Islam is the religion that calls to peace and urges its followers to help peace prevail. It neither incites violence nor does it stand in favor of terrorism. But when Islam calls to peace, it does not make it an abstract or non-attainable peace. Rather, it sets down strategies that will help the concerned parties reach tangible solutions to their problems.
When it calls Muslims to mediate between conflicting parties, it urges them to work on concrete proposals that will help the parties come to agreement. That’s why we hear the Glorious Qur’an saying: “And if two parties of believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them.” Then in the same verse Allah Almighty specifies the kind of peace He meant “…make peace between them justly, and act equitably. Lo! Allah loveth the equitable.”
This is how Islam views the issue of mediation. Justice should be the driving force in that process; and justice implies neutrality, in the sense that no party should be discriminated against. And when we work on peace, we should bear in mind that what can help that peace materialize is action not vision, we should never neglect any point that acts as bone of contention between the parties, for without solving that point, peace established therein will just be like sleeping while the fire is put on the roof. This typifies the case of Palestinian-Israeli issue and calls to question the proposals recently put forward in this regard.
Reviewing the proposal from an Islamic perspective, Sheikh Faisal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states: “All Muslims, including Palestinians, are not permitted to accept the creation of a provisional state in Palestine because this implies an acceptance of the permanent existence of an Israeli state.
There is a far cry between our view on the issue and that of President Bush and many others. For us, Muslims, it is an indisputable right of the Palestinians to establish their own permanent state that had been in existence before the declaration of the state of Israeli in 1947.
For us, Muslims, right is above might. President Bush calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the lands occupied after 2000. He forgets or tries to forget the lands occupied after 1967. The Israeli authorities were demanded by the Security Council to evacuate those lands. Still, Israel refuses to take heed. He also forgets that before 1947, there was nothing called Israel.
If President Bush forgets these historical facts, we cannot forget that about 5 million Palestinians are dispersed in many countries for more than 50 years. Not forgettable also is the fact that more than two million are living in refugee camps since 1967. With all this in mind, we will keep on calling for removing this aggression and for the return of every Palestinian to his home.”