PEACE IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD AND ITS IMPACT ON DIVERSE CULTURES: AN ISLAMIC OVERVIEW

Peace is one of the most desired and basic elements for humanity on the face of earth. Without this neither evolution nor the social life can function properly. Islam conveys the message of love, peace and harmony and at the same time admonishes pandemonium, restlessness and chaos in society. Humanity on the globe generally and Muslims specifically are passing through very difficult times. Humanity, now a days is passing through various tensions and threats where bedlam is one of them either on individual or collective level or on national and international level. In this difficult time, it necessitates to return and revise the teachings of Holy Prophet (S.A.W) as his (S.A.W) teachings are a blessing, sanctified element and gift from Allah which should be studied, understood and practiced so that we may contribute as an effective part of society. Literal meanings of Islam, Muslim and Momin indicate towards the message of love, peace and harmony. Allah has many names and one among them is “Salam” “Peace”. Being Muslims it is our duty to present the peaceful face of Islam as our prophet (S.A.W) fought for the establishment of peace and discouragement of violence in society. According to various books on the life of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) such as Rahmat Aalam, Nabi Rehmat, Hadi Azam, Muhammad-e-Arbi one of the major achievements of Holy Prophet (S.A.W) is to establish a pious and complete society based on oneness of Allah and divine laws. The divine law which was given by Allah and implemented by Holy Prophet (S.A.W) was based on love, peace and harmony. Rest of the Prophets (A.S) was sent for the accomplishment of the same mission. They all instituted the serenity in societies of their time and ceased off devastations and pandemonium in humanity. It is observed that world is in search of lost peace which has become a dream of present day’s societies, families, and countries. Even peace has vanished from streets and towns at international and national politics, economy, religiosity, individual and collective levels. All this mess is directing towards restlessness, lack of patience, lack of justice and revenge. Humanity and world can come out of this chaotic situation only by acting upon God Almighty’s divine teachings and practices of Holy Prophet (S.A.W). The present research paper is a drop of the rain that overviews and understands prophetic teachings for chaos and establishment of peace.