At a time long, long ago in the Arabian Desert sat a party of Godly men. The world had not seen anyone like them. In a place where war was the norm, they claimed to be the followers of the religion whose very name was signifies peace. This was the party of the companions and the Holy Prophet (pbuh) often sat between them. On one occasion, he gave the following advice, which would forever serve as a guide for all moral individuals. He said:
‘Shall I inform you of something that holds a higher status than fasting, praying and giving charity? Making peace between people’ (Kanz-ul-Ummal, Hadith no. 5480)
The topic of this article is establishing peace in the world. Peace rarely exists in the world today. We do not have to look far to see the restlessness of the world, whether it be Ukraine and Russia in Europe, or in Syria in the Middle East. But what is the cause of all this lack of peace? Well, our beloved Hazoor (aba) answered this question in a beautiful manner. He stated hat peace is actually of two kinds: inner peace and outer peace. Often, people appear to be happy due to having the provisions of this world yet none of this can afford them any contentment of the heart. On the other hand, there are other who are so poor that they cannot afford basic necessities. Hence people may be poles apart in terms of their material states, but they are united in their failure to attain inner-contentment.
This materialistic mindset leads mankind to into a never-ending spiral of discontentment and more importantly takes them very far from their Creator. When we start to believe that we can usurp the wealth of others for our personal gain and when charity is given for praise and for display rather than piety, then the current condition of the world is exactly what we deserve. To top it all off, places of worship become emptier by the day, atheism is on the rise and irreligiosity is considered fashionable. How can we separate ourselves from Allah, the only Being that truly loves and cares for us, and expect any sort of peace?
It is only true closeness to Allah the Almighty that can ensure both inner and outer peace. There is no better example than the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and his companions. Was it not the Holy Prophet (pbuh) who was inflicted the most in-humane persecution? Were his companions like Hazrat Bilal (ra) not dragged around the streets of Mecca? Were they not forced out of their homes? Did they not lose their lives for the sake of faith?
However, after all this suffering, were they not the ones who united all women, blacks, non-Arabs and slaves under the umbrella of Islam? How did they achieve all this? It was due to the flames of the love of Allah the Almighty that continued to burn in their hearts. This flame spurred them on, and it was the fire that gave their hearts peace. In the space of a few years, although they have everything up, the inner peace they gained caused a revolution of peace in the whole world. Where the people of our time despise migrants, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) established a brotherhood between the Ansar (residents of Madina) and Muhajirin (migrants from Mecca), giving us a key lesson: to establish peace we must be selfless and ever ready to sacrifice everything we own. The only thing that can make us do so is the flame that these magnificent men possessed in their hearts, a love for Allah Almighty that increased day by day. This holds greater importance for us than anyone else as we have pledged, just like the companions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that we will always be ever ready to do what it takes to establish peace all over the world.