Any group which desires justice should first of all make efforts
to establish peace. The importance of peace is so great that it has to
be established, whatever the cost. Peace is seldom established on a
bilateral basis. It is almost always established on a unilateral basis.
And it is the latter which is the best method of approach.
The system of nature is based on opportunities of which, as
a rule, there is an abundance. But the environment of hatred and
violence acts as a nullifying factor for these natural opportunities. It
is the demand of nature that man should first of all rid the situation
of all hatred and violence. The moment this is done, one will see the
emergence of innumerable opportunities, both secular and religious.
The optimal secular use of opportunities would be for people to
engage in such constructive fields as education and economic uplift
and, in so doing, achieve all kinds of progress. The best religious
use of opportunities would be for the believers to engage in
dawah
work. And by involving themselves actively in the
dawah
mission,
they would be held deserving of God’s highest blessings. In this
matter the people of Kashmir enjoy a special position. They are
blessed with a great opportunity to establish peace in their State,
communicate God’s message to people and be held deserving of
God’s great blessings.
The Future of Kashmir
After the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir
became a problem State. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984)
describes this as an accident of history (9:32). But the truth is that
what happened in the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 was not
an accident of history in the simple sense. It was rather the verdict
of God. It would appear that there was great divine planning behind
this ‘accident of history’. That is, the State of Jammu and Kashmir
is now in a position to demonstrate to the world, in the 21
st
century,
that Islam is a religion not of violence, but of peace, in the full sense.
History shows that problems always play a positive role in human
life. Without problems, human life becomes a victim of stagnation,
for problems make people creative. They encourage fresh thinking
and, as such, are always the harbinger of a better future. Indeed
problems are blessings in disguise. In actuality the problems faced
by the people of Kashmir were exactly that. The truth of this is now
becoming evident.
Going Against the Sunnah (Way) of the Prophet 13
