A-1: ROLE OF MEDINIAN SOCIETY IN PEACE BUILDING (THE AGE OF THE HOLY PROPHET P.B.U.H)

(دور المجتمع المدنى فى بناء السلام (عهد الرسول صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم

Abstract

Peace building in the society is the basic task of Islam and from the very beginning muslim societies   have devotedly worked for it. The existence of extremist and violent tendencies in today’s Muslim world is a result of suppression of the ideas and lack of communication between people of different schools of thought. The state authorities of the Muslim world failed to understand the causes of the lack of peace in the society as they mishandled the groups with religious affiliations and suppressed them without any communication or dialogue succumbing to external pressure. Due to a lack of intergroup intellectual exchange and discussions, Muslim societies are becoming highly polarized. With this polarization, it is hard for the state authorities to resist the pressure coming from vigorous groups or religious parties in the society when the latter manipulates the state decisions with power dynamics. In circumstances like these, it becomes the responsibility of the civil society, the religious preachers, and reformers to keep the society on track. The state cannot succeed in the promotion of peace and security until civil society and non-governmental actors play their role in social stability and integrity. The responsibility of civil society multiplies when the task is to safeguard the nation from violence and extremism in intellectual, physical, and monetary terms. Civil society has freedom of choice and the responsibility to integrate and preserve its values. In the context of Pakistan, we see many organizations taking up this role successfully and the most promising example is that of Islamic seminaries. These seminaries have been providing religious education thus preserving the teachings of Islam in the country. In order to cope with the emerging challenges, religious institutes have started to integrate religious and modern education. So, their graduates are equipped with modern techniques and classical Islamic knowledge and it is their duty to play an active role in the field of Dawah in particular. It shows that civil society organizations can err but they can be reformed and guided to play their role in peace-building in the light of the teachings of Islam. On the other hand, it is pertinent to mention that organizations can have divided opinions about a social issue but it could be interpreted as the diversity of opinion which is essential for a peaceful and stabilized society. The diverse approaches towards an issue can be unified by the common mission of national peace-building and combating extremism.