The Islamic Concept of Peace: Can the West Accept it?
By Abdul Maseeh
After much research and reflection, I have come to understand
the Islamic concept of peace as something like this: Peace comes
through submission, which is the meaning of the word Islam. This
submission, of course, is submission to Muhammed and his concept of
Allah in the Qu'ran, in other words, Islam once again.
Theoretically peace exists inside Dar-al-Islam, the House of
Submission. I say "theoretically" because we all know that Muslims,
even though they are not supposed to, do fight fellow Muslims.
Consider the Afghan civil war between the Pashtuns on one side and
the then-Northern Alliance (Uzbeks, Tajiks, etc.) on the other; Iraq's
attack on Kuwait and its earlier war with Iran; or the West Pakistani
attack on East Pakistan, which subsequently became Bangladesh.
Peace with pagans, that is, people not "of the Book", is
impossible; they are all to be given a chance to accept Islam or be
killed. This is illustrated by the killing of pagans in the south of Sudan,
the north of Nigeria, and the south of Chad, in each case by Muslims
eager to impose Islamic law.
With regard to Christians and Jews, they too are to be fought
against until they are subdued and feel themselves subdued - that is
found in Qu'ran sura 9, verse 29 ("Fight those who believe not in Allah
nor the Last Day nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by
Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from
among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing
submission, and feel themselves subdued"). Examples of this are also
found in Sudan, Nigeria and Chad, and also in Indonesia - along with
smaller atrocities against Christians in Egypt and the heinous
repression of all Christian activity in Saudi Arabia by the Wahhabis.
To say that Islam is a religion of peace is not true. Islam is
committed to war, both by the example of Muhammed, who fought on
until he subdued Mecca and then other tribes, and by the Qu'ran's
teaching supported by numerous passages in the Hadith. According to
Amir Tahiri, aditor of Politique International in Paris, of the thirty wars
going on as of October 2001, twenty-eight involve Muslims fighting
either non-Muslims or even other Muslims! The Qu'ran does teach that
Muslims are never to initiate war. But Islam has a strange way of
putting this into practice. For example, Muslims are supposed to offer
non-Muslims an opportunity to embrace Islam. If the non-Muslims,
refuse, this is viewed as aggression against Allah and Islam. Therefore
Muslims are allowed to fight these "aggressors" until they are converted
or killed.
Perhaps the greatest proof that Islam is not a religion of peace
is sura 4, verse 89, which proclaims that any who want to leave Islam
(turn renegade) shall be put to death: "But if they turn renegades, seize
them and slay them wherever ye find them." This makes Islam the
religion of fear, not of peace.
There will be war in the world so long as people believe in
Muhammed, his example, and his teaching. The Islamic concept of
peace, meaning making the whole world Muslim, is actually a mandate
for war.
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