Islam & Peace - Principle of Avoidance

One of Islam’s most important principles is that of avoidance, that is, the keeping of oneself aloof from avoidable confrontations. A good analogy is our obedience to the traffic control system, which prevents accidents by ruling that vehicles must keep to their own side of the road, never speed head-on towards each other, nor suddenly cross the path of another, allowing him no time to brake. Even far off the ground, collisions could occur if the principle of avoidance were not invoked. Imagine two jet-airlines approaching each other at an altitude of 30,000 feet. Unless one of them received instructions to fly at, say, 35,000 feet, disaster would be inevitable.

The safety rules which apply to traffic embody the very principle which, if implemented, would relieve our everyday existence of so many unnecessary clashes. But before this can happen, this principle should have to be universally recognized and adopt.

There is no gainsaying the fact that our present world is one of competition, with everyone relentlessly pursuing his own ends. This being so, the only safe onward journey will be one on which people steer clear of one another whenever a clash of interests seem imminent. It is not in our hands to put an end to all such rivalry with its evitable confrontations, for that is all part of the divine scheme of things. The sole remedy human beings themselves can offer is the scrupulous avoidance of a path which is directly confrontational. That is the only way in which disaster may be averted.

In the life of the Prophet Muhammad, we find a number of salutary examples, such as the decision he made when he learned that the great warrior Khalid ibn al-Walid was advancing upon him with his army. There seemed nothing for it but a pitched battle, but the Prophet, who was at that point approaching Hudaybiyyah on his way to Mecca from Medina, promptly took his men by a different route, choosing an unfamiliar path well away from the main thoroughfare along which Khalid and his troops were advancing. By this simple stratagem, he avoided what would certainly have been disastrous confrontations. We would do well, in the highly competitive world of today, to follow the Prophet’s example, in order to secure a safe and peaceful existence of all mankind.