. For Muslims, the first destination of the Prophet’s mystic journey and the site of one of Islam’s most sacred shrines. Thus for all three faiths it is a centre of pilgrimage and the third holiest place of worship.
Now the question arises that when it is a place of worship for all the three religions, how it can be freely accessible to all. How the adherents of all the three religions can have the opportunity to be able to satisfy their religious feelings.
Nowadays all around us we hear the slogan ‘Jerusalem is ours’. This slogan has political connotations to it. The raising of this slogan by each party shows that it wants its own political supremacy over Quds or Jerusalem. All the three believe that so long as they are unable to hold their political dominance over this sacred city they cannot perform worship in the proper sense of the word.
If the condition of visiting this sacred place should be that only that person or group could visit Jerusalem who enjoys its political dominance there, this place then will be turned into a battlefield instead of being a place of peaceful worship. As political power can be wielded, only by one religious group at a time, the rest two religious groups who would not be enjoying political power will wage an ongoing war against the religious group in power. In this way this place will become a centre of clash and confrontation for eternity. As a result not even the group in power will have the opportunity to perform its worship peacefully.
So far as the question of Islam is concerned, two indirect references are available in the Quran and Hadith regarding Jerusalem. Chapter Al-Isra describes the ascension of the Prophet in these words:
‘Glory be to Him who made His Servant go by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque whose precincts We have blessed, that We might show him (some) of Our Signs (17:1).
The traditions tell us that prior to the emigration in 622 (Early period of the year 622) the Prophet Muhammad experienced an extraordinary journey which is called Mi‘raj (Ascension) in the history of Islam. In this journey through God’s unseen arrangement the Prophet reached Jerusalem from Makkah. Here at the holy site he performed a prayer in congregation alongwith all the Prophets at the site of al-Masjid al-Aqsa (al-Bayt al-Maqdis).
Another indirect reference to Jerusalem is found in a hadith recorded in all the seven authentic books of Hadith with minor differences in wording. According to this tradition there are only three mosques for which it is lawful in Islam to undertake a journey for saying prayer—al-Masjid al-Haram, al-Masjid an-Nabawi and al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Certain traditions have used the word Masjid Ilia for al-Masjid al-Aqsa, that is, the Mosque at Palestine. Another tradition tells us that the reward for praying in these three mosques is far more than praying in other mosques.
On the one hand this special status is accorded to Jerusalem’s Aqsa mosque that worship in it is considered far more superior to any other mosques except for that of Makkah and Madinah. On the other hand, we learn from the Quran that in no part of the world political power can always be wielded by the same nation or group.
It goes on changing from time to time between different communities. According to Quran: ‘We bring these days to men by turns’ (3:140).
Now the question arises that when according to the very law of nature the political power at Jerusalem can never eternally remain with one nation, what is the way to worship at al-Masjid al-Aqsa for the believers. Each Muslim naturally has the desire to enter this mosque and prostrate before God like the Prophet Muhammad and other Prophets did. Now if this prostration in worship is linked to the fact that a Muslim can be blessed with this greatest favour only when this land enjoys Muslim political rule, the millions of Muslims including the former Saudi King Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz (1906-1975) would have to leave this world with this cherished desire buried in their hearts, failing to experience such precious feelings of being able to prostrate for the Almighty God at a place where the Prophet Muhammad alongwith all the Prophets had prostrated before God.
What is the solution to this problem. Its solution lies in the very Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. To sum it up, separation of the political aspect of the matter and the taking of its religious aspect—availing the possibilities by avoiding the problem. Here are certain examples of this Sunnah of the Prophet.
1. The Prophet Muhammad emigrated to Madinah from Makkah in July 622. In Madinah he alongwith his Companions used to pray for about one and a half years (till the end of 623) in the direction of al-Bayt al-Maqdis. In the beginning of 624 the injunction was revealed in the Quran to turn their face towards the Sacred Mosque at Makkah for saying prayers (2:144).
When this injunction regarding the change in Qiblah (Direction of prayer) was revealed, another injunction was revealed alongwith this in these words: “O believers, seek assistance in prayer. Allah is with those who are patient (2:153). Patience has a general connotation to it, but on this occasion it had a particular connotation that was, that at the time when the injunction of making Ka‘bah as Qiblah was revealed, 360 idols were placed in Ka‘bah. Ka‘bah at that point of time had practically become a centre of polytheism. In this way the believers could have felt reluctant to set the direction of their prayer, being believers in Monotheism, toward a structure which had practically turned into a centre of polytheism. They were asked to put this aspect in the slot of patience and be ready to carry out this injunction.
As history tells us, this state of affairs continued for a long period of six years till the conquest of Makkah. That is, for six years Muslims continued to say their prayers in the direction of Ka‘bah which housed hundreds of idols, it was in the full sense of the word an active centre of polytheism. This state of affairs ended only with the conquest of Makkah when the Ka‘bah was cleared from all the idols.
This tells us a very important principle of Islam called Al-fasl bayn al-Qaziyatayn, that is to separate two matters from one another.
Under this principle Ka‘bah and the idols were separated from one another. Remaining patient on the presence of idols, Ka‘bah was accepted as the direction for prayer.
2. Another example in this connection is to be found in the event of Isra and Mi‘raj. This heavenly journey took place before the emigration in 622. At that point in time, Jerusalem was ruled by non-Muslims. It was non-Muslim Iranians who wielded political power. History tells us that the Iraninan ruler, Khusroe Parvez attacked Jerusalem in 614, wresting it from the Romans who had been governing it since 63 B.C. This political dominance of the Iranian empire ended only when the Roman emperor Heraclius defeated the Iranians, restoring their rule over Jerusalem.
This means that when the Prophet Muhammad entered Jerusalem before his emigration during his Mi‘raj journey to say his prayers at al-Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem at that time, was under the rule of a non-Muslim king, Khusroe Parvez. From this we derive a very important sunnah of the Prophet that worship and politics should not be confused with one another.
3. The third example is to be found after the Hijrah in 629. At that time Makkah was entirely under the possession of the idolatrous Quraysh. In spite of that the Prophet along with his companions entered Makkah for three days to perform ‘Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and circumambulation of the Ka‘bah. It was possible only because he did not mix up the worship aspect with the political aspect. If the Prophet had considered this condition necessary that ‘Umrah could be performed only when Makkah comes under the Muslim political rule, he would never have entered Makkah alongwith his companions.
In the light of this sunnah of the Prophet the solution to the present problem of Jerusalem lies in separating the aspect of worship in al-Masjid al-Aqsa with the issue of political possession. Muslims belonging to Palestine or of other countries should come here freely in order to pray to God in the al-Aqsa Mosque. Worship should no longer be linked with the question of political power.
The Islamic principle of Al-fasl bayn al-Qaziyatayn (to separate two matters from one another) is not just for Jerusalem, it has to do with the entire world. The universal democratic revolution in modern times has given complete religious freedom to Muslims of all over the world. This is a great blessing of God, which they never had in any given period of history. Muslims must fully avail this blessing of freedom. If the political institution is in the hands of non-Muslims or secular Muslims, they should not wage war against them. Accepting freedom of worship with gratefulness and contentment, they must put the political matter into the future slot (That is, to wait for the times to change in their favour by the grace of God).
Such response from Muslims would in itself be a great form of worship. According to a hadith ‘the Prophet said: “Waiting for an opening is a superior form of worship.”
