Islam & Europe - Peace, Identity & Integration — Page 48
48 ISLAM & EUROPE: PEACE, IDENTITY & INTEGRATION a very basic level, Muslims are instructed to greet other people, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, with the words Assalamo Alaikum which mean peace be upon you. This Islamic greeting is a gesture of goodwill, conveying peace and security to the recipient. Indeed, I have seen many non-Muslims, who have Muslim friends or acquaintances, who also choose to greet them in the Islamic way by offering peace of salam. Anyway, it simply cannot be that our faith teaches us to receive every person with a message of peace and security, and at the same time, it requires us to usurp their rights, to oppose them or violently take up arms against them. It is impossible that Islam could have such contradictory teachings. Therefore, let it be clear that all forms of extremism and violence are completely against Islam’s teachings. To understand the true nature of Islam, it is important to reflect upon the time of the Founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When he claimed to be a prophet of God, he and his followers were subjected to relentless and barbaric persecution. A few of the early Muslims were from relatively well-off and well-regarded families, but the vast majority were poorer members of society, including slaves. In order to intimidate and strike fear into them, the disbelievers of Makkah inflicted grievous and brutal cruelties upon them. However, the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) withstood the inhumane treatment and the unrelenting injustices with unparalleled levels of patience