Spreading Peace

03/03/2014

Beautiful are those words which are uttered the moment people meet together; those words, though few, bear a lot of love, amity, cordiality and peace connotations. They are so great that they are mentioned in the Holy Quran where Allah urged that they be used by people and be the salute of the Paradise inhabitants: “Their call therein is, “Glory be to You, our God.” And their greeting therein is, “Peace.” And the last of their call is, “Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.” (Yunus, Verse 10).

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also urged people to spread peace and love as a way to enter the Paradise when he said to his companions: “You will not enter Paradise until you believe and you will not believe until you love each other. Shall I show you something that, if you did, you would love each other? Spread peace between yourselves.” (Sahih Muslim). This approach was adopted by the entire UAE society, which was built on the virtue of spreading peace through exchanging the greeting of Islam.

As soon as he is born, a citizen hears the word “peace” several times a day, whether within the family, among neighbors or on the way to school.  He used to say “Al Salamu Alaikum” to those he knows or those he does not know. So, he grows up, and so does this virtue, which he uses wherever he goes: in his work, among his friends and colleagues and anywhere else.

Regretfully, less people are nowadays committed to this virtue. Nowadays, we say “Al Salam Alaikum” only to those we know, missing the great connotations of the words of peace, which give us peace of mind and a feeling of serenity. Imagine a world of no amity and love because of the absence of peace: How will it be, how will people live in it and what is the law that will govern their relations? There is no doubt that the law of the jungle will then prevail where the strong devours the weak.

This is a call for each colleague in the Emirates Identity Authority and those who read these words: We should all be keen to maintain the commandment of our Prophet by spreading love and peace anywhere and anytime.