Ideology of Peace
        
        
          PEACE IN ISLAM
        
        
          ~ 139 ~
        
        
          in the Hereafter should be the target of the human
        
        
          struggle. In this way he dispelled the notion that
        
        
          worldly progress should be one’s aim in life, for
        
        
          that is what ultimately results in all kinds of
        
        
          confrontation and violence. His formula for better
        
        
          living was to make oneself useful to others, and if
        
        
          that was not possible, then at least to do others no
        
        
          harm; no one should be regarded as an enemy; even
        
        
          the enemy must be given fair treatment, for only
        
        
          then would the realization come that one’s enemy
        
        
          was potentially one’s friend: the ‘enemy’ always has
        
        
          it in him to be a friend.
        
        
          PEACE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
        
        
          The Prophet of Islam was a peace lover to the
        
        
          ultimate extent. His opponents repeatedly
        
        
          attempted to draw him into war, but on each
        
        
          occasion he avoided becoming entangled. However,
        
        
          sometimes in view of unilateral aggression, he had
        
        
          no option but to fight purely in self-defence, and for
        
        
          a limited duration. Badr is one such battle.
        
        
          History shows that at the exact moment when the
        
        
          armies of both sides were standing ready for battle,