Islam and Peace
Towards a Non-Violent World
~ 140 ~
undoubtedly find itself in a position to give the lead
to the entire world.
There is only one way of exploiting the non-violent
method for the reform of a society – and that is, to
bring about a change in the thinking of the
individual, who is the basic unit of society.
Someone has rightly observed that all violence is
born in the mind and that it can be ended in the
mind itself. For instance, during the Second World
War, Japan was burning to revenge itself on
America. They said that America had devastated
their town of Hiroshima, so they would devastate
America. Although Japan’s air force had been badly
hit, its army was still intact, and its officers were
bent on vengeance. At that juncture certain
intellectuals in Japan pointed out that if America
had destroyed their Hiroshima, they had already
destroyed America’s Pearl Harbour. In this way
they were on a par. The score was even.
Due to this timely guidance, the Japanese came to
rethink their position, and, abandoning the path of
confrontation with America, and opting instead for
