Voices for Peace

Voices for Peace

Global Peace Campaign

The world is witnessing a deeply distressing conflict in Israel and Palestine that has far reaching implications. The nature of the attacks and the scale of the conflict are gravely concerning as is the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.

His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, has unequivocally condemned Hamas for the killing of innocent civilians and said they were completely against the teachings and principles of Islam. He also condemned the subsequent killing of innocent civilians by Israel, noting that its actions had exceeded all limits. His Holiness underlined the need to end hostilities on all sides with an immediate ceasefire, the need to allow humanitarian aid to reach all in need, and for a lasting peace to be secured based on absolute justice.

His Holiness urged world powers to concentrate their efforts to de-escalate the conflict and work towards a lasting peace that must enable all people in the region, Jews, Christians and Muslims, to live in peace and harmony.

Call to Action

We call for the following urgent actions:

• Ceasefire Now
  • An immediate and comprehensive ceasefire
• Release all hostages
  • All hostages to be released and returned unharmed
• Allow all humanitarian aid
  • Humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach all who need it
• Comply with international law
  • All parties to commit to comply with international laws
• Agree to a lasting peaceful solution
  • World powers to work together to find a lasting solution based on peace and justice so that Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace and security.

Make Your Voice Heard – Write to your Elected Officials:

We call on everyone to write to their legislative representatives and other leaders to call for an immediate ceasefire. Use the following link below to find your local representative and write to them.

Link to find your elected officials

Friday Sermon, Oct 13th 2023

Innocent victims must not be targeted

“For the past few days, a war has ensued between Hamas and Israel. As a result, women, children and the elderly have been killed and are continuing to lose their lives without any distinction.”

“Even in a state of war, Islam does not permit the killing of women, children, elderly and innocent civilians. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) gave strict instructions against doing so… In this recent escalation of the war, Hamas made the first move and attacked Israeli citizens. Leaving aside for a moment the fact that innocent people have been unjustly killed by the Israeli army, Muslims should ensure that they always adhere to the teachings of Islam.”

“Where the Israeli army has carried out injustices, that is on them and there are better and lawful ways to address that. If there is a legitimate state of war, it should be entirely limited to the respective armies and never against innocent women, children, elderly and civilians. In this respect, the action Hamas took must be condemned.”

“Whatever injustice and cruelty Hamas committed, the response to that or war should have been restricted to Hamas. However, the (indiscriminate) response of the Israeli government is extremely dangerous and it seems that this conflict will not end here. In fact, it cannot even be imagined how many innocent women, children, elderly and civilians will lose their lives. The Israeli government has suggested it will destroy Gaza and to this end, they have carried out severe and overwhelming bombardment. They have turned the city to dust. Now the most recent development is that the Israeli Government is telling a million or so people to leave (Northern) Gaza immediately.”

The need to uphold justice and the rule of law

“Thankfully – albeit with much hesitation – the United Nations is, at least, now raising a faint voice in response to this development. They have said it is against human rights and would create huge problems and so Israel should think about their decision. Rather than unequivocally saying that it is wrong, and instead of taking a stronger stance, the United Nations is making mere requests.”

Major powers must support de-escalation

“…it seems that major powers are bent upon inciting war, rather than ending it…An ordinary person cannot even imagine the war that may now ensue as a result of the injustices that have been seen. The major powers know the intensity of the damage it will cause, yet, they are not interested in establishing justice and are unwilling to pay heed.”

Muslims must work together for peace

Muslims must work together for peace “In these circumstances, the Muslims should at least realise their responsibility and should pay heed. They must set aside their differences and must establish their unity. In order to better their relationships with the People of the Book, if Allah has given the commandment to the Muslims to call them towards “a word equal between us and you,” by uniting over the Unity of God, then Muslims who have the same creed, should unite between themselves even more so by setting aside their differences. They should ponder over this and should establish their unity. This is the only way of removing injustice from the world and of fulfilling the obligations of justice and of establishing the rights of the oppressed. In order to do so, the Muslims must raise a strong voice in unison whilst coming together for those that are down trodden across the world.”

“If the Muslims unite and are one, they will have a strong and impactful voice. Otherwise, the Muslim governments would be responsible for the deaths of innocent Muslims. Always keep the saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in mind – and this should be borne in mind by the major powers as well – that we must help both the oppressor and the oppressed.* We must understand the importance of this injunction.”

“May Allah guide the Muslim powers so that they may unite in order to establish true justice. May the major world powers of the world also be granted rightmindedness so that instead of taking the world towards destruction, they try to save it. They should not make it their objective to simply fulfil their selfish desires. They should always remember that if and when there is destruction, the major powers too will not be safe from it.”

*Note: Here, His Holiness referred to the saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one.” People asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)! We understand helping a person if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “By preventing him from oppressing others.”

Critical need for justice

“May Allah enable the major powers to fulfil the obligations of justice on both sides of the conflict in order to establish peace. It should not be that they become lenient towards one side at the cost of the other. May they not increase in injustice and may we come to see peace in the world.”

Friday Sermon, Oct 20th 2023

The need to end injustice and oppression

“At this time, I wish to make an appeal for prayers regarding the current situation in the world. Now, some journalists in the west, or even in America have written in their newspapers, that there should be a limit to revenge. Furthermore, America and other western countries should play their parts in [preventing] the Israel/Hamas War, and try to reconcile or reach a ceasefire. But the authors also write that it seems that, instead of stopping this war, they are hellbent on fanning the flames.

Just the same, it was in the news in America yesterday that one of the top foreign ministers handed in his resignation saying we have crossed the limits, injustice is being done to the innocent people of Palestine, and the world powers should pay heed to this matter. Thus, there are still those who are honourable among these people.

Furthermore, Jewish Rabbis also appear in the media from time to time, speaking in favour [of Palestine] and are condemning the oppression. Russia’s Foreign Affairs minister also stated, that if countries keep behaving in this manner, then this war will spread to the entire region; rather, I think that it will spread to the entire world.”

Muslim countries must unite for peace

“Thus, these people need to come to their senses. As I have said before, the Muslim countries must unite as one, with one voice. If they speak as one voice (it is said that there are 53 or 54 countries,) they will become a powerful force in the world, and they will have a stronger impact, otherwise individual voices here and there are of no consequence. This is one of the ways to establish peace in the world and end this war. Thus, to save the world from destruction, Muslims countries must strive to fulfill their role, may Allah enable them to do so.”

Prayer for peace

“…we must also fervently pray. May Allah end this war and protect the innocent, oppressed Palestinians so that they are not subjected to further injustices, and may Allah end all injustice in the world, wherever it is.”

All we truly have is the weapon of prayer. So, we must pray:

May God grant understanding to the Muslim world, so they do not become responsible for the cruelties inflicted on their own people, nor should they commit injustices against anyone. Enmity for another nation should not lead us away from acting justly. This is God’s command.

May God enable the major powers to establish justice on both sides and thereby establish peace. It should not be that they lean towards one side and thus usurp the rights of the other side. May they not commit injustices and cruelties. May God grant them reason and understanding so that rather than leading the world to destruction, they seek to save the world from destruction.

May God grant Muslim governments reason and understanding and enable them to unite and establish justice.

May God grant us the opportunity to witness peace and security in the world.

Friday Sermon, Oct 27th 2023

Alarming risk of global conflict

“The rate at which the state of war is escalating, and how the Israeli government and other major global powers are adopting certain policies, it’s apparent that a world war is staring us in the face.

Now, even some leaders of Muslim countries have begun to openly state, as have Russia and China, and so too, Western analysts have begun to write and proclaim that the scope of this war seems to be expanding. If wise policies are not immediately adopted, the world will face devastation. All of this is being reported in the media. The (harrowing) state of affairs is in front of you all.”

“For as long as [world leaders] do not courageously strive for a ceasefire, they are invariably responsible for taking the world towards destruction.”

The need for adherence to international law

“Israeli government officials say, ‘Hamas killed our innocents, hence we will seek revenge.’ This ‘revenge’ has now exceeded all limits. The loss of Palestinian lives, as reported, is four to five times greater than the loss of Israeli lives. If their aim is to eliminate Hamas, as they so claim, then they should directly combat them. Why are they killing women, children, and the elderly? They have also deprived people of water, sustenance and medical care. This is where all claims to human rights and rules of warfare cease to exist when it comes to these governments.”

“Indeed, some do draw people’s attention towards this, such as the former US President Obama, who in recent days stated even if one is to wage war, one should fight in accordance with the rules of warfare, and civilians should not be harmed.”

“The UN Secretary-General also spoke in the same vein, whereupon the Israeli government raised an uproar over this. The claimants of peace in the rest of the world, who consider themselves to be those who establish peace and champions thereof, did not utter a word in support of the Secretary-General. Rather, they distanced themselves from it.”

The need for unbiased media

“Western media overly amplifies one side of the story while sidelining the other to the back pages. For example, recently among the women who were freed [by Hamas], one woman said she was treated well in captivity. This story was relegated into a corner, while a statement saying ‘Hamas’ imprisonment was a hell’ is continuously making headlines.”

“True justice requires presenting all affairs. Let the world determine who the oppressor and oppressed are, to what extent this war is warranted and at what point it should end. All the state of affairs should be presented to the world, as opposed to presenting merely one-sided coverage.”

Focus on prayer

“We should lay great focus on our prayers. We should pray for the end to this oppression and strive to end it in our remits…And may He [Allah] bestow wisdom upon the world. Amin.”

Voices for Peace Events

9 Fundamentals of Peace

Learn more about the 9 fundamentals that lead to world peace as presented by the current worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community