Islam Rediscovered
10. Islam As It Is
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example is provided by the treaty of Hudaybiyya,
between the Prophet and his opponents. From the
details of the peace treaty it is clear that no clause
regarding justice was included. Obviously the
conditions of this treaty was quite against justice.
But the Prophet accepted this treaty, not because it
was giving them justice, but because it was
paving
the way to work for justice
.
Because of the importance of peace, the Qur’an has
clearly declared that no aggressive war is permitted
in Islam. Muslims can engage themselves only in a
defensive, not in an offensive war, irrespective of
the circumstances (2:190).
According to Islam, peace is the rule and war is
only an exception. Even in defensive war we have
to see the result. If the result is doubtful, Muslims
should avoid war, even in a defensive situation.
Stray acts of aggression are not enough for Muslims
to rush into war. They have to assess the whole
situation and adopt a policy of avoidance when war
is not certain to achieve a positive result.
There are several examples of this kind in the early
period of Islam. In Islamic history, one such
