PEACE IN DIFFERENT
RELIGIONS

Peace being the greatest concern of man, all religions attach importance to it. Indeed, peace is the essence of all religions, the reason being that the objectives of religion can never be fulfilled without peace. The aims of every religion, in principle, are man’s spiritual development and the turning of each individual into a responsible citizen. This kind of education and training can never be imparted without a peaceful atmosphere.

Here, without going into too much detail, I would like to present briefly the teachings of various religions in this regard. (At the conclusion, Islam’s concept of peace will be presented in a somewhat more detailed form, the reason being that in present times, violence is mostly spoken of with reference to the religion of Islam. It is widely believed that Islam justifies violence, whereas according to my study of the subject, this notion runs counter to the actual facts.)


Peace in Judaism

The history of Judaism goes back more than three thousand years. According to Jewish traditions, when the Israelites left Egypt and reached the Sinai desert, God gave them the fundamental ten commandments that were to govern their social existence. One of these was:

You shall not kill. (Exodus, 20:13)

This biblical commandment forbids all kinds of violence, whether individual or social, whether directed against one’s own community or against another. It was revealed to Moses directly from God. According to Jewish tradition this injunction is in the nature of an absolute command.

There is another injunction of the Torah worth quoting in this connection. It embodies such moral teaching as is common to all religions, although differently expressed. The wording of the Torah is as follows:

What is hateful (or hurtful) to you, do not do to any other man.

In the context of peace, this teaching is very basic. Obviously, we shall not find anyone in this world who would like to be the victim of violence. Violence is abhorrent to everyone. This being the reality, it is essential that man should also abhor the perpetration of violence on others. In no circumstances, should he indulge in violent activities against others. Undoubtedly this injunction is general in its application. It is addressed not only to individuals but also to the community as a whole. Just as a standard is set for individual behaviour, similarly a standard is set for social behaviour.

Referring to this verse of the Torah, one Jewish scholar has rightly observed:

“That is the whole of the Torah, the rest is but commentary.”

In the Torah, Isaiah, an Israelite prophet, describes the world of justice. In this most desirable world, “people shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4)

This verse from the Torah shows that according to the Jewish religion, the ideal human society is one where people destroy their weapons; where war never takes place; where the building of life is done on the basis of peace rather than on violence.

This verse from the Torah is thus explained by a Jewish scholar:

“It is not enough merely to keep in mind the negative admonition not to kill, but to transmute human energy and efforts into peaceful and constructive actions.”

Similarly, there is another verse from the Torah which is worthy of mention. It describes the blessed commandments of God:

“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah, 65:25)

In this quotation we are told in symbolic language what the desirable society of God should be like. It is a society where the weak and the powerful exist side by
side without harming one another; where the common man enjoys the same rights as the VIPs. It is a society where people can live peacefully without fearing any
injury from others; where people find in others, not violence but peace.


Peace in Christianity

Jesus Christ was born two thousand yeas ago in Jerusalem (Palestine). Today his followers are more numerous than those of any other religion.

The teachings of Jesus Christ are enshrined in the New Testament. They show that Jesus Christ laid the greatest emphasis on God-worship, love of human beings, service of mankind, spiritual development, rising above materialism, treating others well, even if they do not reciprocate, and so on. All these virtues, which in no way relate to war and violence, stem from the possession of a superior set of values. And all these values can be established in society by persuasion rather than by coercion.

The teachings of Christ in the New Testament tell us clearly that peace was so important to him that he enjoined the establishment of peace at all costs. In one of his sermons, Christ observed:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. (5:9)

This shows that, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the most blessed task is to establish peace in the world, peace in family life, peace in social life, peace in national life, peace in international life. The following observation of Jesus Christ is perhaps a realization of this peaceful world:

Your kingdom come – Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (6:9)

In this quotation from the New Testament, what is called the kingdom of God—can also be thought of as the kingdom of Peace.

The teachings of Christ attach the greatest importance to love and good behaviour. This is expressed in one of his sayings in the Bible:

But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. (6:27)

This means that you should love everyone, even your enemies.

You should adopt a peaceful attitude towards everyone, even towards those who choose to be physically abusive. It is this unilateral good behaviour which has been thus symbolically expressed:

To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. (6:29-30)

This is not encouragement to be passive. It is, in symbolic language, a lesson in unilateral ethics. This symbolic teaching can be expressed as follows: Establish peace at all costs. Do not counter violence with violence. Instead, counter violence by the unilateral exercise of patience and the avoidance of conflict, in order that the atmosphere of peace may not be disturbed.


Peace in Hinduism

Hinduism is based on the principle of non-dualism, which means that, in this world, the Creator and the Creation are not two different entities. It is rather the same reality which is manifested in different things and different beings in this world. According to this principle, a man and his fellow men are one and the same. There is no difference between one and the other.

This concept produces a sense of fellow feeling for all living beings. It negates the principle of otherness. Indeed, the feeling of otherness simply disappears. This being so, committing violence or aggression against others is, in principle, like committing aggression against one’s own self. It is this concept, which is the ideological source of peace in Hinduism. The British historian, Arnold Toynbee, has called this a ‘live and let live’ concept of peace. That is, we should give peace to others and in exchange receive peace from them.

It was 2500 years after the establishment of Hinduism that Mahavir was born in a Hindu family in India. He laid down five principles of religion, and although the term ‘non-violence’ probably did not exist at that time in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the first and most important of these principles was ahimsa, which means non-injury. According to this principle, violence and aggression of any kind are absolutely wrong. Jain belief can be summed up in these words: The killing of a sensate being is a sin.

The Hindu religious leaders accepted Mahavir as their 24th avatar. In this way, the concept of ahimsa too became a part of Hinduism. In the 20th century too, there is the great example of Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu reformer of world repute, who interpreted the Bhagwad Gita in the light of the principle of non-violence, and launched a full-fledged freedom movement entirely committed to this principle. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984) explains the degree to which Mahatma Gandhi was a pacifist: “Gandhi was the first to interpret ahimsa positively and in the sense of a social obligation.” (13/847)


Tolerance is one of the basic principles of Hinduism

This concept of tolerance goes to the ultimate extent of encouraging belief in the truth of all religions. According to the Gita, each religious path leads towards the same destination: the truth. When Swami Vivekananda said, ‘Every religion is true,’ he correctly echoed Hindu belief. In Hinduism each religious tradition can be given equal recognition. Under the heading of ‘Hinduism’, the Encyclopaedia Britannica aptly states:

“In principle, Hinduism incorporates all forms of belief and worship without necessitating the selection or elimination of any.” (8/888)

This general concept of tolerance, in other words, instructs us to live in peace with others. One should not believe in adopting a violent manner towards anyone. Just as we regard ourselves to be right, we should likewise regard others to be right. In principle, violence against any human group is unlawful.

Peace in Buddhism

Buddhism is regarded as a godless religion, for unlike other religions, it does not entertain belief in God as a central concept. Instead, the Buddhist system is grounded on a set of moral principles. The basis of Buddhism may be called a moral philosophy, or an ethical way of life.

The life of Gautam Buddha (Siddharth Gautam), the founder of Buddhism, is historically not well authenticated, but it is believed that he was born in north India in 560 B.C. When he attained adulthood, he happened to see some scenes of human misery. Since he was a sensitive person, he began to ponder over the reason for pain and suffering. He then set himself the goal of ending pain and suffering in human life.

After a long period of deep reflection and meditation, he formulated certain moral principles. Since his chief objective in life was to end human misery, he attached the greatest importance to the fact that man should free himself from all kinds of desires. For it is these desires that lead man into all kinds of evils, including violence. The principles he set forth to govern human life are as follows:

One must renounce all desires and all thoughts of lust, bitterness, and cruelty. One must harm no living creature. One must abstain from all killing. One must work in an occupation that benefits others and harms no one.

In principle, there is no place for violence in Buddhism. For the aim of Buddhism is basically personal reform. And personal reform can come about only by striving hard against one’s own self, rather than by committing aggression against others. It would be correct to say that violence is something alien to the Buddhist scheme of things. Ideologically, Buddhism has no direct relation with violence.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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