Bridges, not walls

The pace at which peace is fast disappearing from the world today has caused each sane and sensible person to worry.

This includes religious people, politicians, civil society, and leaders of different countries and institutions. Everyone has valid concerns about peace and stability of the world. Man, who considers himself to be educated and civilized, is reverting to the period of ignorance when personal ego and false pride led people to cut each other’s throats so much so that whole tribes and dynasties indulged in such barbaric acts.

A glance on the current situation of the contemporary world bears witness that, today, the world is riddled with problems; East to West, North to South, everywhere there are countless troubles and difficulties. In brief, every part of this planet is surrounded by huge discomfort. Human beings are suffering through poverty, fighting, killing, unrest, disorder, as well as with social and economical crises. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, famine, lack of food, etc. are also seen in large numbers and on a huge scale.

The year 2010 was one of the exceptional years during the past decades in which more than 295,000 human deaths and a loss of $130 billion was recorded. And a total of 950 natural disasters were recorded, making 2010 the second worst year since 1980.

But, unfortunately, and very amazingly, for man who is already riddled with endless problems, there are certain powers, certain organisations, and certain groups of people who are building walls of hatred. And these walls are getting higher nowadays, even more now than ever before in the history of mankind.

Sometimes people who struggle for their freedom are attacked, sometimes religious places are demolished, sometimes religious books and symbols are dishonoured, sometimes extra burdens are put on the shoulders of people and sometimes false and baseless allegations are raised against sovereign countries and nations, in audience of hundreds of people.

The uprisings in some African and middle-East countries have taken hundreds of innocent lives and the economical loss is not less than millions. Burning of the Holy Quran in Florida, attacks on churches in Indonesia and Pakistan, demonstrations in Afghanistan, political instability in Sierra Leone, suicide bombings in the name of religion, are all worrying aspects of today. These acts will achieve nothing but have caused distress and anger to millions of peace loving persons worldwide.

When one ponders on the current situation, many questions come to mind. Aren’t the walls of hatred already too high? Is there any need to make them even higher? Aren’t bridges, which can unite us, already lacking? Isn’t the world already full of unrest, instability and uncertainty? Aren’t these walls of hatred already causing too much trouble on this planet?

Today the world needs peace, love and brotherhood. The world needs an end to wars. Instead of walls of hatred being erected, we need peace to prevail and for this to occur people of all faiths, countries, nationalities and backgrounds must join together for this noble cause.

“Like for your brother what you like for yourself”: this is a golden principle for establishing peace and tranquility in the world. If everyone tries to abide by this principle, I am pretty sure we can create an atmosphere of serenity throughout the world. This principle uproots all estrangement and feeling of conflict, and sets a system based on equality and justice and discourages double measures. But it is unfortunate that most of the people of our day are engrossed in self-interest and in accumulating every benefit for themselves to the exclusion of others.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”. What beautiful words. Every human being who does his or her best to establish peace has been given assurance that he or she will be blessed by the Almighty Lord. He or she will enjoy the blessings and bounties of God in this world and in the hereafter.

The world cannot afford more uncertainties, so the seeds of hatred, malice and intolerance should not be sowed because they will destroy the peace of the world and will create disorder in the land. The time requires sowing the seeds of love, respect and tolerance, as these values will guarantee the peace, serenity and tranquility of the world.

In brief, building bridges of unity and harmony and demolishing the walls of hatred and malice is need of today’s world.

By: Laiq Ahmed Atif – President Ahmadiyya Jamaat Malta
The Malta Independent: http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=123776