Voice of British Muslim Women

Iffat Mirza Rashid, Alton

It’s shocking, really, the amount of resources, money, and attention humans put into developing tools to kill fellow humans. I think what enables this drive for destruction comes partly from the fact that we cannot, or rather do not, humanise each and every victim of war. In fact, we do not truly understand the concept of war itself. 

We are far removed from the horrors of the twentieth-century’s World Wars; most of our memory of these is relegated to Hollywood blockbusters, for whom the reality of war is secondary to plot and entertainment. But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Today, August 29^th is International Day Against Nuclear Tests. According to the United Nations’ website over two thousand nuclear tests have been conducted since 1945, when the first nuclear bomb was created. Two thousand nuclear tests in just 80 years – if we were to spread out each of those tests evenly across the 80 years that’s about one nuclear test every couple of weeks. This can be explained through nothing other than injustice and delusions of grandeur.  

In a society where ‘might is right’, what can be considered mightier than possessing weapons that cannot only kill millions of innocents in an instant, but also ensure that all food, water, and the very earth is contaminated for years to come, not to mention the harm that is brought on to unborn generations.  

As His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (May Allah be his Helper) stated in an address at the occasion of the annual Peace Symposium in 2013, ‘The effects of atomic warfare are beyond our imaginations and will last for generations to come’. Indeed, we have forgotten, or neglected to truly understand, the devastation of nuclear warfare, to the point that we can discuss it too casually, simply because the reality is beyond our imagination. 

In 1945, President Truman of USA gave the go-ahead for the atomic bomb to be dropped on Japanese cities – Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Hiroshima, the initial blast killed approximately 80,000 people, with the death toll reaching 140,000 by the end of 1945. In Nagasaki, around 40,000 people died immediately, and the total death toll was at least 70,000 by the end of the year. 

So then, knowing this, why do we not take the threat of nuclear warfare seriously? From the mushroom clouds decorating video game backdrops to the ticking time bombs of Hollywood blockbusters, the nuclear threat has been commodified and stripped of its reality. Rarely do we pause to consider what those clouds actually represent – millions of innocent lives destroyed and cities turned to rubble, all within seconds. The nine nuclear-armed states collectively possess around 12,500 warheads, many of them far more powerful than the ones that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

The Holy Qur’an reminds us in unequivocal terms, and which is oft-quoted by His Holiness: “Whosoever killed a person – it shall be as if he killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind’.” (5:33) This verse beautifully shows the gravity of killing innocents, and the deep ramifications this has for all of society. For the arrogance that allows one to justify the unjust killing of one, can justify the horror of killing all of mankind. And indeed, the technology is not such that indeed all of mankind can be killed within moments without exaggeration. 

In fact, the existence of nuclear weapons has been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an itself, in Chapter 104, verses 5-10, we read:  

“Nay, he shall be cast into ‘Al-Hutamah’? 

And what should make you know what the ‘Hutamah’ is? 

Which will leap at hearts. 

It will be enclosed against them.  

In extended columns.” 

His Holiness Mirza Tahir Ahmad (May Allah have mercy on his soul), the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Community drew attention to these verses in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge, and Truth.ⁱ He mentioned the intriguing likeness of the Arabic word “hutamah” to ‘atom’. His fascinating and detailed explanation shows how the most intricate details of nuclear arms and their impact from a scientific perspective are summed up in this short Quranic chapter. The ruins that man can bring upon himself have been foretold, but thankfully, the teachings of the beautiful words of Allah also tell us how to try and avert such tragedy. 

As the Holy Qur’an reminds us time and time again, our only defence is to turn towards Allah’s teachings of justice, compassion, and humility to avoid the devastation that mankind will bring onto itself. 

Though today is International Day against Nuclear Tests, it is an important reminder that every day of the year, we must endeavour never let such destruction be a reality again. We simply cannot afford another Hiroshima or Nagasaki.