Essay on “The key to Peace is Tolerance Anywhere, Everywhere ” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The key to Peace is Tolerance Anywhere, Everywhere 

Outlines : According to Voltaire, ‘Tolerance is a law of nature stamped on the heart of all men”. Nothing could be truer than this statement; tolerance is, indeed, a permanent law of nature. But it is not something which has to be externally imposed, for the human desire for tolerance is limitless. Just as truth and honesty are virtues, so is tolerance a virtue. And thus, as no one ever needs to ask for how long one should remain truthful and honest, so does one think of tolerance as having an eternal value. The way of tolerance should be unquestioningly adopted at times as possessing superior Merit.

A man who is intolerant, is not a human being in the full sense of the expression. To become enraged at antagonism is surely a sign of weakness. Of course, there are many who do not want to recognise the principle of tolerance as being eternal, for, in conditions of adversity, the temptation to retaliate becomes too strong. The feelings of anger which accompany negative reaction must  somehow be vented, and those who think and act in this way a, keen to retain the illusion that, in hitting back, they are not doir anything unlawful. Such thinking is quite wrong. In reality, when a man is enraged at anything which goes against his will, tolerance as a priority becomes paramount. Many men strive to become supermen. Bu4 the true superman is one who, in really trying situations, car demonstrate his super-tolerance. Just any act of antagonism does not give us the licence to be intolerant. Rather, such occasions call for greater tolerance than in normal circumstance. In everyday matters, where there is none of the stress and strain of opposition, no one has difficulty in being tolerant. It is only in extraordinary situations, fraught with conflict, that the truly tolerant man will prove his mettle. One of the stark realities of life is that divergence of views does exist between man and man, and that it impinges at all levels. But at the level of a family or a society, a community or a country, differences are bound to exist everywhere. Now the question is how best unity can be forged or harmony brought about in the face of human differences.

Some people hold that the removal of all differences is the sine qua non for bringing about unity. But, this view is untenable for the simple reason that it is not practicable. You may not lie the thorns which essentially accompany roses, but it is not possible for you to pluck out all the thorns and destroy them completely. For, if you pluck out one, another will grow in its place. Even if you run a bull-dozer over all rosebushes, new plants will grow in their place, bearing roses which are inevitably accompanied by thorns.

In the present scheme of things, roses can be had only by tolerating the existence of thorns. Similarly, a peaceful society can be created only by creating and fostering the spirit of tolerance towards diversities. In this world, unity is achievable only by learning to unite in spite of differences, rather than insisting on unity without differences. For total eradication of differences is an impossibility. The secret of attaining peace in life is tolerance of the disturbing factor.

There is nothing wrong in diversity of opinions. In fact, this is a positive quality, which has many advantages. One advantage flowing from this attitude is that it builds coaracter. If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar toyours, you may

be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if you behave properly with those holding views divergent from you or who criticise you, then you deserve to the credited with having an excellent character. In the same way, a society whose members hold identical views and never have any controversial discussions, will soon find itself in the doldrums. The intellectual development of the members of this society will be frozen, because personal evolution takes place only where the interaction of divergent thinking provides the requisite mental stimuli. The adoption of a policy of tolerance in the midst of controversy in the face of opposition is not a negative step. It is undoubtedly a positive course of action. Divergence of views plays an important role in the development of the human psyche. It is only after running the intellectual gauntlet that a developed personality emerges. If, in a human society, this process ceases to operate, the development of character will come to a standstill.

Nobody in this world is perfect. If a man is endowed with some good qualities, he may be lacking in others. This is one of the reasons for differences cropping up between people. But, for life as a whole, this disparateness is actually a great blessing; the good points of one man may compensate for the shortcomings of another. Just as one set of talents in one man may complement a different set in another. If people could only learn to tolerate other’s differences, their very forbearance would become a great enabling factor in collective human development.

The habit of tolerance prevents a man from wasting his time and talent on unnecessary matters. When negatively affected by another’s unpalatable behaviour, your mental equilibrium is upset, whereas when emotionally untouched by such behaviour, your mind will fully retain its equilibrium, and without wasting a single moment, you will continue to carry, out your duties in the normal way. The policy of tolerance or forbearance enhances your efficiency, while intolerant behaviour reduces it.

Tolerance is not an act of compulsion. It is a positive principle of life, expressing the noble side of a man’s character. The existence of tolerant human beings in society is just like the blooming of flowers in garden.

So far as Islam is concerned, it is an entirely tolerant religion. Islam desires peace to prevail in the world. The Quran calls the

way of Islam ‘the path of peace’. The state of peace can never prevail in a society, if a tolerant attitude de is lacking in the people. Tolerance is the only basis for peace; in  a society where tolerance is absent peace likewise will be non-existent.

Peace is the religion of the universe. Peace should, therefore, be the religion of man too, so that, in the words of Jesus Christ, the will of the Lord may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

In a similar vein, the Quran tells us that : “The sun is not allowed to overtake the moon, nor does the night outpace the day, Each in its own orbit runs”.

When God created Heaven and the Earth, he so ordered things that each part might perform its function peacefully, without clash-ing with any other part. For billions of years, therefore, the entire universe has been fulfilling its function in total harmony with His divine plan.

The universe is following this path of peace—which is known in science as the law of nature, as it is imposed upon it by God, whereas man has to adopt this path of peace of his own free will. This has been expressed in the Quran in these words, “Are they seeking a religion other than God’s, when every soul in Heaven and Earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? To Him they shall all return”.

Peace is no external factor to be artificially imposed upon man. Peace is inherent in nature itself. The system of nature set up by God already rests on the basis of peace. If this system is not disrupted, it will continue to state the course set for it by the Almighty. But the only way to keep humanity on the path of peace is to rid, it of corruption. That is why the Quran enjoins :

“And do not corrupt the land after it has been set in order.”

In order to preserve the peace established by nature from disruption, two important injunctions have been laid down by Islam. cise of patience, and One, at the individual level, stresses the exec the other, at the social level, forbids taking the offensive.

Negative reaction on the part of the individual is the greatest factor responsible for disrupting peace in daily life. It repeatedly happens that in social life one experiences bitterness on account of others. On such occasions, if one reacts negatively, the matter will escalate to the point of a head- on collision. That is why Islam repeatedly enjoins us to tread the path of patience the Quran says,

“Surely, the patient will be paid their wages in full, without measure.”

The reason for the rewards for patience being so great is, that patience is the key factor in maintaining the desired system of God. In the words of the Quran, “the patient man is the helper of God.”

The other injunction, designed to maintain peace in human society, forbids the waging of an offensive war. No one in Islam enjoys the right to wage war against another. There are no grounds on which this could be considered justifiable. There is only one kind of war permitted in Islam and that is a defensive war. If a nation, by deviating from the principles of nature, wages war against another nation, defence in such circumstances, subject to certain conditions, is temporarily allowed.

Peace is basic to all religions. Let us all strive then to establish peace in the world, for that is the bedrock on which all human progress rests.