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Tuesday July 21, 2009

Use nuclear know-how for peace

IKIM VIEWS
By SUZALIE MOHAMAD, Fellow, Centre of Syariah, Law and Political Science, Ikim.


The use of weapons of mass destruction like nuclear and chemical bombs is prohibited in Islam, and their use must be condemned.

IT IS estimated that are at least 50,000 nuclear bombs in existence in the world today, as well as one million bombs at least as strong as the two dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945.

The two atomic bombs killed about 120,000 people, while many thousands more were wounded or suffered atomic radiation.

It is a well established fact that Islam considers all humanity as one family.

Whenever there is any conflict, the proponents should, and must, find the best solution to settle those conflicts, not by dropping thousands of bombs from the air.

No party has the right to kill the other. All are members of the same family.

Islam is a religion of peace, the word “Islam” being derived from the root word “salama”, which means peace.

Islam encompasses peace in the life of the individual, family and society. Islam stands for peace among people and communities, and peace in the world.

At the same time, Islam is also a religion of strength.

Muslims are aware of the fact that the world is not an ideal world to live in.

Evil and corruption exists in this world. Muslims must always be consistent in preserving themselves from vice.

Islam is not a religion of war. Muslims are prohibited from initiating war unless it is purely in self defence.

Muslims are encouraged to prepare themselves and arm themselves with know-how to safeguard their dignity and interests. Prepa-ration and readiness is crucial to deterring others from taking advantage of one’s weaknesses.

The greatest deterrence to war is strength.

The greatest defence is knowledge.

The state of readiness to defend is stipulated in the Quran, in chapter al-Anfal, verses 60-64, which orders Muslims to be always prepared.

In terms of acquiring strength for self defence through the possession of weapons, Islam does not prohibit it.

Islam is not antithetical to the principle of self defence.

However, in terms of possessing weapons which cause mass destruction, Islam strictly prohibits this, for Allah warns against creating mischief on this earth.

As a matter of fact, Muslims

are commended to make every effort to cater to the people’s welfare.

In relation to this, it was reported that when the Prophet Mohamed would dispatch an army, he would command them: “Do not mutilate anybody, nor kill any minor or woman….”

Similarly, the first Caliph, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, used to say: “Do not mutilate, do not kill a minor, a child or a man of advanced age or a woman, do not hew down a date palm nor burn it, do not cut down a fruit tree, do not slaughter a goat or cow or camel except for food.

“Maybe you will pass by people who have secluded themselves in convents, leave them in their seclusion.”

Nuclear weapons, developed by the West, is an abuse of technology. This technology has been widely exported around the world for huge profits.

The non-proliferation treaty signed after World War II is the manifestation of double standards adopted by the major powers to control the less-developed na-tions.

The use of weapons of mass destruction like nuclear and chemical weapons is prohibited in Islam.

This is due to the nature of these weapons which cannot differentiate between good and evil.

By this principle, the use of such weapons is not justified and must be condemned.

This is substantiated by the ruling in the Quran in chapter al-Isra, verse 33, which strictly prohibits wrongful and unjust killing.

It is acknowledged that reciprocity is a principle known to all members of the international community.

Possession of weapons of mass destruction by one encourages the other to possess such weapons with the intention of inflicting the same consequence.

This will lead to an arms race, and the abuse and smuggling of weapons.

If the international community wishes to rid the world of nuclear catastrophe, all citizens of the world must unite through massive peaceful anti-nuclear demonstrations.

The possession of weapons of mass destruction creates an arms race among nations.

Some nations are pushed, and put under great pressure, to possess such weapons for their own security.

The process must be done justly, in the sense that as the world’s strongest nations lay a ban on the possession of such destructive weapons, we cannot turn a blind eye to those who already possess them and are not ready to get rid of them.

There should be a universal ban on the testing, development and possession of nuclear and all weapons of mass destruction.

All countries including the US, Russia, Britain, France, Israel, China, India and Pakistan and all other declared or undeclared nuclear nations must take the first initiative to destroy these weapons.

Nations of the world must also abide by the rule that nuclear technology is only to be used for humanitarian and peaceful purposes.

Let us unite to heal the world.

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