SPIRITUAL VALUES AND WORLD PEACE DOHA CONFERENCE MAY 7-9, 2007 Dr.

Mohammad Abdul Haq Ansari, Dircetor Islami Academy New Delhi Before I start reading my paper, I should first thank the university of Qatar , particularly Dr. Aishah, Dean College of Shariah and Islamic Studies and Chairperson of the Conference Preparatory Committee for giving me the opportunity to participate in this august Conference on a burning topic of the day : "Spiritual Values and World Peace". My paper would focus upon the Islamic position on the subject. I would begin by briefly stating the Islamic view of spiritually and underline the importance which Islam gives to peace in the world. I would next state the ways and means Islam uses to promote peace and tranquility and discourage hostility, violence and war. And if no alternative is left except war, what principles it wants to be followed in waging war and minimizing its evil effects. Finally, I would refer to the sorrowful existing situation in the Muslim world and say a few words as to what should be done to restore peace and tranquility. Islamic view of spirituality : Islam affirms that man is a combination of an spiritual soul and a material body. But it does not believe in an inherent irresolvable conflict between them. On the contrary Islam upholds that man is a wonderful unity of body and soul not only in this life but also in the Hereafter. Hence the spiritual values which Islam seeks to promote are not merely the values of the soul, but also of the body. Further, they are related, on the one hand, to God, the Almighty Creator and Guide, and on the other to fellow human beings as well as to the person him on her self. Islamic spirituality, in nutshell, is three dimensional, related to God, to human society and to the individual concerned. This is the view of spirituality which is shared by all the religions revealed by God, Semitic or non-Semitic, not only Islam. In Eastern religions this view of spirituality underwent a fundamental change. Human life in the world was regarded as the imprisonment of the spiritual soul in he cage of material body such that the ultimate happiness of man came to be regarded as the liberation of the soul from the body. This view of spirituality was not confined in the East. It slowly entered the Abrahamic religions in the West as we find in Jewish, Christian and Muslim mysticism. The time available to me will not allow me to enter into details. However, before I move to the seemed point of this paper, I would like to underline that in future whenever I refer to Islamic spirituality I will mean the spiritual values as stated in the Quran and demonstrated in the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, whether they are related to God, to human society or to the individual him or herself. How Islam promotes spiritual Values : The root of the word Islam is silm which means peace and security. Hence Islam is the religion of peace and security. "A Muslim", the Prophet said "is the one from whose tongue and hands other Muslims are safe and secure". Though the hadith

speaks of the safety and security of the Muslims, it does not confine them to Muslims only. For Islam, the life of any human being be he or she a Muslim or a non-Muslim is sacred; it can not be taken away except when justice demands. The Quran says : "Do not slay the soul which Allah has made sacred, except when required by justice" (6:151). In fact, the Quran regards the sanctity of a single human soul equal to the sanctity of the entire humanity. It says : " One who slays any soul unless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief on earth shall be as if he has slain all mankind" ( 5:32). Islam has permitted use of force and waging war in two other cases only : One in defense against aggression. The Quran says : 'Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. For Allah does not love transgression" (2:190). Secondly, to rescue those who have been subjected to various forms of torture on account of their faith. "The Quran says : " How is it that you do not fight in the way of Allah, and in support of the helpless men, women and the children who pray : Our Lord, bring us out of this land whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Yourself a protector, and appoint for us from Yourself a helper" (4:75). Islam does not only specify the grounds on which one should take up arm and fight, but also lays down the limits which within which force can be used. For instance while fighting, precaution should be taken to avoid killing children, women and old men. The Prophet said : " Do not kill old men, children, babies or women." Again if the enemy lays down his weapons and requests for peace, war against him should stop, and peace should be negotiated. The Quran says " If they incline to peace incline you as well to it, and trust in Allah ". (8:61). Those soldiers who are captured should not be subjected to torture as it is being shamelessly practiced in the so called civilized world today. I have no hesitation to say that if such inhuman acts are committed anywhere in the Islamic world it is wrong and must be avoided. Present Day Situation The world today is passing through a very crucial period of its history .By the middle of twentieth century when the Muslim world secured freedom from the colonial rule of the West there arose the hope that they will be the masters of their own destiny and carve out a future according to their own values. That dream was partly shattered when Russia invaded Afghanistan and established a puppet government under its control. However, the Russian hegemony did not last long. By 1980 Russian Empire itself collapsed and a number of states, many of which were Muslim emerged. It was hoped that after the fall of communist Russia, better cordial relations between the Muslim world and the Christian world will emerge. But some western powers were not ready to pursue the policy of mutual understanding cordial relation and equal treatment which was expected from people belonging to the same Abrahamic tradition. Instead of extending the hand of friendship, the head of a western power publicly declared that after the fall of communism they had lost the enemy that was needed for their ideology to survive, this vacuum was to be filled by none but Islam,it was declared. The destruction of the World Trade Center on September 9th 2001 provided an opportunity to vigorously pursue the same policy against Islam. What happened in

Afghanistan and what is happening in lraq can be seem as an extension of the same desired Western hegemony under the cover of self defence. The writer of these lines is a Muslim, but a Muslim who has spent some time in studying the Bible, and acquanting himself with Christian and Jewish religions. It is in this perspective he wants to put down that the three revealed religions have not only a common origin, they also share some basic ideas and principles, which deserve to be recalled in our times and put into practice by all of us to solve the problems we are facing today. Let me first quote from the Quran. It Says: "If you take retribution, then do so in proportion to the wrong done to you. But if you can bear such conduct with patience, indeed that is best for the steadfast. And bear with patience-your patience is only because of the help of Allah - and do not grieve over them, nor feel distressed by their evil plans. For surely Allah is with those who hold him in fear and do good."(16:126-128) At another place the Quran says: "Good and evil are not equal. Repel(evil) with that which is good, you will see that he, between whom and you there was enmity, shall become as if he were a bosom friend (of yours). But none attains to this except those who are steadfast; none attains to this except those endowed with mighty good fortune" ( 14:34-35) As for the Bible, I quote from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is reported to have said: "You have heard that it is was said: "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'' But I say to you: 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust"[5:43-45] Let me closed by saying that if we all follow the best teaching of our scriptures the misery that has overcome all of us will vanish and a new era of peace and happiness will usher in.

Dear Dr Tijarvi,

Thank you for submitting your article, Jihad in a Plural Society Not Permissible, to Strategic Studies Quarterly for publication consideration. We identified a subject-matter expert to review the article with an eye toward making a recommendation regarding its publication potential. The referees feedback and evaluation appears below: The article starts with this statement, These days jihad is buzzword to beat the Muslims with. The author neither specified who is doing the beating, nor provided evidence as to how. The author mentioned the need for prerequisites for waging war, but did not specify what they were or the stipulations constraining their application. The author included statistics without offering the source. Similarly, the author quoted the Prophet at the top of the third page but did not offer the source. The author asserts that Jihad in a Plural Society is Not Permissible, yet the argument for this assertion is absent and, per the authors admission, can only be found in his previously published book in Urdu. The argument presented instead selectively chooses the Meccan verses of the Quran for support, while neglecting the superseding Madina verses. An alternative argument for the one presented could assert that the passive strategy prevalent during the Meccan era was influenced by the relatively scant number of followers during that era, hence

excluding the possibility of waging a militarized approach by the nascent movement. Furthermore, the context in which the authors argument was formulated only applies to Muslim-on-Muslim violence, not the wider global context. For the author, jihad was a concept that was not being accurately projected. However, clearly absent in this article was an alternative strategy for countering such projection. At the bottom of the first page there was a singular reference to treating the practice as fasad and not jihad, but a clear definition of what fasad means or a detailed plan for such strategy was not proposed. Although the topic is of relevance for the fields of Strategic Communication and Counter-terrorism, the article fails to provide a coherent and actionable strategy. The argument was framed in a context that is debatable and thus, this weakly-structured argument could easily be challenged, placing its viability in question. Missing from the article was a balanced approach. A methodical approach, in which alternative arguments were presented first then counter-argued would have been preferable.

Unfortunately, based upon the referees feedback, we cannot accept the article for publication at this time.

Thank you again for submitting your work for our review and evaluation.

Anthony C. Cain, PhD Editor-in-Chief, Strategic Studies Quarterly

v/r Tawanda Eaves, Managing Editor Strategic Studies Quarterly (SSQ) Ph: (334) 953-1048 DSN 493