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Islam and World Peace - Explanations of a Sufi
by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

Everyone Is Speaking of Peace

I seek refuge in Allah from the evils of the accursed satan.
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.

Brothers and sisters born in this world, please listen to this wonder! The heavens and earth have always existed in peace. The sun, the moon, the stars, and the wind all perform their duty in harmony. Only man, who lives on this earth, has lost that peace. He only talks about it. He gives speeches about establishing peace, but then he disrupts the unity and sets out to rule the world. Is this not a wonder? Such is the speech of man.

In this present century, man has discarded God, truth, peacefulness, conscience, honesty, justice, and compassion. Man has changed so much! Instead of searching to discover the three thousand gracious qualities of God, he has lost all those qualities and opened the way to destruction. He seeks to ruin the lives of others and to destroy the entire world. But the world will not be destroyed; the earth and the heavens will never be destroyed. Only man will be destroyed. Man, with all the various means of destruction he has discovered, will in the end destroy only himself. He is like a certain type of moth that is attracted to the glow of a flame, thinking it is food. These moths circle around and around the flame, until finally they fly right into it and die. In the same way, man plummets into evil actions, thinking they will benefit him. He sees evil as good, but the end result is destruction.

Never has destruction been so much in evidence as in the present century. Man has changed the concept of God, who is truth, and debased the meaning of man, who is wisdom and beauty. He no longer understands what a true human being really is. If man could rediscover who he truly is and then change his present self, he would know peace. Man says he wants to bring peace to others, but in order to do that he must first find it within his own life. How can anyone who has not found peace within himself hope to bring peace to others? How can a man who has no compassion, no unity, and no love within himself bring peace to the world?

One who has not found justice, conscience, honesty, and truth within himself will not find these qualities in others. One who has not found the value of patience within himself will not find it in others. One who has not understood his own state will not understand the state of others. One who has not strengthened his own faith in God cannot strengthen the faith of others or be strengthened by the faith of others. One who has not acquired good qualities cannot find them in others, nor can he teach them to others. If he tries, his work will be fruitless. How can a man who carries a water bag full of holes hope to quench the thirst of others? As long as he has not repaired his own vessel, he can never fill that of another man.

To understand this and to establish peace, man must first change the thoughts and qualities within himself. He must change his qualities of selfishness and avarice, his desire for praise, and his love for earth, sensual pleasures, and gold. He must stop thinking, "My family! My wife! My children! I must rule the world! I must advance my position in life!" When a man has all these selfish ideas, how can he possibly create peace for others? However, if he severs these qualities from himself and begins to feel the hunger, the pain, and the difficulties felt by others, and if he treats all lives as his own life, then he will find peace. If he can strive for this understanding and obtain inner patience, contentment, and trust in God,1 if he can imbibe God's qualities and acquire God's state, then he will know peace. And once he finds that clarity within himself, he will discover peace in every life. If everyone would do this, life in this world would be heaven on earth. But if those who live in this world and rule this world cannot find serenity within themselves, they will only end up destroying the world when they try to establish peace. We must think about this.

One who has not found peace within himself will forever be giving speeches about peace. This world is a pulpit upon which man preaches, and there is no end to this talk! For millions of years man has been speaking this way, but he has not come forward to first find peace within himself. There is no use in making speeches. Man must acquire the qualities of God and live in that state. Only then can he speak of peace, only then can he speak the speech of God and dispense the justice of God's kingdom.

The people who have come to rule the world should think about this. Every man should think about it. Peace can only be found in the heart. Good qualities, wisdom, and clarity must provide that explanation within each heart. Man will only know peace when he brings God's justice and His qualities into himself. Therefore, before we speak of peace, let us try to acquire God's words within ourselves. Let us find tranquility within ourselves. If we can do that, our speech will be fruitful. Then the whole world will be at peace.

Man must find peace, tranquility, happiness, unity, love, and every good quality within his own life, within his own innermost heart.2 Only a person who does that can understand the difficulties, the pain, and the misery of others. A man of wisdom will know this, understand this, and rectify his own mistakes. Then he can help others.

We must all think about this. May God help us. Amen.


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Footnotes
  1. sabr, shukr, and tawakkul 'ala'Allah
  2. qalb


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