Time is a witness to the innocent blood spilled in the name of power. It bears witness to the numerable places done to dust. Only because they wanted to be among the great powers of the time, nothing drove them but the quest of plunder. The castles of their power were raised on the foundation of the million mutinies.

Their empire was never established till millions were widowed and orphaned. Whenever their swords were unsheathed there was no corner which was not filled with blood. They didn’t spare any city, any village. They created wilderness and called it peace. These brutal facts of history send a chill down the spine; in the words of Muhammad Iqbal:
”By the hands of Alexandra and Chengez.
For long has been the cloak of humanity disgraced.
History reminds us from its very being.
That the acme of power is the acme of pain”
How true; “If we don’t learn from history, it will be repeated”. And how sad that it’s being repeated. And the sadness is gong to prevail in Muslim lands till the life is shaped according to what was brought by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). As the Qur’an say’s in chapter 5 and verse 8:

“Oh you who have attained to faith: “Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness in all equity, and never let hatred of anyone lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: This is being closest to being God conscious”. (Al Maidah)

It is the same massage that has the essence of humanity in it and will be relevant in every phase of time. This is the message that has got the essence of life in it.
The power and authority is in the hands of those who haven’t left any stone unturned to inflict pain on the soul of humanity in each. After going thorough these dark portions of history, Arnold Toynbee finds a ray of hope; “Today the modern world stands in need of Islamic tolerance and universal brotherhood and the Muslim world has to play its role in the shaping of a harmonious and peaceful and happy fasting for the war weary, tension tossed and ideology torn world”.

Now once again if history is made witness one gets a very lucid and clear picture of something that is quite an exception to what world has been facing for a long time. Not only at the time of peace but at the time of war, turmoil and conflict, Muslims have shown such character even against their opponents that it is impossible for a conscious mind to forget it. Our supporters as well as our opponents do accept these facts that the Muslim soldiers who were striving in the way of God never committed plunder. Neither were cities and villages deserted, nor was vegetation, art and culture done to dust. At this point we are reminded of the impeccable guidelines of caliph Abu Bakr given to Usama Bin Zaid. And this was the time when he was being sent as head of any army to fight against the Roman Empire. The teachings were the essence of the Islamic ethics. The companions of the Prophet, and the leaders who came after them, did strictly abide by these principles.

Abstain from plunder and brutalities, abstain from killing women, children, old age people. Never destroy palm trees and trees which have flowers; excluding the matter of sustenance never kill a cow goat or a camel. You will come across some people who have devoted their lives to the temples and they do nothing else but pray day and night, never hurt them or tease them, leave them alone. At the time of the rule of 2nd Caliphs Umar Muslims had victories over mighty empires. Under the rule of Umar there was no scope for violating the law that was for the safeguard of humanity. What one can only say about the security of humans in a rule where even plants where not allowed to be destroyed. Highest security was provided to children, women and old age people. Nobody could have been executed without verifying the witness. Even with your opponents you have to obey laws as you could never break an agreement or turn away from your promises. On reading the history of Muslim Bedouin, a western historian writes;
“Those men so terrible in battle are eminently mild in victory. The plighted faith was rightly kept, we hear of no indiscriminate massacres”.

What was the source of such wonderful teachings? It is the same message that was bought by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and one of the best examples that can be quoted is form the day of the conquest of Mecca. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told his companions. “Beware, the son of Abu Jahal, Ikrimah is coming; give due respect to this emotions. Don’t say anything ill about his father, it will hurt him”.

Such has been the concept which Islam stands for. It's all about compassion and accommodation. It's all about winning hearts. All about peace.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 12 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST