Principles of Islam
30. Non-Violence
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Violent activities breed hatred in society, while non-
violent activities elicit love. Violence is the way of
destruction while non-violence is the way of
construction. In an atmosphere of violence, it is
enmity which flourishes, while in an atmosphere of
nonviolence, it is friendship, which flourishes. The
method of violence gives way to negative values
while the method of non-violence is marked by
positive values. The method of violence embroils
people in problems, while the method of non-
violence leads people to the exploiting of
opportunities. In short, violence is death, non-
violence is life.
Both the Qur’an and the hadith have attached great
importance to
jihad.
What is
jihad? Jihad
means
struggle, to struggle one’s utmost. It must be
appreciated at the outset that this word is used for
non-violent struggle as opposed to violent struggle.
One clear proof of this is the verse of the Qur’an
(25:52), which says: Perform
jihad
with this (i.e. the
word of the Qur’an) most strenuously.
The Qur’an is not a sword or a gun. It is a book of
ideology. In such a case performing
jihad
with the
