Islam Rediscovered
11. Non-Violence and Islam
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non-violent activism. Where
qital
is violent activism,
jihad
is non-violent activism.
PEACEFUL BEGINNING
When the Qur’an began to be revealed, the first
verse of the revelation conveyed the injunction:
‘Read!’ (Iqra) (96:1). By perusing this verse we learn
about the initiation of Islamic action. It begins from
the point where there is hope of continuing the
movement along peaceful lines, and not from that
point where there are chances of its being marred
by violence.
When the command of
‘iqra’
was revealed, there
were many options available in Makkah as starting
points for a movement. For instance, one possible
starting point was to launch a movement to purify
the Kabah of the 360 idols installed in it. But, by
pursuing such a course, the Islamic movement at
that juncture would certainly have had to face a
violent reaction from the Quraysh. An alternative
starting point could have been an attempt to secure
a seat in the Dar-al-Nadwa (Makkah’s parliament).
At that time almost the whole of Arabia was under
the direct or indirect influence of the Roman and
