By Dr. Fatima Tanveer
The haunting image of Gaza humiliates and disgraces humanity. The dying, groaning, starving faces of women, innocent children, youth, and the elderly – conveyed through news, photos, and videos – have shaken not only the Muslim world but also every heart that still feels compassion. Teams of doctors, journalists, and social workers returning from Gaza recounted their eyewitness accounts with deep grief and anguish. Yet, all stood helpless in the face of circumstances. Restrictions were imposed on them as well. The entire world together could not deliver justice to the people of Gaza. Humanity appears powerless and incapacitated in bringing them peace and tranquillity. Whoever dares to take a step forward is stopped, thrown into prison, and subjected to suffering as if standing for truth is treated as siding with falsehood. Speaking the truth has become forbidden, and opening one’s lips a crime.
When such conditions prevail in the world, when humanity is being trampled openly, when the destiny of the weak, helpless, and oppressed has become nothing but war, then speaking of peace and tranquillity seems tantamount to making truth appear false. Whenever global peace is mentioned, it feels as though it has become a rare and unattainable thing. Drunken with the intoxication of power, dictatorships and tyrannies have strangled peace and tranquillity. Amidst cries of pain and protest, those who raise slogans of justice and human rights are themselves the very ones violating and discarding these principles.
Throughout history, the powerful have always oppressed the weak, subjugated, and enslaved them. Yet, in such times, some voice, even if weak, has always arisen; some leader or guide has emerged who has eradicated oppression and turned turmoil into peace. Today too, to redirect the course of the river, courage, determination, and resolve are needed.
“If the faith of Abraham is born again today,
Even fire can blossom into a garden.”
The Spectacle of Global Peace Day and the Corpses of Palestinians
Peace has always been humanity’s deepest need. Yet today, the world is engulfed in its worst state of turmoil. The situation is such that soon peace and tranquillity may vanish entirely, and people may be forced to dig holes in the earth to hide in search of safety. Witnessing peace transform into chaos makes one ask: Have laws, rules, agreements, and negotiations all become lifeless, hollow, eaten away by termites?
Rulers speak of human rights, drafting charters and declarations, but their own hands carry the funeral of these very rights. Peace and tranquillity in the world remain like an incomplete, broken dream.
When discussions of global peace take place, those who themselves cause disorder and lawlessness conveniently ignore their own deeds while convincing the world that might makes right. This is the worst form of hypocrisy: saying something but never feeling bound to act upon it, and without even the slightest sense of accountability. Can such arrogance ever allow the establishment of justice? Superpowers devastate cities overnight simply because those cities refuse to comply with their whims or because their lands become objects of some imperial desire.
Today, the city of courage, Palestine, suffers this very torment. Its people endure exile and homelessness in their own homeland. The whole world watches this spectacle with naked eyes. The faint cries that rise are drowned like the voice of a sparrow in a clamorous bazaar. One wonders why the International Day of Peace is not erased entirely from the calendar of commemorative days. Since it is already being erased from the reality of existence, why continue this empty show? Why this pointless spectacle?
The So-called Abrahamic Faiths
Today, what is needed is the character of Abraham. But from where will it arise, and how? Those who invoke Abraham’s name loudly remain far removed from his spirit. The so-called Abraham Accords, promoted by Israel and its western allies under the banner of uniting the three monotheistic religions, were never truly about the pure teachings of Abraham. Rather, the west invented and twisted this concept to serve Zionist aggression. The genuine teachings of Abraham were absent. Misusing his name and attaching it to such an accord stripped it of authenticity and dignity.
In reality, such agreements are nothing more than words – deliberately crafted cobwebs that entangle the people. Neo-colonialism’s advancing footsteps ring like a warning bell, carrying with them the unholy ambition of turning this dream into reality.
History shows that no charter or agreement can ensure lasting peace unless those who make it truly fear that their own injustice and tyranny may one day destroy them. Yet those who impose poverty and backwardness on others live under the delusion that they themselves will never suffer.
Look at the Conquest of Makkah: the Quraysh, despite their prosperity, made and broke treaties at will. They considered it their pastime to negotiate, then violate agreements. For the weak, every form of oppression was permissible. But when the Benefactor of Humanity, the Consoler of Nations, the Healer of Mankind – Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — arose amidst them, he declared:
“You are all servants of one God, and one day you will be brought before Him.”
At this concept of accountability, their hair stood on end. They refused to accept that they would one day answer for their deeds. The followers of Abraham’s religion today stand in a similar state: erasing the teachings written in their own scriptures, granting themselves free licence to commit tyranny, and convincing themselves that, being “God’s chosen,” no punishment awaits them. They claim they alone will succeed, while trampling upon others.
The True Face of Peace and the Mercy to All Worlds
From the family of Abraham arose the Benefactor of Humanity, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who gave to the world a message of peace unlike any other. In his teachings, all forms of superiority and discrimination – between high and low, powerful and weak – were abolished. He said:
“You are all servants of one God. None of you is superior to another except in piety and God-consciousness.”
Those who fear God in both public and private are His closest servants. The Prophet ﷺ taught humanity the lesson of equality and compassion – and stamped his teachings with the seal of action. He respected all religions and their followers, encouraged coexistence, and set unmatched examples of human brotherhood. He abolished divisions of race, tribe, and lineage, eradicated slavery and oppressive customs, and established a model for humanity never matched again.
He proclaimed the dignity of humankind, teaching people to value every human life. He revived moral values with permanence. And before presenting this message, he lived it – embodying forgiveness and mercy. He forgave the faults of others, preferred pardon even when able to take revenge, commanded kindness to prisoners, forbade striking children and the elderly even in war, and prohibited the destruction of crops and greenery. In this way, he eliminated all avenues of oppression and corruption. He crushed arrogance, pride, and boastfulness in lineage, and bound humanity firmly to their Creator.
He blocked every road leading to chaos, injustice, and moral corruption. He closed the doors to bloodshed, adultery, and the usurpation of rights. He made human beings truly human again, restraining their descent into savagery.
Today, the world once again stands in dire need of this Final Prophet’s teachings. It must be reminded of the Charter of Humanity he laid down, of the sanctity of human dignity under the shadow of his principles. The world must be offered a remedy that soothes wounds and grants people cool shade to live under.
On this International Day of Peace, it is this very message that must be carried to humanity – this balm for broken and suffering hearts. Only then can the Day of Peace succeed. It cannot remain like artificial flowers that merely look pleasing to the eye. It must be clothed in living action.
