FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAM AND PEACE FOR HUMANITY: IN THE CONTEXT OF THE HOLY QURAN

Abstract

This paper highlights the fundamentals of Islam considering the Holy Quran and Hadiths. Contrary to the meanings of Islam as a religion of peace, its politicised version justifies the practice of coercion and extremism that is breeding violence and terrorism in the contemporary era. We will attempt to proceed further in the next chapter to answer the question: ‘how was the practice of coercion maintained, although it goes against the verse of the Holy Quran that clearly says, “No Coercion in Religion”^[1]?’ An analytical study of the historical perspective of spreading Islam through the use of the sword or by using power highlights the causes of wars and Ghazwat (the wars Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH himself participated in) fought by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) during His life, while other wars were fought by later Muslim rulers for the purpose of expanding the geographical boundaries of the Islamic States within the history of Islam, with the excuse of spreading the Islamic faith. It will be interesting to explore both the expansion of boundaries through the sword, spreading Islam, or this coercive power- seeking strategy which deconstructed the very idea of Islam which is rooted in humanity and humanism.

^[1] Holy Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse No 256