The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Power of Peace
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compiled. All the precious books of classical Islamic
literature that adorn our libraries owe their
existence to this peaceful course of action.
For instance,
Hadith
is regarded as the second
source of
shariah
after the Qur’an. These traditions,
having been compiled, are available to us in the
form of books. These are so precious that, without
them, the very structure of religion could not have
taken shape. During the respective reigns of the
Umayyads and Abbasids, when the rot had set in in
the rulers, most of these traditions were retained
only in the memories of the traditionists of the
times. Had these traditionists opted for the
principle of violent collision with the oppressor-
rulers of their time, all of them would have been
done to death by the rulers. Then all the precious
treasures of traditions, instead of becoming parts of
the books, would have been lost to posterity.
It is the miracle of the choice of non-violence over
violence that the precious treasure of the traditions is
available today in printed form on our bookshelves.
We are thus in a position to fully benefit from the
guidance given to us by the Prophet.
