The Path to World Peace

M Rehman, Cheam

At times world peace feels like a distant dream, a fantasy, a vision that seems to fade away as days go by. It is like a dream that humanity desires but is getting increasingly harder to attain. More and more conflicts and disputes arise and less and less of them are being resolved.

There are currently 7.5 billion individuals living on Planet Earth in 195 sovereign countries. Consequently there are 7.5 billion sets of interest that 195 authorities are supposedly fighting for. In light of this, a very simplistic approach to world peace, would be to say ‘Let’s just all agree’, Right?

But even in a small group of, let’s say, five people, not everyone will agree on everything. These five people will have different priorities, opinions and necessities. And it is basic human nature as per evolution to fight for your own survival. Hence each person will argue in their own interest. It is hardly reasonable or even sensible to expect that 195 governments would agree on everything.

To top it off, we live in a constantly evolving world, which comes with a constantly evolving set of issues. To live in an entirely peaceful world, we would have to solve all of our current problems as well as anticipate and prevent future problems. Can we realistically expect all races, religions and cultures to live peacefully side by side? Can we expect the far-right and the far-left to ignore their differences and find a middle ground? Can we even get authorities to accept their mistakes, so that humankind can move on?

Answer….yes. Very difficult, nearly impossible, but attainable, under the following given conditions. All authorities discuss their issues with fair and sincere interests of the parties involved and then unify under one unbiased, faithful and honest leadership. The best living example of this is Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya.

Our Beloved Khalifa, His Holiness, Mirza Masroor Ahmad (May Allah be his Helper) states:

‘‘Development of peace is a major issue in the world of today. Fear and disorder are found all around us. Armament and ways of destruction are common. People are enemies of other people everywhere. Stronger powers are inflicting atrocities on those weaker than themselves. Terrorism is being carried out in the name of stopping terrorism. Media is also playing a major role in spreading fear and disruption. For the Muslims, there is only one way out of this situation; that they stop defaming the name of Islam through their actions. They should embrace the true teachings of Islam, and become united amongst themselves. ‘

His Holiness, in the book ‘World Crisis and Pathway to Peace’, has outlined a way to achieve world peace in three steps.

1) That regardless of religion, individuals should remain loyal to their country and nations.
2) World peace is not as distant as we are led to believe. It is entirely possible if leaders and governments practice absolute justice towards their own people and fellow nations, and completely disregard greed.
3) Show sympathy and compassion towards all human beings, be they your neighbours or other nations. Help one another without expecting any material gains in return.

Greed is an unfortunate part of human nature. It leads to us craving more than others. Consequently, when we are in a position of power, we take what is not ours, because we want it and we can have it. We then forget that we infringe the rights of others and begin to suppress them, we stop practising justice. Then we realise that we have power over them and consider ourselves superior, we stop practising equality. We abuse them and take away their possessions. Eventually, we become inhumane. This results in rebellion, dispute, unrest and ultimately war.

Hence, greed and the lack of justice are interlinked. Together, these are the greatest flaws present in humanity today, which have led to the current state of global unrest. Once we have tackled those, our distant vision of world peace can become an achievable reality, and all 7.5 billion people can live respectively happier lives