Peace is a chief social value, which the Qur’an appreciates, along with social justice, and submission to God and worshiping Him. War is initially an implausible situation, which should be invoked only when necessary. Hence, the rule is peace, and war is the exception. Using Muhammad Hussein Tabatabai’s methodology in the interpretation of the Qur'an and his Qur’anic views regarding war and peace, this paper will attempt to show that the Qur’anic picture of war and peace is different from what is commonly supposed by non-Muslims.
This paper will argue that since disagreement on the truth of religion is inevitable and perpetual; since imposition of religion is inconceivable; since the faithful have no responsibility for disbelievers’ choice except clearly delivering God’s Messages to them, and since the faithful are obliged to offer absolute respect to their disputants on the truth of religion, the reasonable way of managing disputes on religion is peaceful interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims. It will be further argued that in addition to the moral principle of peace, there is another ground on the basis of which Muslims are advised to establish peaceful relations with non-Muslims; that is, through making peace contracts. In this way, the principle of peace is reinforced by the duty of respecting peace contracts
