Cite this article as: Anka B.D.M. & Abdullahi D. (2024). The Guidance of the Glorious Qur'an on Peace and Reconciliation for National Development. Proceedings of International Conference on Rethinking Security through the lens of Humanities for Sustainable National Development Interdisciplinary Perspecties. Pp. 26-32.
THE
GUIDANCE OF THE GLORIOUS QUR'AN ON PEACE AND RECONCILIATION FOR NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
By
Dr.
Bawa Dan Muhammad Anka
Department
of Islamic Studies
Federal University Gusau
And
Daha
Abdullahi
Department
of Islamic Studies
Federal College of Education and Technical, Gusau
Abstract:
Qur'an as the final Divine Scripture consists of whatever mankind is looking
for concerning his wellbeing both in the temporal and spiritual lives. The
religion of the Qur'an, which is Islam, carries the fundamental meaning of
peace. This signifies that the divine Scripture teaches and advocates for peace
at individual and collective levels. Such, is also the case in the relationship
between humans and their Creator. Thus, reconciliation is a means of achieving
a lasting peaceful coexistence in a given society which ultimately facilitates
its growth and development. This paper therefore, explains the guidance of the
glorious Qur’an on peace and reconciliation through divine commandments as
interpreted by the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah (S.W.T), Muhammad
(S.A.W). One of the major findings of this paper is that; of all the religions
both human and revealed, Islam, through the teachings of the Qur'an had
championed the course of promoting peace and reconciliation. Similarly, the
condition of peace is necessarily required for both individual and the leaders
for societal developments. Thus, the paper elaborates precisely on the relevant
verses of the holy Qur'an on the subject matter of discussion. Such verses are
commented based on authentic Ahadith and scholarly discourses on their
teachings and guidance. Conclusion and recommendations are also provided.
Keywords:
guidance, Qur’an, peace, reconciliation, national and development
Introduction
Qur’an
is the glorious Book of Allah (The Most High), revealed to His last Messenger
and the seal of all His Prophets in person of Muhammad bn Abdullahi of
the noble Quraysh family, for the total guidance of Mankind in all aspects of
their lives. Islam is a culture of peace and as such, promotes peace and means
of reconciliation with solid aim of achieving socio-economic stability through
unity, cooperation and social cohesion.
Thus,
Islam enshrines in its divine teachings that Muslim should cultivate ways of
maintaining peace with their Creator on one hand and their fellow human folks
on the other. It should be emphasized here that the name “Islam” as a religion
is coined out from the Arabic word “Salam” which carries the meanings of
peace and submission[1].
Suffice to mention here that Islam advocates for peaceful coexistence.
Therefore, human beings at large and specifically Muslims can only be in peace
and at ease if they embrace the divine order of their Creator. And looking at
the word reconciliation, it represents the Arabic word “Sulh” which
conveys the meaning of conciliation and peacemaking[2]
It
is based on this consideration that this paper explores necessary avenues to
shed more light on the guidance of the glorious Qur’an about peace and
reconciliation that are to be in place before the achievement of any meaningful
development in our states and Nigeria at large.
1.1 Qur’an as the Right Guidance
Allah
(S.W.T) addresses the Qur’an as the right guidance (al-Huda)
revealed for the right direction of His servants among those who believe in it.
It guides mankind from darkness to light[3],
wrong to the right acts[4].
Among different names of the Qur’an is “The Guide” as mentioned in the
following verse:
“This is the Book: surely, no doubt about it; a Guidance to those
who fear Allah”[5].
In
another verse, it reads: “…Say: The Guidance of Allah that is the (only)
Guidance…”[6]
In
another place, it reads: “Say it has been revealed to me that a company of Jinn
listened (to the Qur’an). They said we have really heard a wonderful Recital.
It gives guidance to the right…”[7]
In
each of the above verses, it is clear that the Glorious Qur’an is intended to
rightly guide mankind to the right direction in all his life endeavors;
spiritually, religiously, socially, economically and politically. The
socio-economic guidance of the Qur’an includes beseeching of peaceful living
and under peaceful atmosphere and that human beings are to reconcile with one
another whenever the need arises, which is necessarily required in the
cultivation of peace and its maintenance. The Qur’anic word “huda” is
also interpreted by some exegetes as light[8].
This indicates that the guidance of Allah (S.W.T) is a brightest light
that leads a Muslim to achieve all righteousness in his worldly sojourn. And
this will indeed make him among the inhabitants of Paradise on the Day of
Judgment.
In
fact, verses of such contents are many in the Glorious Qur’an and have been
commented on by the Muslim exegetes (Mufassirun), Traditionists (Muhaddithun)
and jurists (Fuquha’) emphasizing the significance of Allah’s guidance
on everything and necessary requisite for every Muslim to seek for Allah’s
guidance and abide by it accordingly in faith and sincerity (Iman and Ikhlas).
Prophet (S.A.W) was quoted to have said:
“The excellent statement is contained in the Qur’an and the most
right guidance is the guidance of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)”[9].
The meaning of the Hadith above is self-explanatory. It is a summary of all the verses indicating the essence and impact of Allah’s Guidance. Therefore, the guidance of Allah (S.W.T) in the Glorious Qur’an on peace and reconciliation should be embraced with a view to promoting and achieving national development in all facets of life.
1.1 Conceptual Meanings of Peace and Reconciliation in the Light of the
Verses in the Glorious Qur’an
The term Salam is an Arabic word for peace and has different
phonological constructions as Silm (submission), Sallama (to
submit or to render), Salima (be sound), etc. As mentioned earlier, the
word Salam conveys two interpretations; peace and submission as can be
understood from the above word structures.
In the Glorious Qur’an, both the meanings are reflected in different
verses as quoted thus:
The verses in which the word Salam is used to mean peace
include among others;
“And the servants of (Allah) Most
Gracious are those who work on the earth with humility, and when the ignorant
address them, they say peace”[10].
In
the same chapter, it also reads:
“Therein they shall be met with
salutation and peace”[11]
These verses have shown that the
word Salam means peace, and the wisdom is that Islam is advocating for
peace not only in this world but also in the Hereafter. It should not be
forgotten that the mission of the message of the Qur’an is to lead mankind to
have peaceful life on the Day of Judgment. And thus, the sincere servants of
Allah (S.W.T) will be peacefully led to enter into the Garden of bless,
while the infidels will experience life of uneasiness as a result of their
disobedience to the divine order. Suffice here to mention that one of the
attributes of Allah (S.W.T) is His being “The Source of Peace” (As-Salam).
Moreover, Muslims use the word to terminate Prayer when finished, and greet one
another with it and seek permission of entrance even in one’s own residence
with Salam. All these applications of the word Salam in different
situations and circumstances have been clearly stated in Glorious Qur’an. The
word Salam occurs in the Qur’an thirty three (33) times.[12]
Equally, the following are some of the verses which indicate the
meaning of Salam as submission:
“Nay, whosoever submits his whole self to Allah and is a doer of
good, he will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall
they grieve”[13]
In the same chapter, it states:
“Behold, his Lord said to him submit
(your will to Me); he said I have submitted (my will) to the Lord and Cherisher
of the universe”[14]
In
another chapter, a verse reads
“So, when they have both submitted
to (Allah)…”[15]
From the quoted verses above, it can be inferred that the Arabic
root word Salam is used in the contents of the verses as submission in
its different structural usages. The relevance is that whoever submitted to
Allah’s enunciations will actually maintain peace and will be ready to
reconcile with others whenever the need arises.
1.3.
Guidance of the Qur’an on Peace and Reconciliation
Having
discussed the meaning of peace and reconciliation in line with the verses of
the Qur’an, the paper goes on to discuss the divine guidance of Allah (S.W.T)
on peace and reconciliation as He commands in His Scripture.
From
the word go, it can be noted that peace and reconciliation are synonymously
used one leading to each other. Whenever the reconciliation takes effect, peace
shall definitely reigns and at any time the latter is achieved the society will
be violence-free and individuals would have rest of mind. And the impact will
be rapid achievement of developments in all facets of life at individual and
societal levels.
It
is perhaps based on this consideration that Allah (S.W.T) gives a clear
instruction in the Glorious Qur’an that Muslim believers should reconcile
between the contending partners that are at logger heads with one another as
individuals or at communal levels. The verses of such instructions include
among others:
“If two parties among the believers
fall into a fight, make (you) peace (reconcile) between them. But if one
transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then fight (you) all against the
one that transgresses until it complies with the command of Allah. But if it
complies, then make peace between them with justice, and be fair: for Allah
loves those who are fair and (just)”[16].
Believers are but brothers. So make peace and reconciliation between your two
contending brothers; and fear Allah that you may receive mercy”.[17]
The verses quoted above contain clear directives of Allah (S.W.T)
on the necessary need for reconciliation and establishing peace whenever two or
more people involved in quarrel, which largely leads to violence and anarchy in
a given society within the Muslim Ummah. The first verse contains
categorical divine commandment for reconciliation and the necessary conditions
to take into consideration by the reconciling bodies or arbiters. Thus, if the two parties involved in a quarrel
and one of them becomes aggressive and non-compromising, the Order is that the
community should stand against them until they come back to the will of Allah (S.W.T)
by accepting the terms of reconciliation[18].
However, in pursuance of such course, the arbiters are reminded to maintain
justice and fairness between the two despite the latter’s unfriendly approach.
In clearer language, the reconciliation should be free from any partiality
which will lead to obtaining Allah’s mercy by succeeding in the reconciliation
and being rewarded by demonstrating sense of justice in the process. For this
reason, a scholar stated that; “What is befitting for a true Islamic society is
a settlement that is equitable and just overall, not one in which the one
individual eschews his rights allowing another to achieve his unjust goals”[19].
To
properly achieve in building a culture of peace through reconciliation in a
giving society, scholars identified the following three basic elements to be
observed adequately[20]:
1.3.3
Basic Elements of Building a Culture of Peace in Muslim Community
1. Compassion
- By compassion, it means one should be considerate and have mercy on those
that are below his standard in a living condition - more importantly, in the
socio-economic life. If Muslim should imbibe the habit of showing mercy to one
another, it will indeed help in solving socio-economic unrest at societal
level. It is along this line that Islam teaches its followers to be
compassionate even to the lower animals[21].
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was one time quoted instructing his followers
to show mercy to their brothers so that Allah (S.W.T) will in turn show
them His mercy[22].
2. Forgiveness
- Human society cannot be absolved totally from problems and, as such, one
can offend the other or encroach on his rights. If such should happen, the
offended should forgive the offender and the latter should realize his mistake
and feel sorry for his misdeed. In this way and manner, peace would be achieved
in a societal set up and would be free from violence to a greater extent. In
the Glorious Qur’an, forgiveness is counted among the attributes of faithful
Muslims.
3. Respect
to One Another - In Islam, it has been emphasized that human beings have
been created by Allah (S.W.T) with dignity, a type that is
non-comparable with other creatures - even the Angels. This is irrespective of
their religious inclinations. The inference is that we are bound to respect one
another since Allah (S.W.T) has shown His respect to us by dignifying
our nature. Therefore, human being is worthy of respect. The differences in
religion and culture should not be a detracting factor from respecting
humanity. It is on record that Prophet (S.A.W) had one time stood up in
respect for a Jew funeral, and when asked, he answered that, “was he not a
human being?”[23]
In a nutshell, respect to one another promotes peace and reconciliation that
are required for the development of any nation.
If
Muslims should embrace the three aforementioned features, grudges and disputes
which the Prophet (S.A.W) described as “razor” because of their quality
of removing faith, severing ties of kinship and injustice, would have been
avoided[24].
1.4
Etiquettes of Reconciliation (Sulh)
The
fact that the Glorious Qur’an enshrines emphatically on promotion of peace
through meaningful means of reconciliation, the following etiquettes are laid
down for perfect, just and fair reconciliations:
1.
Good Intention
and Sincerity (ikhlas) - A Muslim who wants to make
reconciliation should note that it is an act of worship (Ibadat), and as
such, fair intention, absence of ostentation and materialistic intents are
required of him. Allah (The Most High) says:
“…but if one exhorts to a good deed
of charity or goodness or conciliation between people (secrecy is permissible);
to him who does this seeking the good pleasure of Allah, We shall soon give a
reward of the highest value”[25].
2. Fair Hearing to the Contending Partners/Parties -
The arbiter should with justice and fairness listen to both parties involved in
the quarrel and follow due processes and techniques in reconciling them. This
will enable him to succeed in restoring the normal relationship between the
parties.
3. Avoidance of Haste - The conciliator should take moderate
time to study the situation gradually
and then pass his decision if the parties are under his jurisdiction,
otherwise, he should find way
of reconciling between the conflicting parties. Hastiness may lead to
corrupting more than what may be amended.
4. Appropriate
time - Convenient and appropriate time should be used for the
reconciliation to yield the desired result and impact. Therefore,
reconciliation should not be attempted at the height tension of the problem and
misunderstanding should not be allowed to take longer time without involvement
of reconciliation exercise. This means to say that conciliation can be
positively achieved when the matter becomes cool, severity of the dispute is
alleviated and the fire of anger is extinguished. It is then one should attempt
reconciliation. And on the other hand, it should not be allowed to linger until
when the issue becomes worsened.
5.
Approach of respect and use of nice and convincing words - A Muslim who
wants to make reconciliation should bear in his mind that he needs to approach
the burning issue(s) with respect and use faultless language to all of them,
more especially the offended. He should equally remind all of them of their
caliber of personality and that what they involved in is unwarranted to their
equals. This indeed will draw their senses back to normalcy and listen to the
conciliating partner.
Above
are the guiding ethics of reconciling between partners that involved in
violence, which if effectively implored, such discord and social unrest will
not only be managed but reduced to
barest minimum.
Conclusion
Certainly,
the Glorious Qur’an which is the embodiment of virtues, containing all
necessary goodness for the well-being of humanity generally and its believers
in particular. It has laid a greater emphasis on achieving peace and
administration of reconciliation for the continuity of the existing peace and
order. It is clear that whenever the peaceful atmosphere is absent and essence
of unity and cooperation are shattered, powers and the strength of a society
will become weakened and sometimes totally collapsed. And if a nation attains
to such unwanted situation, the development of whatever type will be within the
cage of pessimism. Thus, without peace, our socio-economic and political
developments will remain stagnant and vicious cycle of poverty will engulf our
lives as we are right now witnessing in Nigeria with its devastating effects in
some North Western states such; as Zamafara, Katsina, Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto.
Therefore, in order to abide by the calls of the Glorious Qur’an and its
guidance to embrace peace and means of sustaining it with a view to achieving
overall development, the following recommendations are to be put in place:
Recommendations:
- Muslims believers should sincerely go by
the guidance of the Glorious Qur’an in fostering peace, unity and
cooperation in the Ummah.
- All means of reconciliation should be
applied to quenching the fire of discord, anarchy and religious bigotry
among people.
- Muslim scholars should intensify efforts
to engage fully in enlightenment preaching sessions on peace and
reconciliation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace and order.
They should be explaining to people the spiritual and mundane effects of insurgency
such as banditry, kidnapping, killings and counter killings.
- Communities should participate actively in
arresting the ugly situation of socio-economic unrest bedeviling the lives
of citizens nowadays. Informants and their evil practice should be
checkmated and drastic actions and punishments be spelt out against each
actor convincingly involved in the crime of maiming, kidnapping, robbery,
homicides, and the likes.
- Government in its own side should provide
adequate security to lives and property of its citizens. Those holding
political offices should have more concerns about the situation of their
subjects with a view to assisting them in order to ameliorate their sufferings.
- Finally, fear of Allah (S.W.T) in
all our dealings should be our guiding principle. And should we sincerely
turn and submit piously to Allah (S.W.T), He will surely replace
our predicaments with ease.
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Quran. (ed.Fouad, M). (N.P): Sahm al-Nur
[2] Al-Ma ‘ani Soft copy of Arabic-English and English-Arabic Dictionary
[3] Qur’an, 2:257
[4] Qur’an, 72:2
[5] Qur’an 2:2
[6] Qur’an, 2: 120
[7] Qur’an,
72:1&2
[8] Ibn Kathir,
Tafsir al-Qur’anal Azim, Dar bn al-Jawz, al-Qahirah, 2009, Vol.1 p.63. also see
TafsirImam Qurtubi on
the verses under review.
[9] Imam
Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari,Shirkatu al-Qudus, al-Qahirah, 2008, Hadith No.
6097, p.1235
[10] Qur’an, 25:63
[11] Qur’an, 25:75
[12] Muhammad,
F.A., Al-Mu’ajamal-Mufahris Lil-Alfaz al-Qur;anil-Karim,Dar al-Hadith, al-Qahirah,P. 437&438
[13] Qur’an, 2:112
[14] Qur’an, 2:131
[15] Qur’an, 37:103
[16] Qur’an. 49:10
[17] Qur’an, 49: 11
[18] S.M.M. Lari, “The correct Approach to Reconciliation
and its Positive Consequences”. Retrieved from www.al-
islam.org, on 20th October, 2024
[19] Ibid
[20] M.R. Khan,
Islamic Wisdom and Morality,Discovery Publishing House, PVT,LTD, New Delhi,
2011, P.69&70
[21] Imam Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari,Shirkatu al-Qudus, al-Qahirah,
2008Hadith No.6010, P.1220
[22] Sunanal-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 1924
[23] Imam Bukhari Op.cit
[24] The Virtue of Reconciling People”, 2023, Retrieved
fromwww.islamweb,net>article>the-vir-on 2oth October, 2024
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