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The Conference of World religions

God in the 21st CenturyGuildhall, 11th February 2014

3THE ConfErEnCE of World rEligions


God in the 21st CenturyGuildhall, 11th February 2014

4 THE ConfErEnCE of World rEligions

For the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘(sa)’ or ‘(saw)’ after the words, holy Prophet’, or the name ‘Muhammad,’ are usednormally in small letters. They stand for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’ meaning ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’.Likewise, the letter ‘as’ or ‘(as)’ after the name of all other prophets is an abbreviation meaning ‘peace be upon him’ derivedfrom ‘Alaihis salatu wassalam’ which are words that a Muslim utters out of respect whenever he or she comes across thatname. The abbreviation ‘ra’ or ‘(ra)’ stands for ‘raziaallahu ta’ala anhu’ and is used for Companions of a Prophet, meaningAllah be pleased with him or her (when followed by the relevant Arabic pronoun). Finally ‘rh’ or ‘(rh)’ for rahemahullahuta’ala means the Mercy of Allah the exalted be upon him.

in keeping with current universal practice, local transliterations of names of places are preferred to their anglicisedversions, e.g. Makkah, instead of Mecca, etc.

note about references


in 2013, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community celebrated its centenary of itsestablishment in the uK. over the past century, the Ahmadiyya Muslimcommunity has played an active part in local and national events. it has thedistinction of building London’s first mosque which was opened in 1926. thehistoric Fazl Mosque in Putney, also known as the London Mosque, (picturedbelow) has hosted numerous visits from national and international dignitariesand to this day it remains a vibrant centre for the community and a house ofpeace for all. during the centenary year, the community organised a numberof events to mark this historic milestone. the Conference of World religionswas the final major event to commemorate the centenary.

The London Mosque, 1926 The London Mosque, 2013

1913-2013: Centenary Celebrations

inTrodUCTion

introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Background .............................................................................................................................................. 9

An overview of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community..................................................................... 10

the Khalifa of islam: A Man of Peace ................................................................................................ 12

ConfErEnCE of World rEligions

About the Conference ............................................................................................................................ 14

‘God in the 21st Century’: Keynote Address by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community ............................................................................ 15

inTrodUCTion And gUEsT spEAkErs

rafiq Hayat – national President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community uK .................................. 25

rabbi professor daniel sperber – representative of the Chief rabbi of israel .................... 26

Archbishop kevin Mcdonald – Catholic Church uK ................................................................. 28

sheikh Moafaq Tarif – Spiritual Leader of the druze Community in israel ............................ 30

rabbi Jackie Tabick – Co-President of the World Congress of Faiths ...................................... 31

Mr Umesh Chander sharma – Chairman of the hindu Council uK ....................................... 32

dr katrina lantos-swett – Vice-Chair of the united States Commission on international religious Freedom ......................................................................................................... 33

rt Hon Baroness Warsi – Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth office and the department for Communities and Local Government ...................................................35

Baroness Berridge – Chair of the uK All-Party Parliamentary Group for international religious Freedom .................................................................................................................................. 37

HE prof. kwaku danso-Boafo – the high Commissioner for Ghana – on behalf of Al-hajj Baba Kamara, Special representative of the President of Ghana ....................................... 38

rt Hon dominic grieve QC Mp – the Attorney General ......................................................... 39

geshe Tashi Tsering - representative of his holiness, the dalai Lama .................................. 40


ConTEnTs

pHoTos

Meeting with some guests and presentation of gifts to the speakers ............................................ 52

MEssAgEs of sUpporT

hrh Queen elizabeth ii ....................................................................................................................... 45rt hon david Cameron, the Prime Minister ................................................................................... 46Cardinal Peter turkson – the Vatican................................................................................................ 47his holiness the dalai Lama ............................................................................................................... 48the Archbishop of york ......................................................................................................................... 49he John Kufour, Former President of Ghana ................................................................................... 50James Brokenshire MP, Minister for Security .................................................................................... 51Lord Alton, Vice-Chair of the All-Parliamentary Group on international Freedom of religion ................................................................................................................................................ 52rt hon Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the home Affairs Select Committee .......................................... 52

ExHiBiTion in gUildHAll .................................................................................................... 53

THE 1924 ConfErEnCE of soME rEligions ................................................................. 54

ABoUT gUildHAll ....................................................................................................................... 60



introduction

For all the achievements and progress of the past century, the world has becomeincreasingly divided and restless with hostilities and conflicts ever-present. The strugglefor supremacy of world powers and the spiralling threat of extremism are playing havocwith the world as it lurches perilously from one crisis to the next.

in such a scenario, where political solutions appear to be lacking, does religion haveanything to offer? religion is often accused of being the reason rather than the remedyfor injustice and unrest and is deemed incapable of providing robust solutions to thecomplex challenges of the modern world. So can religion respond to the challenge andenable mankind to achieve peace in the world today? Can it deliver peace that isdesirable, achievable and sustainable? Can it inspire real progress in the real world?Can it offer real hope?

The rise of atheism and religious extremism has seen God relegated from modern lifebut there are emerging voices that are advocating with clarity and conviction, that it isonly by turning back to God and his teachings that mankind can truly tackle the rootcauses that are undermining world peace. They contend that through its commonmoral framework religion and faith can act as a powerful force in uniting people acrosscontinents and cultures by focusing on our shared values.

The Conference of World Religions provided a unique platform for international faithleaders to bring to the fore the distinctive contribution that faith can make and providea compelling, cohesive and comprehensive mandate for peace which the world sodesperately needs.

“We should utilise all of our resources and capabilities to foster a better society,to help God’s Creation and to spread love, affection and peace at every level.The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establish peace and faithin God.”(his holiness hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, head of the WorldwideAhmadiyya Muslim Community and Keynote Speaker at the conference)

holding and participating in conferences that promote a greater understanding of faithsis a tradition of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. in 1897 hazrat Mirza GhulamAhmad(as), the founder of the community, wrote to her Majesty Queen Victoria that sheshould hold a conference of religions. he wrote:

“This conference should be of a broader scope than that held by the Caesar of romeas our honoured empress has a higher status than the roman emperor. Anadditional reason for this request is that since the people of this country have cometo know of the Conference of religions in America, naturally hearts are excitedthat your Majesty should also arrange such a conference in London so that, due tothis event, groups of loyal subjects in this country and their leaders and scholarsmay meet your Majesty at the capital; and so that your Majesty’s eyes may also fallon the thousands of loyal subjects of British india, and respected citizens of indiabe seen in the streets and boulevards of London for a few weeks. it will be necessarythat every participant present his faith’s excellences and not malign others. if sucha conference takes place, it will be a legendary spiritual event from our honouredQueen; and england, which has been fed with islamic matters incorrectly, will beintroduced to the true face of islam. in this way, the people of england will beapprised of the true philosophy of every religion…

…Therefore, it is highly desirable that for the good of humanity a conference ofreligions be held by the empress of india to disseminate the reality of religions.”(Tohfa-e-Qasiariyyah, p.26, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – The Promised Messiah(as)).

9

Background

THE ConfErEnCE of World rEligions

in 1924, a Conference of World religions was held in London and the thenhead of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was a speaker at that conference(see page 54). The conference, held in Guildhall in 2014 continues the traditionof the community and featured his holiness hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad,the head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community, as the keynotespeaker.

the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a globalMuslim community that has evolved fromhumble beginnings into one of the world’s mostdynamic spiritual, social and humanitarianmovements. Founded in 1889 in the remotevillage of Qadian, india, it is the only islamicorganisation to believe that the long-awaitedmessiah has come in the person of hazrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad (peace be upon him).

Prophecies relating to the advent of such areformer are found in several religions, however,a multitude of reformers would create confusion.For true peace to prevail such prophecies mustrefer to the advent of a single reformer whowould unite mankind under a single message ofpeace through the revival of islam, as itsteachings are timeless and, uniquely, they upholdand encompass the truth of all previous religions.

the divine mission of the Promised Messiah(peace be upon him) was therefore not to bringa new faith or scripture but to revive the beautyof religious harmony as perfected in islam. hevigorously championed islam’s peaceful teach-ings and divested islam of fanatical beliefs. this,he argued was the true islam as taught by theholy Qur’an and as reflected in the noble life ofthe founder of islam, the holy Prophet

Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah beupon him).

hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed underdivine guidance that he was that reformer whowas promised for the latter days in fulfilment ofthe prophecies in islam relating to the PromisedMessiah and imam Al-Mahdi (i.e the GuidedLeader) as well as the prophecies relating to thesecond spiritual coming of Jesus, Krishna,Buddha (peace be on them all) and otherprophets of Allah.

the Community now spans 206 countries witha membership of tens of millions and it seeks topromote the peaceful message of islam with anemphasis on belief in God, prayer and service tohumanity.

the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is theleading islamic organisation to categoricallyreject terrorism. the Promised Messiah (peacebe upon him) emphatically declared that anaggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place inislam. he taught his followers to wage anintellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend islam. tothis end, he penned more than 80 books,delivered hundreds of lectures and engaged inscores of public debates. his rigorous and rational


An overview of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

defence of islam unsettled conventional Muslimthinking. As part of its effort to revive islam, theCommunity continues to spread islam’s teachingsof moderation and restraint in the face of bitteropposition from the Muslim world.

Similarly, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community isthe only islamic organisation to endorse aseparation of mosque and state. over a centuryago, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him)taught his followers to protect the sanctity ofboth religion and government by becomingrighteous souls as well as loyal citizens. hecautioned against irrational interpretations ofQur’anic pronouncements and continuallyvoiced his concerns over protecting the rights ofGod’s creatures.

this is the islam that was propounded by theholy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessingsof Allah be upon him).

the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continuesto advocate for universal human rights, itchampions the empowerment and education ofall, men and women, and it promotes theconcepts of loyalty, freedom, equality, respectand peace for all.


‘‘I proclaim to all Mus-lims, Christians, Hin-dus and Aryas that Ihave no enemy in theworld. I love mankindwith the love a compas-sionate mother has forher children; even moreso. I am only the enemyof the false doctrineswhich kill truth.Human sympathy ismy duty.”

hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

(The Promised Messiah)


hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was elected as thefifth Khalifa of the worldwide Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity in 2003.

his holiness inspires his community to servehumanity with the spirit of kindness and humilitythat is integral to islam. in accordance with theteachings of islam he upholds the honour of allprophets of God and highlights the role of religionin the promotion of peace.

his holiness has delivered addresses at the houseof Commons, Capitol hill and the europeanParliament and also written to world leaders

urging them to inculcate a true sense of justice andpeace in international relations to avoid regionalconflicts from engulfing the entire world.

“...it is the duty of all powers to fulfil therequirements of justice and to unite together.All parties need to increase dialogue and openthe lines of communication so that they canpeacefully discuss the best means to solve theproblems of the world. These steps arenecessary so that global peace can beestablished. It is my prayer that Allah grantsthe people of the world the ability to do this.”(national Peace Symposium 2013)

The khalifa of islam: A Man of Peace


“the Qur’an teaches that wherever and whoever counsels you towards goodness and virtue, youshould accept it, and wherever and whoever counsels you towards sinful or unjust behaviour, youshould reject it...” (Capitol Hill, 27th June 2012)

“this was perfectly illustrated by the holy Prophetsa when he famously said a black person is notsuperior to a white person and nor is a white person superior to a black person. neither is a europeangreater or superior to any other national, nor are Africans, Asians or the people of any other part ofthe world. differences of nationality, colour or ethnicity act merely as a form of identity andrecognition..” (European Parliament, 4th December 2012)

“the holy Qur’an states that one of the Attributes of God Almighty is ‘Salam’ which means he is ‘TheSource of Peace.’ it follows that if God truly is the ‘Source of Peace’ then his peace should encompassall of his Creation and all of mankind, rather than be limited to a specific group of people.” (House ofCommons, 11th June 2013)



The worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Fifth Successor to the PromisedMessiah (peace be upon him), hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his helper) delivered thekeynote address at the historic ‘Conference of World religions’ on 11 February 2014.

The conference was organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the uK, as part of its centenarycelebrations, at the famous Guildhall in the City of London. The theme of the much anticipated eventwas ‘God in the 21st Century’. Around 500 delegates attended the conference, including faith leadersfrom various countries, politicians, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, academicsand representatives of various nGos.

The conference also received messages of support from:

❚ her Majesty Queen elizabeth ii. ❚ his holiness the dalai Lama. ❚ Prime Minister david Cameron.❚ his excellency John Kufuor – former President of Ghana. ❚ his excellency, John dramani Mahama – President of Ghana.

dignitaries and faith leaders who spoke at the event included:

❚ Archbishop Kevin Mcdonald – Roman Catholic Church.❚ rabbi Professor daniel Sperber – Representative of the Chief Rabbi of Israel. ❚ Sheikh Moafaq tarif – Spiritual Head of the Druze Community in Israel.❚ umesh Sharma – Chairman of the Hindu Council UK.❚ dr Katrina Lantos-Swett –Vice-Chair United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.❚ rt. hon dominic Grieve QC MP – Attorney General.❚ Baroness Berridge – Chair of the UK Parliamentary Group on International Religious Freedom or Belief. ❚ rt. hon Baroness Warsi – Senior Minister of State at the Foreign Office.❚ rabbi Jackie tabick – Joint President of the World Congress of Faiths.❚ his excellency Professor Kwaku danso-Boafo – High Commissioner of Ghana.❚ Geshe tashi tsering – Representative of the Dalai Lama.

The transcript of the keynote address delivered by his holiness, Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah behis helper), is now presented.

“Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim - in the name ofAllah, the Gracious, ever Merciful.

All distinguished guests – Assalamo Alaikum WaRahmatullahe Wa Barakatohu – peace andblessings of Allah be upon you all.

First of all i would like to take this opportunity tothank all of the distinguished guests for attendingthis event. i would particularly like to express mygratitude to the eminent guest speakers, who in avery short space of time, have outlined their beliefsand views. i fully understand that to fully explainone’s beliefs in such a short period of time isimpossible and so perhaps our distinguishedguests will have been unable to discuss everythingthat they would have liked.

nonetheless, the fact that the people of differentbackgrounds have gathered together this eveningupon one platform proves that we, who are thefollowers of various religions, are united by acommon desire and objective. And that commonobjective is to work towards improving the livesof the Creation of the Creator of the heavens andthe earth – amongst whom human beings havebeen deemed to be the very highest form.

over the course of the past year, various eventshave been held to mark and celebrate theCentenary of the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity in the united Kingdom, but today’sevent is the best of all. it is an excellent means ofproviding a common platform for people to cometogether to discuss the importance of God in


Keynote Address by the head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Godin the 21st Century

hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

these times. thus, those who have arranged thisevent are deserving of our thanks and gratitude. iam personally particularly grateful becausethrough this evening’s event i have beenintroduced to many new people.

these sentiments of gratitude i feel actually turnmy attention towards that God, Who accordingto the teachings of my religion has commandedman to show gratitude to his fellow man whereverit is due. thus, if someone is kind to you it isnecessary to express your appreciation to them,because being grateful to man is an essentialrequirement of being grateful to God Almighty. itis this perception and portrayal of God that islamprovides. Certainly, if a person who follows thetrue teachings of islam and who truly believes inGod were to act upon just this one teaching withsincerity, he would find that his gratitude wouldbe a means of spreading love and affection insociety, just as a blossoming flower spreads beautyand fragrance amongst its surroundings regardlessof which century this is being spread in.

if every single one of us were to act in this way we

would find that the burning hatreds and conflictsof the world that emerge at different times, indifferent ways and on different occasions wouldall be buried once and for all and would bereplaced by love and peace at all times and at allplaces.

Some people may think what i am saying is ratheridealistic and impossible to practically achieve.yet, when we look at the long history of religionswe come to realise that such a compassionate andcaring society is exactly what God desires.

God wills that mankind achieves these nobleobjectives and reaches such a moral pinnacle. it isfor these reasons that God has continually senthis prophets and righteous representatives to allparts of the world. they have been sent in orderto reform mankind and to develop a spirit ofmutual love, compassion and brotherhoodamongst all people. God sent his representativesso that people would be drawn towards fulfillingthe rights of God Almighty and discharging therights of one another.


...if someone is kind to you it is necessary to express your appreciation to them,because being grateful to man is an essential requirement of being grateful toGod Almighty. It is this perception and portrayal of God that Islam provides.

God’s Prophets and chosen people were able toform around themselves a community of suchpeople who strived to lead their lives according tohis teachings, whilst those who did not acceptthem invariably met a sorry fate. Whenever Godsent his representatives they were not universallyaccepted and there were people who opposedreligion and dissented. they would say that theclaimant was merely trying to instil fear into thepeople and that in reality there was no need tobelieve in a God who was said to be the Possessorof all Powers. yet, those very people who deniedGod and who opposed the Prophets wereultimately always destroyed.

the holy Qur’an recounts the incidents of suchpeople who moved far away from God Almightyand consequently became embroiled in varioustrials and tribulations and were ultimately leftruined. Conversely, those who established a closeunion with God were successful and alwaysproved to be victorious. Such narrations are givennot only in the Qur’an, but in the scriptures ofother religions as well. upon reading or hearingthese accounts we are forced to consider andquestion, whether these stories are just myths andfables or are they steeped in reality? did thoseconsequences that God’s chosen people warnedabout actually come to occur? Were the signsfulfilled that God’s representatives proclaimed?did God Almighty reward and bestow hisbounties on his chosen ones? As a result of theteachings of the Prophets, did people whobelieved in God come to walk upon a path pavedwith love and compassion for others?

in this short time, i cannot explain each individualissue in depth, but i can attest to the fact that thehistory of religion proves that the answer to all ofthese questions is most certainly ‘yes’. the holyScripture that i believe in, the holy Qur’an, clearlyinforms us that all of these things are true and thatGod Almighty sends his prophets with a missionto inculcate the very highest possible standards ofspirituality in mankind by forming a close union

with God. through that union man comes to fulfilnot only the rights of God, but also by displayingthe very highest moral standards they are led tofulfilling the due rights of God’s Creation. And asi said earlier, amongst God’s Creation it is humanbeings who have been deemed to be the very bestby God Almighty. Both of these fundamentalteachings are such that if they are established inany society, the people who abide by them will notonly attain the pleasure of God, but will also bethose who spread love, affection and brotherhood.

According to my beliefs as a Muslim, Allah theAlmighty sent the holy Prophet Muhammadsa forthe reformation of the entire world and to instilthese paramount objectives amongst mankind. inhis efforts to reform, he preached this divinemessage constantly and would strive endlessly,day and night. his efforts were not limited topreaching but rather each and every night hewould bow down before his Lord in prayer,weeping with such anguish and heartache that theplace where he prostrated would becomesubmerged in tears.

What was it that the holy Prophetsa prayed for soearnestly? it was not for his personal wealth orpower. it was not to usurp any government oradministration.

rather, his every prayer was consumed by uttertorment beseeching his Lord that why peoplewere not spiritually and morally reforming. Whydid they refuse to abandon their cruelties? Whywere they unwilling to forsake wrongdoing andevil? And because of all of this why were theythrowing themselves into an abyss of destruction?the holy Prophet’ssa agony and anguish was sodeep and his state of anxiety and despair was sogreat, that in the Qur’an Allah addressed himdirectly, asking if he would grieve himself to deathbecause they did not listen or heed his message.1

however, God Almighty is he Who listens toearnest and heartfelt prayers and so he answered


those prayers of the holy Prophet Muhammadsa.history testifies to the fact that those very peoplewho were ignorant and uncivilised, drunkards,fornicators, gamblers, thieves and involved in alltypes of vices, came to rid themselves of all ofthese evils and replaced them with the mostmagnificent moral values instead. those verypeople were transformed. those very peopledeveloped an unbreakable bond with GodAlmighty. never could any worldly power havebrought about such a spiritual revolution.

in worldly terms the early Muslims were veryweak, and even if the Muslims did gain any power,it was at a much later time. during that initialperiod they remained poor, destitute and withoutmeans, yet due to their passionate and sincere faithand their close relationship with God they wereever ready to sacrifice their lives for his sake. theydeveloped the highest standards of sacrifice andsuch an ardent desire to serve mankind that theywere ready to hand over all of their possessionsand whatever they had in their homes for the sakeof helping other people.

if we compare and contrast the lives of thosepeople before and after they came to believe inGod, there can be no doubt of the greattransformation and metamorphosis thatoccurred in their hearts, which was entirely dueto having gained knowledge and understandingof God. those very people came to witness theclear signs of God’s help. the spiritualrevolution that occurred was not the result ofchance or due to a desire to achieve any worldlygoal; rather, they witnessed and saw forthemselves that the sentiments of love in theheart of the holy Prophetsa towards otherpeople were unparalleled.

even islam’s most bitter and ferocious foes werecompelled to accept this fact. they were witnessesto the truth that the holy Prophetsa responded totheir brutality, hatred and vicious assaults withnothing but forgiveness, mercy and compassion.they were witnesses to the truth that when theholy Prophetsa gained victory over the swornenemies of islam, who in the past had left no stoneunturned in their efforts to destroy the religion,he responded with peace and forgiveness by


saying to them: I have no personal enmity towardsyou. I do not wish to take any revenge for the crueltiesand persecution that you inflicted upon us in the past.As long as you guarantee that you will live peacefullyyou are free to remain in Makkah. You will not betreated cruelly or unjustly as a result of your religiousdifferences or beliefs.

When the countless enemies of islam observedthis incomparable example of benevolence, theyhad no option but to acknowledge it. to give justone example: upon seeing the conduct of theholy Prophetsa an opponent of islam callediqrama who had committed monumentalcruelties against the Muslims, instinctively saidthat only a person who was truly from God andwhose love for mankind was peerless could act insuch a compassionate way. Seeing the example ofthe holy Prophetsa those enemies of islam cameto repeatedly and openly proclaim that the lawrevealed to him was unquestionably true and thatthe title the Qur’an had conferred upon him asbeing a ‘mercy for all mankind’ was entirelyjustified.

they acknowledged that from every organ, everypore and every fibre of his body gushed forth aspring of mercy and compassion for humanity.they openly affirmed that the holy Prophet’ssa

every act was an example of the very higheststandards of mercy and proved the truthfulness ofthe Word of God. in light of these compassionateteachings one question or allegation couldpotentially be raised, and indeed, is regularlyinvoked by some non-Muslims. the allegation isthat if islam does teach Muslims to show love andsympathy towards others and if the holy Prophetsa

truly was the ‘mercy for all of mankind,’ then whywere religious wars fought? to understand thisquestion you must be acquainted with the trueearly history of islam and keep in mind twoimportant points.

Firstly, history testifies to the fact, which evenimpartial non-Muslim orientalists recognise, thatin the early years after the holy Prophetsa madehis claim, he and his followers were subjected tothe most barbaric and horrific persecution inMakkah by those who were either not religious orwere idol worshippers. indeed many companions


of the holy Prophetsa including men, women andchildren, lost their lives. to give just one exampleof the brutal nature of the opposition: there wereinstances of Muslim women having each of theirlegs tied to a different camel and then the camelswere made to run in opposing directions, so thatthe bodies of the Muslim ladies were literallywrenched apart and split asunder into two pieces.

in fact, there is a very long list of atrocities thatoccurred but i am unable to mention them allhere. yet, despite enduring such inhumane andsavage cruelty the Muslims did not seek any formof revenge, either openly or in secret. rather, afteryears of facing sustained and bitter persecution theholy Prophetsa and most of his companionsmigrated from Makkah. Some of the Muslimswent to live in the city of Madinah, whilst sometravelled to other places. in Madinah, where theholy Prophetsa migrated, a large number of peoplehad come to accept islam. however thedisbelievers of Makkah could not bear to see thatthe Muslims were now living peacefully and hadbecome well settled.

thus, just 18 months after migration theyattacked the Muslims of Madinah with an army of1000 extremely well-equipped soldiers. incomparison the Muslim army was made up of just300 people bearing almost no weaponry; just ahandful of swords and arrows. if the relative meritsof the two armies is assessed then there is nodoubt that the best option for the Muslims wouldhave been to retreat and save themselves, ratherthan to stand up and defend themselves. however,at that time, Allah the Almighty finallycommanded the holy Prophetsa to fight back.this is mentioned in Chapter 22, Verses 40-41 ofthe Qur’an, where Allah says:

‘Permission to fight is given to those against whomwar is made, because they have been wronged —and Allah indeed has power to help them —those who have been driven out from theirhomes unjustly only because they said, ‘our Lord

is Allah’ — And if Allah did not repel some menby means of others, there would surely have beenpulled down cloisters and churches andsynagogues and mosques, wherein the name ofAllah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surelyhelp one who helps him. Allah is indeedPowerful, Mighty—’

From these verses it becomes clear that whenthose who had been remorselessly targeted weregiven permission to fight it was given in order tonot only defend themselves but in order tosafeguard all religions. And so the second reasonpermission for war was granted was that if theoppressors had not been forcefully repelled thenthe enemies of religion would not have letChristians live in peace, nor Jews, nor Muslimsand nor the people of any other religion. the truthwas that these opponents of islam wished toeliminate all peace-loving people and insteadengulf the world in strife and disorder for theirown personal gains.

it was upon this background that Allah told theMuslims to not be afraid and that the powerfulMakkan army would be defeated because Allah’shelp was with the Muslims. history testifies tothe fact that with the help of God, the few andentirely ill-equipped Muslims were able to defeattheir opponents who had wished to destroy thepeace of the world. Where on the one hand thiswas a victory for islam, it was also a timelesstriumph for every person who desires for peace tobe established in the world. it was a victory forevery person who desires for human values toalways be preserved and it was a victory for allpeople who believe religion to be a force for goodand for establishing peace in the world.

during the life of the holy Prophet Muhammadsa

and during the respective eras of his four Khalifahs(the rightly Guided Successors), history testifiesto the fact that the wars fought by the Muslimswere only fought to end cruelty and to establishpeace in the world. they were never fought as a


means of inflicting cruelty, injustice or terrorism.When the era of the Khilafat of the rightlyGuided Successors came to an end, in its place aform of monarchy was established. regrettably,during that era the majority of wars were foughtfor political or worldly reasons. however, it mustbe made clear that those wars fought to expandkingdoms and to increase power were not in anyway fought in accordance with the teachings ofislam as taught by the holy Qur’an.

in a similar vein, the actions of Muslimgovernments or opposition rebel groups todaycannot be said to reflect or represent the teachingsof islam in any shape or form. i say without anyhesitation that the acts of certain extremistMuslims today, which they conduct in the nameof islam, are actually only serving to defame islamand religion itself. if people follow such a religiousideology it is quite clear that religion or Godcannot play a positive role in establishing peace inthe world. indeed, we would have to admit thatthose people who say that religion has been acause of spreading disorder in the world have beenproved correct.

however, my faith in my religion increases wheni read the prophecies and guidance of the Qur’anand of the holy Prophetsa about the latter days.Both the Qur’an and the holy Prophetsa

prophesied that a time would come whenMuslims would forget the true teachings of islamand would not follow the Qur’an. they furtherprophesied that those Muslims, who would callthemselves religious clerics and leaders, would inreality be the source of strife, corruption anddisorder. this is exactly what we are witnessingtoday. As i have said when i observe all of this, myfaith does not diminish but rather increases.

i do not become frustrated and nor do i lose hope,because where the Qur’an and the holy Prophetsa

prophesied about the dire state of today’s world,they also gave glad tidings that for sake of revivingtrue islam, a person would be sent from amongst

the Muslims who would be the Promised Messiahand the Imam Mahdi (the Guided one). hewould be sent to end all religious wars, and atevery level of society would transform all forms ofcruelty into peace and harmony. he would worktirelessly to fulfil these noble objectives and wouldinfuse the true spirit of islam amongst hisfollowers. that true spirit has been outlined in thefollowing verse of the Qur’an where it says:

‘o ye who believe! Be steadfast in the causeof Allah, bearing witness in equity; and letnot a people’s enmity incite you to actotherwise than with justice. Be always just,that is nearer to righteousness. And fearAllah. Allah is aware of what you do’.2

thus, this verse outlines the necessity for alwaysbeing fair and just. the standard of justicerequired is that even if you have to testify againstyourself, your parents or your loved ones, youmust do so3 without hesitation, because suchjustice is a guarantor for establishing peace. thisis the standard that Allah the Almighty has taughtin the Qur’an; but the question is whether such ahigh standard can ever really be achieved? As imentioned earlier, the Qur’an and the holyProphetsa prophesied that a time of disorder, chaosand corruption would befall the world and we cansee with our own eyes the way in which this hasbeen fulfilled to the letter. indeed, it is a greatproof that the truthful Word of God has beenclearly manifested. in the same way, along with therevival of the faith, which is to occur through thePromised Messiah and Mahdi, this perfectstandard of justice will also be established in theworld whereby the enmity of a nation will notprove an obstacle in the establishment of justice.

We, Ahmadi Muslims, are fortunate that we notonly have faith in these prophecies, but we alsohave a firm belief that the person who was to besent by God Almighty has come in the person ofour Community’s Founder, hazrat Mirza GhulamAhmadas of Qadian. We further believe that the


task of reviving islam, which was started by thePromised Messiahas, is continuing todaythrough the institution of Khilafat – that is thesystem of spiritual succession. the truth of thePromised Messiahas was proved through God’shelp and support and countless divine signs inhis favour.

one of the signs was an increase in earthquakesand other natural disasters resulting from thefact that mankind had forgotten its Creator andbecause of the widespread disorder and strife inthe world. history proves that the numbers ofnatural disasters in the past century hasexceeded those of previous centuries. Anothersign was a prophecy by the Promised Messiahsa

relating to the downfall of the tsar of russia. itwas prophesied that due to the tsar’s brutalities,he would be stripped of his title and reign. Ashistory shows, this also came true. A thirdprophecy was about the world wars. We havewitnessed two World Wars. if we do not mendour ways and recognise our Creator we willwitness more of such wars and their horrificconsequences. All these prophecies prove thathe was a warner from God sent to reform manand bring him towards the right path.

Further, it is quite clear that without the help ofGod, a claimant from a small and remote villagein india could not have become renowned

throughout the world. And following hisdemise, without God’s help he could not haveleft behind such a flourishing Community. ACommunity which, due to being firmly attachedto the institution of Khilafat, was furthering hismission throughout the world, which was todevelop a relationship between mankind andGod Almighty and of fulfilling the rights ofmankind whilst upholding the very higheststandards of justice. the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity has very limited resources and sowithout God’s help its message could not havespread to the corners of the world.

thus, where on the one hand this all proves theexistence of God, on the other it shows that theAhmadiyya Muslim Community has beenfirmly blessed with divine help and support.today, it is the members of the AhmadiyyaCommunity who are making great financialsacrifices in an effort to help others and are evensacrificing their lives in an effort to establish andmaintain peace in the world. in some countriesour Community is severely persecuted and themost horrific cruelties are perpetrated againstus, but we do not react or retaliate in any waythrough which the peace of society could be putat any risk.

this is undoubtedly because we act upon thedivine teachings of the Qur’an which were



perfectly outlined and explained by the Founderof our Community. And so it is my prayer thatthe world comes to understand the need of thetime. i hope and pray that we, who are therepresentatives of different faiths and religions,and who have gathered here today to parti-cularly demonstrate these loving teachings, allstrive towards worshipping the one God, bytreating his Creation with justice and byfulfilling their due rights. Certainly, these are theoriginal teachings of all religions.

We should utilise all of our resources andcapabilities to foster a better society, to helpGod’s Creation and to spread love, affection andpeace at every level. the urgent and critical needof the world today is to establish peace and faithin God. if the world understood this reality thenall countries, whether large or small, would not,in the name of defence spending, allocatemillions and billions of dollars to expand theirmilitary capabilities. rather, they would spendthat wealth to feed the hungry, to provideuniversal education and to improve the livingstandards of the developing world.

if we assess today’s world in a fair manner thenwe must accept that even the economies of thedeveloped world have become uncertain andunstable. the spending power of the membersof the public has vastly diminished. even herein the Western or developed world, interviewsare shown on television where it is said that inthe past families used to be able to eat outregularly, but never mind eating out, now theyare even forced to go hungry at home onoccasions. it is simply not possible for them toeat and live as comfortably as before and thereason for this is that countries are prioritisingtheir defence and military budgets over theirsocial welfare budgets. there is a greater desireto send armies to foreign countries thousandsof miles away and to send weapons rather thanpaying attention to alleviating the problems onone’s own doorstep and of solving the problemsof a nation’s own people.

thus, disorder is not being spread by religion, butit is actually being spread as a result of politicalgames and ambitions and the fact that peoples andnations are seeking to assert their superiority overone another. thus, it is the urgent need of the timethat all people and all nations pay heed to this;otherwise the world stands on the brink of anunimaginable destruction. Some of thedestruction we see in the world today is self-inflicted, whilst some is due to the horrificconsequences of natural disasters.

And so in order to protect ourselves and to savemankind we need to turn towards God Almightyand we need to attach ourselves to the Living GodWho did not forsake the Prophet Mosesas and hispeople and nor did he forsake the Prophet Jesusas

and his disciples. nor have true Muslims beendeprived from attaining the blessings of God andseeing their prayers accepted.

these are not old stories or myths of the past butin fact God is an ever-Living God Who is alivetoday. the Promised Messiahas has taught us thatGod continues to speak to his righteous peopleand shows them his true signs. hence, it is ourduty to pay heed to the words of the reformer ofthe Age and recognise our God in the true spirit.We bear witness that God did show his signsthrough the Promised Messiahas and continues todo so today.

At the end i would like to say that instead of layingthe blame for our mistakes upon God and uponour religions, we should take a look in the mirrorand assess our own shortcomings.

With these words, i would like to once again thankall of the guests for taking the time to come andlisten to what i have said today. thank you verymuch.”

references1. the holy Qur’an, Ch.18:V.7.2. the holy Qur’an, Ch.5:V.9.3. the holy Qur’an, Ch.4:V.36.

rafiq Hayat – introductionAmir (National President), Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK ................................. 25

rabbi professor daniel sperberRepresentative of the Chief Rabbi of Israel ......................................................................... 26

Archbishop kevin Mcdonald Catholic Church UK ............................................................................................................. 28

sheikh Moafaq TarifSpiritual Leader of the Druze Community of Israel ......................................................... 30

rabbi Jackie Tabick Co-President of the World Congress of Faiths .................................................................... 31

Mr Umesh Chander sharma Chairman of Hindu Council UK......................................................................................... 32

dr katrina lantos-swettVice-Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom........ 33

rt Hon Baroness WarsiSenior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government ..................................................... 35

Baroness BerridgeChair of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for International Religious Freedom or Belief .................................................................................................. 37

professor kwaku danso-BoafoGhanaian High Commissioner to London who read out a message on behalf of Ambassador Al-Hajj Baba Kamara ................................................................................... 38

rt Hon dominic grieve QC MpThe Attorney General ............................................................................................................ 39

geshe Tashi TseringRepresenting His Holiness, The Dalai Lama ...................................................................... 40


Event introduction & guest speakers

your holiness, hazrat MirzaMasroor Ahmad, the head of theworldwide Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity, your WorshipfulMayors, your excellencies, nobleLords and Ladies, Secretaries ofState, Members of Parliament andall distinguished guests, AssalamoAlaikum Wa Rahmatullah WaBarakatuhu, may peace and bless-ings of Allah be upon you.

it gives me great pleasure towelcome you all to this historicevent and we are truly honoured byyour presence this evening. Wehave with us senior national andinternational faith leaders, aca-demics, leading figures from thediplomatic and political world, aswell as delegates representing 25countries. it is a truly amazingassembly.

For all our differences it is clearthat we share a common goal, andthat is a deep desire for peace, adesire for greater justice in theworld and indeed a desire forreligion and belief to be able toflourish.

We, the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity, are deeply honouredto welcome you all today and in factthis conference reflects the essenceof our commitment to peace

through dialogue. our communitywas founded in 1889 by hazratMirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) ofQadian, india who claimed underdivine guidance to be thePromised Messiah and imamMahdi prophecied to appear in thelatter days. his life was spent inhonouring all prophets and inupholding the dignity of religionand religious freedom. he firmlybelieved in the Qur’anic com-mandment that ‘there is nocompulsion in religion’. he himselfpartook in a famous Conference ofGreat religions in Lahore in 1896where his speech received wideacclaim and was subsequentlypublished under the title ThePhilosophy of the Teachings of Islam.his community is now establishedin more than 200 countries and inevery country it seeks to promotethe concepts of loyalty, freedom,equality, respect and peace. itengages with all people with a viewto break down barriers and toenhance understanding. the uKchapter of the community wasestablished in 1913 and thisconference is a key part of ourcentenary celebrations. in fact in1924 the second Khalifa of ourcommunity undertook a special


His life was spentin honouring allprophets and inupholding thedignity of religionand religiousfreedom. Hefirmly believed inthe Qur’aniccommandmentthat ‘there is nocompulsion inreligion’.

rafiq hayat

rAfiQ HAyATNational President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK

visit to London to speak at the Conference ofWorld religions that was held at the imperialinstitute in London.

We are very fortunate that London, is now hometo the worldwide head of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community, his holiness hazrat MirzaMasroor Ahmad, who is the fifth successor of thePromised Messiah(as). he has addressed parlia-ments and conventions across the globe and onlyrecent returned from an extensive tour of Southeast Asia and the Far east. troubled by thegrowing conflicts across the world his holinesshas repeatedly emphasised the need for peace

through justice and has counselled thecommunity to continuously engage in self-reformation so that it can be worthy of God’sblessings. We are very privileged to have hisholiness with us this evening.

We are also honoured that we have a panel oflearned and distinguished speakers and i am surethat through their wise contributions we will allleave with a better understanding of what a beliefin God has to offer us all. thank you once againfor joining us this evening. God bless you andenjoy the evening. thank you.

his holiness, the Khalifa of islam, mostdistinguished representatives of the faiths,

ladies and gentlemen, i feel deeply honoured tohave been invited to this very august meeting torepresent the israeli rabbinate, the Jewishreligion, and indeed the Jewish people.

Judaism, as is well known, is the progenitor ofthe monotheistic religions, the so-calledAbrahamic family; it posits a single SupremeBeing Who created the world, indeed theuniverse, and all that is in it, putting humankindon the world, not as masters, but as custodians,to tend and improve it, and preserve it for furthergenerations. the talmud tells a story of a certainrabbi who saw an old man planting a carob tree.“old man”, he said, “why are you planting a carobtree that will only give its fruits in seventy yearstime?” the old man replied, “My forefathers

planted carob trees so that i could benefit fromthem. i shall plant a carob tree for mygrandchildren”. hence, the involvement inconservation and ecology is not merely a matterof global interest, but it is also a divine directive.the concept of the Sabbath as a day of rest forall people constitutes a unique contribution toworld civilization. Likewise, the notion of aSabbatical year, when all debts are cancelled,giving an opportunity for the debt-riddenimpoverished to reconstitute their lives, andwhen all privately owned land becomes publicproperty for one year, creating a situation de jureof greater financial equality, and also a keenerunderstanding that the land actually belongs toGod and not to humans, this too is a spiritualmessage of the greatest import. the hebrewBible has numerous laws, that may be divided


rABBi profEssor dAniEl spErBErRepresentative of the Chief Rabbi of Israel

into two categories: the one ritual laws, whichrefers primarily to Jews, and the other social-interpersonal laws, that constitute a blueprint forthe morality and ethical behaviour of allhumankind. hence, charity, the dignity of theindividual, the overriding value of human life,the care for the poor, the indigent and those lessfavoured by nature, are cardinal notions inJudaism, which have become universallyaccepted as humanitarian values. But Judaismsees them also as divine directives. the Bibleformulates two interrelated commandments: tolove one’s God and to love one’s neighbour,interrelated because all humans have in them acomponent of divinity. hence, we respect theother and seek universal harmony in the spirit ofthese twin “loves”.

the rabbis tell us that he who saves a singlelife it is as though he has saved the wholeuniverse. So the single individual is, in a sense, amicrocosm of the whole universe, a microcosmthat, as stated above, also has a component ofdivinity, or perhaps is infused throughout withthe element of divinity. each of us is a universeof its own; and when we view the other we areviewing yet another universe. hence our caretowards the other is our care towards its universeand its Supreme Creator which both encom-passes it as well as being contained within it. Atrue experiential realisation of this truth createsfor each and every one of us a tremendous dutyof responsibility towards all that surrounds us.

regretfully, we live in a world of ever-increasing secularism, on the one hand, and, asa sort of counter-reaction, a rapid growth ofextremist and intolerant pietism. We live in asociety where materialism is seen as a positivevalue of the highest order, and where the gapbetween the have and have nots has reachedterrifying proportions. in the name of progress,and comfort we are depleting the world’s naturalresources, polluting our fresh-water assets,destroying our forests, and i hardly need tocontinue this litany of these ecological maladies.We live in a world riven with political and

religious strife and turmoil. the name of Godand his messages are trampled underfoot in thename of rationalism and political expediency.

Let us return to simple unsophisticated faith inthe sanctity of God, of man and his nature, andseek cures for the ills that plague our society:help, mutual respect and the legitimacy ofpluralistic faith, thus ushering in a new vision ofpeace and harmony among all peoples.

We spoke of the tremendous duty of respon-sibility we bear towards one another. We pray tothe Almighty that we may carry out this dutyfaithfully to the betterment of humanity andindeed of ourselves, and with God’s help we willsurely succeed.


rabbi Professor daniel Sperber

iam both honoured and grateful for theopportunity to speak on behalf of the

Catholic Church at this Conference of Worldreligions organised by the Ahmaddiyya MuslimCommunity in this, your centenary year. it is asign of the times that a gathering of this kindshould take place and it is a reason to be gratefulfor the times in which we live.

the heart and the centre of Christian faith is,of course, the person of Jesus Christ. one of themost vital tasks of the first followers of Christ -the people who began to celebrate easter, tocelebrate the resurrection of their Lord from thedead – was to discern and decide under theguidance of the holy Spirit the set of bookswhich were to be recognised as the normativewitness to their risen Lord. it was eventuallysettled over a long period of time and the resultof that process of discernment was what we callthe Canon of Sacred Scripture and at the heartof it, of course, are the gospels. these are wordsof Jesus to his disciples taken from St Matthew’sgospel:

you are the salt of the earth.But if salt becomestasteless, what can make it salty again.you arethe light of the world. your light must shine inthe sight of men,so that seeing your good works,they may give the praise to your Father inheaven. And in St John’s gospel he says:

Peace I bequeath you, My own peace I give you,A peace that the world cannot give, This is my gift to you.

it was in obedience to the Lord’s words and, ibelieve, under the guidance of the holy Spiritthat in 1986 that Pope John Paul ii convened thegathering of Christian leaders andrepresentatives of other religions to pray andwitness to peace together in Assisi. i see today’smeeting as another moment in the contem-porary process of the coming together ofreligions in the cause of peace and justice. Wewould all explain our reasons for responding tothe call to be here together in different ways,shaped by our deepest convictions and beliefs.i am convinced, however, that the contributionthat each of us has to make and most cruciallythe contribution we can and must maketogether is vital for the peace of the world.

As Christians we recognise Jesus Christ, ourrisen Lord, as the Prince of Peace. We pray forthe gift of the holy Spirit to give us wisdom andto guide is in the way of peace. But Christianscannot and do not stand alone in the cause ofpeace but must stand in solidarity with allpeople of faith. Last June, Cardinal Jean Louistauran, who is Pope Francis’s principal advisoron interfaith matters visited several com-munities of other religions in this country andin our dialogue we focused on the theme ofpeace from different perspectives. What struckme most as i listened to contributions fromrepresentatives of different religions was thatconsistently there was a clear connectionbetween prayer and peace. Men and womenbecome people of peace precisely throughprayerful fidelity to the religious truth in which


ArCHBisHop kEvin MCdonAldCatholic Church UK

29

they believe. that is how it works.We can be peacemakers if wepersonally receive the gift of peace.

And the reasons we need tocome together, is that our witnessto peace will be all the moreeffective if it can be a common andconcerted witness. When PopeBenedict addressed politicians inWestminster hall in 2010 he spokeof the vital contribution thatreligions must make to theCommon Good, to identifyingand promoting the values thatunderpin our lives, that underpinsocial harmony and peace in ourcommunities and in the world.Christian values have created themoral framework for our social lifein this country but as Christianfaith loses its purchase in societyour moral compass falters and welose direction. Changing thatsituation is a task for all faithcommunities who live together inthis country. We must be insolidarity, not in conflict and theterrible events we watch unfoldingin Syria and elsewhere should actas a stimulus for taking thisforward. to me one of the mostshocking and discouraging thingsin our world today is to see peopleof religion at odds with oneanother.

it is often said that Britain is nowa secular country, but that is rathersimplistic. in Britain today wewelcome people from all over theworld – people of different racesand different faiths. What i want tosay is that it is vital that together,we identify the shared values thatcan be the basis of a peacefulsociety and a more peaceful world.

And i suggest that in Britain wehave a special responsibility forcontributing to this processbecause this is a fundamentallytolerant society. We are free tolearn and receive from one anotherand to contribute to the CommonGood together. i see today’smeeting as another opportunity tolearn that lesson afresh, to commitourselves to peace together, and todo that for ourselves for oursociety and for our world. ourtheme today is “God in the 21st

century.” i believe that all of us,from the vantage points of our ownfaith communities should be ableto see our coming together in thecause of peace as being as anopportunity to be part of God’spurposes in our own times. thankyou.

i also have a message from mysuperiors. this is from the Vatican,specifically from Cardinal Peterturkson who is the President ofthe Pontifical Council for Justiceand Peace [see Messages of Supportsection, page 44].


Men and womenbecome people ofpeace preciselythrough prayerfulfidelity to thereligious truth inwhich they believe.That is how itworks. We can bepeacemakers if wepersonally receivethe gift of peace.

We must be in solidarity, not in conflict and theterrible events we watch unfolding in Syria and else-where should act as a stimulus for taking this forward.To me one of the most shocking and discouragingthings in our world today is to see people of religion atodds with one another.

Archbishop Kevin Mcdonald


sHEikH MoAfAQ TArifSpiritual Leader of the Druze Community of Israel – Sheikh Tarif addressedthe delegates in Arabic and the following translation was read out afterwards

in the name of Allah the Most Gracious, theever Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the

worlds and peace be upon all the Prophets andMessengers.

respected imam of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at, theKhalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmad, may Allah be hishelper, distinguished religious leaders and guests,it is a great honour to stand in front of you onbehalf of myself and on behalf of the people of theunitarian druze in israel, a sect which has strongrelations and close ties with all sects and religionsin the holy Land, which is a peace loving land, thepromised land, the cradle of faith and the homeand place of spiritual journey of all the prophets.

dear brothers and sisters, everyone who readsthe holy Qur’an, the old and new testaments,finds that the heavenly religions recognise thepower of God and they urge to recognise the unityof the great creator. All these heavenly religionsagree on the unity of God, the Almighty andeveryone is created equally despite the differencein colour, gender, religion and belief. Allah says inthe holy Qur’an, “o mankind, We have createdyou from a male and a female, We have made youinto tribes and sub-tribes that you may recogniseone another, verily the most honourable amongyou in the sight of Allah is he who is mostrighteous among you.” this means that Godcreated human beings in his own image. he sentprophets and messengers to invite people toworship God and prevent them from fighting eachother. everyone who believes in God is a brotherto his fellow brother, who believes in the sameGod. he has a full right to profess his religion

freely as it is stated that there is no differencebetween Arab and non-Arab, except by piety.

My brothers, some wonder whether the Lord ofthe heavens and the earth, the Creator of theuniverse, exists or not, and what are the signs ofhis presence and existence. Allah the Almightysent his prophets and messengers to unite and letpeople live according to his commandments,after creating the universe out of nothing. everyhuman being with a sound mind should clearlyreach the fact that a supreme engineer is behindits design as each physical body consists of a head,without which nothing functions and operates. Asthe physical head is the summit of everything, sois the Supreme Being who is called Al-Bari and itis the same God Who created the holy Land, inthe holy Land religious tolerance andunderstanding between all the religious groups.All the heavenly religions are from God and arebased on sacredness, nobility and purification. Allthose who believe in God, believe in thebrotherhood of nations, justice and pure faith inGod.

the pure objective of all religions here isreformation, creation of peace, love andunderstanding and all the ways and methods inimplementing it. unfortunately, we observe thatsome people attempt to misinterpret andmisquote anything related to religion whichtransforms a merciful religion into a mercilessreligion of intolerance. every religion enjoinsgoodness, harmony, tolerance, love, brotherhoodand forgiveness.

i am really grateful to his holiness, the head of


rABBi JACkiE TABiCk Co-President of the World Congress of Faiths.

the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Communityand its members, for this invitation, and incongratulating you for this impressive conferenceof world religions. Let us all join our hands inrenouncing violence and aggression in all itsforms, and sow the seed of love by developingpeace not only in the east, but all over the world.the earth is vast and spacious, there is a place inthe world for everyone, let us all, the religiousleaders as well as the political leaders, hold fast to

the rope of Allah and let us not be divided amongourselves. in order to have unity let us help andsupport one another in righteousness and pietyinstead of cooperating with each other in sin andaggression. Blessed are the peacemakers for theyare called the sons of God.

Finally, i extend on behalf of the druzecommunity, our warmest congratulations withregard to this special and honourable event.

First let me say how honoured i am to havebeen invited to attend this gathering this

evening and i bring greetings from my co-president, reverend Marcus Braybrooke, whowould have loved to have been with you butcould not make it and sent me in his place, sothank you very much.

the connections between the World Congressof Faiths and that event in 1924 are very close.the founder of the World Congress of Faiths, SirFrancis younghusband attended that meeting inimperial institute and perhaps it was thatmeeting that helped him along the way to foundthe World Congress. it was the strange routejourney for Sir Francis younghusband. he was ascion of the British empire who had been sentout to help rule in india and tibet and while hewas there he gained a different understanding ofreligion and spirituality. he came back and saidthat the religions of the east were like thebeautiful mountains of tibet in comparison towhat he felt the Church of england was at thattime, was the low foothills.

he also brought to the World Congress of

Faiths a really important value that i’d like toshare with you this evening, he called itfellowship and it means various different thingsas the years have gone by. to Sir Francisyounghusband it didn’t just mean the fellowshipthat one gains from being in the company of justwonderful people, though that is part of what weseek in interfaith relationships; to get to knowother people, to get to learn to be excited aboutthe differences between faiths, to be supportiveof each other on our spiritual journeys throughlife. his notion of fellowship though wentdeeper, he wanted us to have an understandingof the oneness that lies behind all thesedifferences, the oneness of creation, the onenessas the source of our spiritual desires and this iswhat he brought and i think in looking aroundthe world today if only we could all follow thisvalue of being excited of the differences betweenfaiths, being true to our own faiths butunderstanding and valuing the oneness behindall faiths as all of us of creatures of the oneness,the spirituality, the God that is there. And so ibring you greetings and may you go from

strength to strength and as a rabbi i say to you,‘mazel tov’, which is both saying wonderful that

you’ve got this far and good luck for the futureand thank you again very much indeed.

his holiness, faith leaders and politicalleaders, i am deeply honoured that i have

been invited to address the conference becausemany years ago when i visited huzur sahib[hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad], first time, isuggested to huzur sahib to have these kind ofconferences where we can openly discuss ourproblems and bring faiths together, communitiestogether, and to my surprise huzur sahib told me:“umesh, these things are happening for so manyyears, come next time”. So i am glad i have beenable to attend all those conferences and today i amaddressing the conference as a chairman of hinduCouncil uK.

today’s topic is very interesting: God in the 21st

century. it means that at least one thing is sure, thatall of us, we believe that God exists. And anotherthing that is very clear is that all the politicalleadership and other groups, they have failed tobring peace, harmony among the communities orin the world as a whole. you can see conflicts allover the place and for one reason or anotherpeople don’t believe political leaders. So i thinkthis is the time when we have to come back to ourfaith and when i say “faith” i mean faith is tobelieve 100% , we cannot choose part of what ourMessiah said, what our books are saying, we haveto follow them 100%.

today, although in hindu religion there aremany scriptures, many sayings, many books, ihave chosen Bhagavad Gita as our guidelines, as

our guiding light, because Bhagavad Gita is ourscripture which lord Krishna himself told Arjunawhen Arjuna was in a state of deep, deepdepression. he was not very sure what to do, whatdecision he has to make and at that particular timelord Krishna guided him. i have one verse fromBhagavad Gita in which Krishna says: “Alwaysthink of one. Become my devotee. Worship me.And offer your homage unto me, thus you willcome to me without fail. i promise you thisbecause you are my very dear friend.” this is verse1865. Because Gita’s message is for the wholeuniverse, it is not for indian communities, not forindia, it is for the universe because at no stage lordKrishna has mentioned about hindus, he hasspoken about mankind because Gita will tell youwhat is the aim of life, what is happiness, what isdeath, because all these problems today they arecaused by ignorance.

if we follow the path of lord Krishna’s teachings,all the problems which we are facing, they can beaddressed, because Gita is message of oneness,Gita is message for love and service to those whoneed it. Gita is not for one community, or for oneaim.

i am very very thankful that his holiness hasprovided a platform for us like this today, wherewe can hear and share our faiths and our thoughts,but one thing i would say that when we come backto our devotees when we talk to them, we shouldlead by example. they will only listen when they


Mr UMEsH CHAndEr sHArMA Chairman of the Hindu Council UK.

33

Good evening. i must say that this is the thirdopportunity that i have to be with a gath-

ering of the Ahmadiya community and each timei feel uplifted and moved by the marvellous spiritamongst this people and i sense that same spirithere today and i’m so delighted to be here.

i want to thank you for that kind introduction.it truly is an honour and privilege to be here withall of you this evening as we celebrate the 100thanniversary of the presence of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community in the united Kingdom.

A little more than seven months ago i wasprivileged to receive a humanitarian award atyour annual convention in America inPennsylvania’s capital city. And a year before thati had the great honour of meeting his holinessfor the first time in America’s capital city andnow tonight i am truly grateful and delighted tohave the opportunity once again to join you inGreat Britain’s capital, in a joyful celebration oftolerance, and freedom, which is the hallmark ofyour community and its people. Simply statedyou, the Ahmadiyya community, are living proofthat religion can indeed be a true friend of peace,understanding and liberty.

yes, it is true that in all too many times andplaces, religion has been used to fuel humanity’sdarkest impulses. We can just think of the warsraged right here on this continent centuries agoin the name of religion. or we can think of thewitch hunts of early America or the excuses the

forces of religion offered for racial oppressionand we can think of the horrors of modernterrorism that violent practitioners of religiousextremism have unleashed. But this undeniablerecord of violence and repression in religion’sname is no excuse for driving religion fromsociety. And yet, nearly a century ago when theAhmadiyya community arrived here in London,parts of the world began to do exactly that. inmany countries a terrible experiment wasunleashed on humanity – the silencing ofreligion as a truly autonomous voice ofconscience, independent of government. it wasreplaced with the brute force of all-powerfulgovernments. regimes like nazi Germany,despotisms like Soviet russia, driven by ruthlessideologies like fascism and communism thatrecognised no limits of any kind on the power ofthe state and its rulers. As a result during the lastcentury more people died at the hands of thesebrutal systems than at the hands of all thereligions combined in centuries past.

But at the same time, looking back at the 20th

century we also see something beautiful andprecious. We see brave human beings imbued bytheir religious teachings rising up and becominga light in the darkness and a witness for humanrights and dignity. We see in America in the mid20th century a mighty civil rights movement,rising from the country’s churches, challengingracial tyranny and its supporters, including those

see, like huzur sahib’s example, that he is leadingby example. he means what he says and he says itopenly and they do it practically. With these words

i thank again and extend my best wishes to theconference. thank you.


dr kATrinA lAnTos-sWETT Vice-Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.


within the church. it was these churches thatempowered Martin Luther King Jr and hisgeneration to press on and achieve justice andequality, under the law. We see in india rightbefore America’s civil rights revolution, thehindu philosophy of satyagraha or non-violentcivil disobedience, galvanising MahatmaGhandi to bring independence to his country.We see across eastern europe and the sovietempire, starting in the 1980s, Pope John Paul iiand the roman Catholic Church, sowing theseeds for ending the iron curtain, tearing downthe Berlin wall, dissolving the Soviet union, andhelping free hundreds of millions of people. Wesee in South Africa the collapse of its apartheidsystem thanks not only to nelson Mandela, butto a generation of church leaders who spoketruth to their society including to other churchleaders. And when apartheid fell it was peopleof faith who helped lead the drive for nationalreconciliation and embrace and receiveforgiveness for the misdeeds of the past. Andyes, looking back on the 20th century we see you,the Ahmadiyya community, standing not justfor yourselves, but for all of humanity, againsthumanity’s oppressors.

My colleague from uSCirF who is here withme tonight, Professor Mary Ann Glendon,shared with me a remarkable story about theadoption of the universal declaration of humanrights, which enshrines the internationalcommunity’s commitment to freedom ofreligion. the nation of Pakistan, which was anoriginal signatory was represented byMuhammad Zafrulla Khan, an Ahmadi Muslim,who signed the universal declaration on behalfof Pakistan. Sadly, one cannot help but wonderwhat Mr Khan’s fate would be if he were aliveand living in Pakistan today.

in standing up for peace and embracing thedictum of love for all hatred for none theAhmadiyya community was right and is right;yes, religion can assume toxic form, but the wayto defeat religious ideas that harm, is not byshutting down all religious ideas, but by

embracing those that heal. the way to combatexpressions of faith that dishonour some peopleis by affirming those that honour all people andthe way to counter the religious extremism ofsome is by affirming religious freedom for all.

And as we move through the 21st century thisaffirmation is the job of the commission onwhich i serve. our job is to stand for the rightof every person and a group, to choose what tobelieve or not to believe and practise theirbeliefs openly, peacefully, and in accordancewith their conscience. And this preciousbirthright, this precious liberty is the birthrightof everyone in this room. you, who stand fortolerance and freedom for others must havesomeone standing for you, and speaking formyself and for my colleagues on thecommission, we continue to stand with you andfor you today. We stand against any person orgovernment, anywhere in the world, fromPakistan to indonesia to Saudi Arabia, whorefuses to recognise your sacred right to beAhmadiyya Muslims. We, like you, stand fortolerance, and freedom. We, like you, stand fora world where people of all backgrounds andbeliefs can come together and learn from eachother. to learn implies listening, and to listenimplies respect and tolerance. i am gratefulindeed that the Ahmadiyya community is aboutrespect for our fellow human beings andtoleration of their right to express their viewsopenly and candidly and to see those viewsdiscussed in a civil and fair minded way.

today in the 21st century thanks to theinternet, more people than ever are beingconfronted by the full range of thought andopinion which characterises the human family.in this new world respect and tolerance are notoptional, but critical. the alternative is moreconflict and strife, more violence and war, andmore disruption and despair. in other words, ifwe want a more peaceful, prosperous, stableworld, we must stand for freedom. to supressfreedom in the name of stability is to create theconditions that make stability impossible.

indeed countries like Pakistan which suppressor tolerate the suppression of groups like theAhmadiyya, provide fertile ground for morepoverty and insecurity, more war and terror andmore radical movements and activities. Clearlythe struggle for religious freedom remains anuphill one.

But the good news is that you and i are notalone. Around the world, the calls for theprotection of this right are being amplified asnever before, they are being heard acrosscountries and continents, the message they sendis clear: religious freedom matters and must beprotected. it is time for governments around theworld to hear and heed this message.

i’d like to close my remarks today with ananecdote that i think illustrates the profoundpossibility that religion has to transform notonly our lives individually, but the world aroundus. 150 years ago a beleaguered Americanpresident seeing his country torn apart by adreadful civil war delivered an unforgettablespeech that we call the Gettysburg address. ifyou ask any American school child where thephrase ‘government of the people by the peopleand for the people’ comes from they will eagerlysay “but of course, Abraham Lincoln and the

Gettysburg address”. But in fact, this famousphrase has a much older patrimony. JohnWycliffe, a Catholic priest in england, manyhundreds of years ago, was inspired to undertakethe translation of the Bible from its originalLatin Vulgate into the common vernacular ofthe people, believing call to make the word ofGod available to every person. When he hadfinished this great task for which he waspersecuted, and hounded, he wrote somethingvery interesting in the fly leaf of that firsttranslation. he wrote the following: “thetranslation is complete and shall make possiblegovernment of the people, by the people and forthe people.” now, i can’t be completely surewhat he meant by that, but i like to think thatwhat he meant when he wrote those words, isthat when individuals are empowered, toconnect to the divine and the transcendent, forthemselves it not only has the power totransform their lives spiritually, but that highervision of who they are and what they maybecome, imbues them also with the desire toimprove and to ennoble the present world inwhich we live. May we all redouble our effortsto do just that, thank you.


rT Hon BAronEss WArsi Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and theDepartment for Communities and Local Government.

your holiness, my Lords, ladies and gentlemengood evening and Assalamo Alaikum. it’s an

honour to speak before such an illustriousaudience in such prestigious surroundings here atthe Conference of World religions and it’s atestament to the openness and the pragmatism

and the humility of the Ahmadiyya Communitythat your flagship global event today is not justabout celebrating your own faith but aboutcelebrating all faiths and you only have to lookaround Britain to see the huge contribution theAhmadiyya Community is making in all walks of

life especially in relation to charity and especiallyin relation to social action.

And ladies and gentlemen, politics if donesincerely, if it is done with commitment is one ofthe highest forms of public service and i’d like totake this opportunity to pay tribute to a politicianfrom your community, you refer to him as Lordtariq Ahmad, i refer to him as tariq Bhai. he’s ahuge ambassador not just for your community butfor so many other faiths in this country and tariqBhai your loyalty and commitment is somethingthat i value very dearly, thank you very much.

i think in my introduction it was said that ifamously once said that this government woulddo God and i think what prompted me to say thatwere the famous words of the last Archbishop ofCanterbury when he said that unfortunatelyreligion and faith was being seen as the preserveof minorities, foreigners and oddities. now i’mnot sure whether i could describe people in thisroom as minorities, foreigners or oddities but icertainly felt that faith was not being given itsproper place in the public sphere. Some of youmay recall those famous words of Alistair

Campbell when he said we don’t do God and itherefore felt that we needed to show a stepchange in that direction and say that we did doGod and that this government would do God.And what i meant by that ladies and gentlemen,is that we would do things differently in threeways; that first of all we would support people intheir right to follow a faith and remember thatnearly, even in the last census, that nearly 70percent of people in Britain said that they had anaffiliation with a faith, with a religion. thatsecondly we would harness the good deeds thatfaith groups do exemplify, by the selflesscontribution of the Ahmadi Community and as ihave said on numerous occasions people who doGod inevitably then do good and you only haveto look at the number of volunteering hours andthe amount of charitable giving within faithcommunities to see how true that is. And thirdlythat we would tackle the intolerance, theunacceptable intolerance that people of faith faceboth in this country but also overseas andtherefore in my international role as minister atthe Foreign and Commonwealth office i madefreedom of religion and belief a personal priorityin the human rights brief.

But i felt that we needed to go further than thatand when we talk about freedom of religion andbelief i felt that we needed to explain what thatmeant; it meant people having the freedom tohave a faith, to be able to manifest that faith, to beable to change that faith, to be able to show thatthey can have no faith and to be protected andpromoted in that belief. So i think that i wasreminded of that just a few weeks ago when i metthe Ahmadiyya Community at their Keighleymosque who said that they wanted thegovernment to continue to endeavour in that area.

Ladies and gentlemen as a politician i definemyself by what i stand for rather than what i standagainst and in faith it’s also more powerful if youdefine yourself by the expression of your religionrather than the expression of which religion you’reagainst. if we define ourselves by what we standfor and the values in all faiths will stand with us


I have said on numerousoccasions people who doGod inevitably then dogood and you only have tolook at the number ofvolunteering hours and the amount of charitablegiving within faithcommunities to see howtrue that is

Baroness Warsi


BAronEss BErridgE Chair of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for International ReligiousFreedom of Belief.

Good evening your holiness, ladies andgentlemen. i bring just brief thanks this

evening to the Ahmadiyya community. When wefounded this All Party Parliamentary Group,nearly two years ago now, i knew very little of yourcommunity. But when we were founding a grouplike this we needed parliamentarians, who are inthe house of Commons and house of Lords,from all the different parties. But of course to runa group like this we need the support of those whoare in the world council of religions, and thosewho hold no religion at all. We felt very much thatas we founded the group that if we use just theservices of one particular religious group whowere keen to support us we would look and seemas if we were only representing that one group. Sowe set about meeting the different religiouscommunities in the uK and the more difficult taskof seeking to persuade them to resource andfinance a group within parliament that would raiseawareness of this human right. But i’m incrediblythankful that the Ahmadiyya community hasindeed come on board with us and worksalongside Sikhs, hindus other Muslims,Christians and the British humanist Association

in order for us to raise the profile of this humanright.

But during this time when i have looked at theAhmadiyya community, i would like to say thatthey have known persecution, but in fact it is alltoo true to say that they know persecution. thesituation from Masud Ahmad arrested innovember in Pakistan, the situation not long agofor umad Farooq who was shot in Pakistan andwas a student here in Sunderland in the uK, andalthough we are proud in the uK to offer asylumto those who have to flee religious persecution,our work is aimed at ensuring that you can residein the countries that you choose to reside in andfreely practise your beliefs. i’m incredibly gratefulfor the support the community gives to our work.We are parliamentarians and we are seeking towork alongside the government to be that helpfulpressure to prick the conscience of governmentsand we are looking to work not only in the uK butto build links with politicians in all jurisdictionswho wish to fight for that freedom and i do hopethat one day your support will mean that yourcommunity can live in the country of yourchoice. thank you so much for your hospitality.

because they are universal and if we define ourfaiths in a matter which is open and tolerant andnon-judgemental and one in which celebrates thespace for others and not just demanding thespace for oneself and if we define ourselves inthat positive way, in the way that so many peoplehere are defining themselves, then it’s actuallythe kind of celebration that we are seeing here

tonight that we will be able to see in so manyparts around the world.

it is clearly been an important moment for somany different faiths to be able to come up hereand express their solidarity to each other and theirsolidarity and commitment to interfaith work andit’s been a privilege ladies and gentlemen for meto be a part of that.

his holiness, unrivalled leaders in govern-ment and politics, excellencies, members of

the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, ladiesand gentlemen. i am honoured to bring yougreetings from his excellency John dramani

Mahama, President of the republic of Ghana whoalso sends his sincere apologies for his inability tojoin you at this timely and relevant Conference ofWorld religions. here is the President’s briefmessage:


prof. kWAkU dAnso-BoAfo Ghanaian High Commissioner to London who read out a message on behalfof Ambassador Al-Hajj Baba Kamara (the special representative of thePresident of Ghana)

“Just this past September, the people of my nation, Ghana, were badly shaken when one of our mostdistinguished citizens was killed during the terrorist siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi,Kenya. Professor Kofi Awoonor, a renowned poet, diplomat, academic and statesman had his life cutshort by religious fanatics. These killers discarded Islam’s abiding message of peace and went on a dailyrampage that claimed lives of several people, including Muslims. This event in Kenya brought home toGhanaians, and indeed people all around the world, the sad reality of the devastating impact of religiousintolerance, fanaticism and terrorism in our world today. But this should not be the case. We are allindeed reminded that almighty Allah has been sending His noble prophets and messengers into the world,with messages promoting peace, orderliness, mutual respect and harmonious co-existence among peopleof all races, creeds and religions. In Ghana, this harmonious co-existence is demonstrated in many aspectsof life including within my own extended family, where both Muslims and Christian relatives live togetherin love and peace. Efforts deep in religious tolerance and harmony have also resulted in parliamentpassing an act establishing a National Peace Council, which is an umbrella organisation of eminentreligious leaders from various faiths. The National Peace Council has been instrumental in promotingmutual respect and peaceful co-existence amongst all our citizens. In fact, the stature and importance ofthis council became most evident when the results of the last election were challenged in court and tensionsrose high. It played a key role in reducing tensions and keeping Ghanaians of different religions andpolitical groups united in peace.

However we are all aware that all around the world, religious bigotry, intolerance and hatred arecausing major problems for millions of people. This is why I consider this Conference of World Religionsto be so important, so timely and truly relevant, especially as we seek to mobilise all the world religionsto say no to intolerance, fanaticism and terrorism in the name of religion. The conference is a worthyeffort that will surely bring people of different religions together and promote peace in our world together.I wish to congratulate the world leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for his wisdom inorganising such a worthy conference. I wish you every success in your deliberations, thank you so much.”

your holiness, ladies and gentlemen,distinguished guests, Assalamo

Alaikum. it gives me great pleasure tocome here this evening. i don’t think i canthink of a more apt location for this inter-faith conference looking forward to the21st century, than we should meet in agreat hall of merchants – the very peoplewho took Britain, england and thenBritain, outwardly looking towards therest of the world and have had themiraculous consequence of bringing all ofyou together in this place again thisevening. it’s a tribute to them, in the sensethat they were a people of broad vision,even if i have no doubt that they were alsoin part motivated by materialist instincts;but also that in promoting their ideas, theywere broad minded and tended towardsinclusion. it is after all the city of London,which in the 19th century became thegreat place where Jews, some of my Jewishforebears, and after them others of otherreligious groups, other than Christian,were first able to find their feet, to succeedin British society and to take themselvesforward and their families in participatingin our national life.

here we are this evening discussing faithand on an interfaith basis. i have no doubtin my mind that’s a very important thingfor us to do. one thing i discovered a longtime ago as a person of Christian faith, isthat it always seemed to me that it is very

much easier for somebody who has faithto understand people of other faiths thanit is for those who have no faith at all. Sothe dialogue on which we are going toembark this evening strikes me as beingan especially important one. We also haveto recognise of course that we live in asociety where people may choose to haveno faith at all. indeed the right ofindividual conscience lies at the veryfundamental base of everything which ithink identifies which we would now callBritish values – a right to manifest yourreligion, or your lack of it, in peace and todo so by personal choice without coercionof any kind. And that of course is one ofthe duties which the state has inupholding. And one which the presentgovernment and its predecessors put atthe very heart of their governmentagenda. So for those reasons i would likeonce again and i have done it on manyoccasions before, to thank your holiness


rT. Hon doMiniC griEvE QC Mp The Attorney General

the right of individual conscience lies at thevery fundamental base of everything which Ithink identifies which we would now call Britishvalues – a right to manifest your religion, oryour lack of it, in peace and to do so by personalchoice without coercion of any kind..”

rt. hon. dominic Grieve QC MP

and the Ahmadi community for the astonishingcontribution which you make to our national life,because as i know in my own constituency andall of you in this hall this evening knowirrespective of your faith background, thedialogue which has been so persistently andconstantly engaged by the community hasprovided an environment in which we can meetand talk and discuss these matters. Secure in theknowledge for those of us who do have faith, that

the faith that we promote may be a benefit to all,and for those who do not, the realisation thatthose of faith have something to contribute aswell.

on that note i will bring my remarks to an end.But i am conscious that the Prime Minister, inthe knowledge that this was taking place thisevening, sent a message to you all as delegates,which he’s asked me to read out.

Geshe tashi tsering read out a message sent by his holiness, the dalai Lama for the Conference.


“ I send my sincere greetings to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community as you come togetherwith faiths from around the world to unite for social and international peace. I recognisethe great work you do here in Britain – from interfaith events across the country to helpingcommunities who have been affected by the recent floods. And, today highlights thesignificant work you do for interfaith relations and peace overseas.

I’m delighted that the British Government is represented today and will join His Holiness and faith leadersand politicians from around the world to discuss how faiths can come together to help bring peace”

“All religions teach the virtues of love, altruism and patience, therefore, even though theymay hold different philosophical points of view we should respect them all. Every religioustradition has made a significant contribution to humanity for centuries past. In the futuretoo, such traditions can help us promote peace in our respective communities and bringabout harmony and understanding between neighbours. The important thing is for allbelievers to put the teaching of their respective religious traditions into practice sincerely

in their day-to-day lives.

Essentially, all religions teach us to discipline and transform ourselves so that we can achieve inner peaceand a kind heart. In this era of rapid advancement, material development has brought with it undueemphasis on external progress. As a result we often forget to foster the most basic human need for kindness,

gEsHE TAsHi TsEringRepresenting His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

love, cooperation and caring. Yet, the very development of human society is founded on such a basis. So,preserving our essential humanity involves cultivating a sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings.

Today, our interdependent world requires us to accept the oneness of humanity. Many of our worldsproblems and conflicts arise because we have lost sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together asa human family. We forget that despite the superficial differences between us, people are same in theirbasic wish for peace and happiness. Conflict in the name of religion occurs when people fail to grasp thetrue intent of the respective faith.

For some time I have felt that there are measures we can adopt to help us nurture understanding andharmony among our different religious traditions, and thus promote peace and security in society. Weshould convene regular inter-faith meetings among leaders of different religious traditions so they canshare the spiritual experiences and insights. We should also promote meetings of scholars to discuss andstudy what they have, rather than what is different, among various religious traditions. Finally, and perhapsmost important for the far-reaching effect it can have, we should encourage contacts along the followersof different religions and visits to each other places of pilgrimage and prayer. I firmly believe that if thesesteps are taken, the general public will develop respect for other religious traditions. This, in turn, helppromote harmony in society.

It is in this context that I give my wholehearted support to the Conference of World Religions beingconvened in London on 11th of February 2014 by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK. I believethat meetings of the sort have a powerful symbolic effect. The simple fact of the leaders of many religionscoming together and speaking from the shared platform sets a strong example to millions of religiousfollowers all over the world. It signals and need to reach out to each other and work for the common humangoal of peace and happiness. On this auspicious occasion I offer my greetings to everyone attending andparticipating in the event and I pray that the fruits of your exchanges will be far-reaching and long lasting.

30January 2014



rabbi oded Weiner, Chief of Staff of the office of the rabbi of israel, rabbi Prof daniel Sperber, representative ofthe Chief rabbi of israel and Muhammad Sharif odeh Sb, Amir of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community of Kababirwith his holiness.

he Prof. Kwaku danso-Boafo, Ghanian high Commissioner to uK and Al hajj Baba Kamara – (specialrepresentative of the President of Ghana) and he Mr Joslyn Whiteman, the high Commissioner of Grenadameeting with his holiness.

Sheikh Moafaq tarif, Spiritual head of The druze Community in israel and delegation meeting with hisholiness.

Geshe tashi tsering, representing his holiness, The dalai Lama, meeting with his holiness

Hazrat khalifatul Masih v presented a special commemorative gift to the speakers.

(Pictures of some of the speakers receiving the gift are shown below)

geshe Tashi Tsering – representing hisholiness, The dalai Lama.

rabbi professor daniel sperber–representing Chief rabbi of israel.

Al Hajj Baba kamara – Special representative of the President of Ghana

Archbishop kevin Mcdonald – representingthe Catholic Church.

dr katrina lantos-swett – Vice-Chair uSCommission on international religious Freedom

deputy Edwin kenneth Ayres MBE – ChiefCommoner of the City of London Corporation



Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ii .................................................................................. 45

rt. Hon david CameronThe Prime Minister................................................................................................................ 46

Cardinal peter k.A. TurksonPresident of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican .......................... 47

His Holiness The dalai lama ....................................................................................... 48

dr John sentamuThe Archbishop of York......................................................................................................... 49

John kufuor Former President of Ghana and now Special Envoy to the United Nationson Climate Change................................................................................................................ 50

James Brokenshire MpMinister for Security and Immigration ............................................................................... 51

lord AltonVice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for International ReligiousFreedom or Belief ................................................................................................................... 52

rt Hon keith vaz MpChairman of the Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee .............................................. 52

Some Messages of Support


his holiness hazrat Masroor Ahmad, KhalifatulMasih V, the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Com-munity worldwide, religious Leaders, distinguishedGuests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

it is with deep regret that i am unable to join you asyou gather for such an historic conference in Londontoday.

indeed, it had been my ardent desire to be with youbut exigencies of international engagement has meantthat i am unavoidably absent at this great event. As youmay well be aware, the Secretary General of the unitednations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, recently appointed me asone of the two Special envoys on Climate Change. Theother is Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister ofnorway. That assignment demands my services else-where and thus my inability to be with you.

your holiness, distinguished Guests, ladies and gen-tlemen. your conference today could not have been ata more opportune time than now where there is civilstrife in almost every part of the globe. Be it in europe,Asia, Africa the Americas, everywhere you turn, thereis report of upheavals and turmoil all around. Some ofthe conflicts are political, others ideological and othersstill, religious. These conflicts have led to the up-root-ing of whole societies and destabilised once peacefulcommunities and even nations. This has resulted in thecreation of refugee situations with their attendant suf-fering and uncertainly. The future of whole generationsis lost as they sojourn in foreign lands under difficultand stressful situations. The lives of once dignified peo-ple are shattered as they scavenge for a living under cir-cumstances alien to them. The people they have leftbehind fare no better and live in constant fear as theydo now know when the next bomb will explode orfrom where the next bullet will be fired or when theircommunity will be raided.

This makes your conference, centered on the need forworld peace all the more important. unless as humanbeing, we find a way to live together in peace, be it po-litically or religiously, we will continue to decimateeach other in search of an elusive haven.

The Ahmadi motto: “Love for All, hatred for none” isparticularly recommended for all mankind in thesevery trying times.

i am of the firm belief that is we believe in the com-monality of the human being and see each other as our‘brother’s keeper,’ we would have come a long way toensuring world peace. We must be tolerant of eachother’s views and learn to live with our differences bethey political, religious, ideological, racial or otherwise.

it is in this course that during my time as President, iinstituted the national Peace Council as an overarch-ing body for peace in Ghana. Membership of theCouncil is made up of distinguished personalities in-cluding heads of the major religions in the country.

your holiness, it is with pleasure that i mention to youthat your own servant, Maulvi A Wahab Adam, Ameerand Missionary in Charge of the Ahmadiyya Move-ment in Ghana, is a member of this Council.

This Council, i believe, has contributed in large part tothe peace and tranquillity that we enjoy in Ghana todate and it is no wonder, that other countries in Africaare now emulating our example. in fact in Ghana, it isa common sight to see the head of a Christian religionhave team with his counterpart from the AhmadiCommunity or any other religion for that matter.

As the whole world’s attention is turned on your con-ference today, i have no doubt that you will come outwith conclusions that will help and ensure that we be-queath a better inheritance to our future generations.

once again, your holiness hazrat Mirza MasroorAhmad, Khalifatul Masih V, the head of the Ah-madiyya Muslim Community worldwide, do acceptmy apologies for not being able to be with you today.i hope in future, it will be possible for me to join youand your spiritual faithfuls to deliberate on ways forworld peace and brotherly co-existence.

Thank you and may God Bless us all.

John kufuor – former president of ghana and now specialEnvoy to the United nations on Climate Change


lord Alton – vice-Chair of the All party parliamentarygroup for international religious freedom or Belief

The Conference of World religions is timely and important. one of thegreatest global challenges is combating intolerance and encouraging peopleto learn to live together. every man and woman has the right to holdreligious beliefs or not to do so and no-one has to right to persecute others because their ownbeliefs are different. our goal must the promotion of tolerance and mutual respect and thisConference is an important contribution to the attainment of that objective.

david Alton(Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool)house of Lords,London SW1A oPW


exhibition on the holy Qur’an and the holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him).

interfaith exhibition in the east and West Crypt.


in 1924, a special conference was held inLondon at the imperial institute to discussdifferent faiths that existed in the Britishempire. A number of distinguished speakerspresented papers at the conference and the thenhead of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslimcommunity, hazrat Mirza Bashir-uddinMahmood Ahmad(ra) travelled from india toattend and speak at the conference. Thebackground to the event is noted below by Sir edenison ross in his book, Religions of theEmpire, Duckworth 1925, that summarises theproceedings of the conference. Sir denisonnoted,

“The Conference consisted of two parts.The first was devoted mainly to a series ofpapers on the oriental religions of theempire and various Modern Movementsarising out of them. each of these paperswas contributed by a scholarly adherent ofthe particular religion, who touched lightlyupon creed and dogma, and gave his chief

Background to the Conference of Some Living religions

1924

hazrat Mirza Bashir-uddinMahmood Ahmad(ra)

attention to a matter-of-fact description ofhis religion as it worked in personal andsocial life. The second part of theConference was devoted to the Psychologyand Sociology of religion, and a series ofpapers was read by specialists whoexpounded the religious process and itsmode and purpose as it operated in theirsphere of observation. All speakers fromthe platform were accorded an equal status,and no controversy, either religious orpolitical, was introduced into the meetings.The chief aim of the Conference made itunnecessary to include in the programmeany lectures on Judaism or Christianity, asthe organizers considered that theirfunction was chiefly to familiarise thoseattending the lectures with the religions ofthe empire relatively little known in thiscountry.”

Sir denison also said that the 1924 conferencereceived messages of support from both hisMajesty the King of england and The PrimeMinister, as noted below. it was fitting thereforethat the 2014 conference also received similarmessages of support.

Sir denison notes,

“Although in every sense unofficial, ourConference was favoured by highpatronage. in reply to a loyal greeting sentby vote of the Conference to his Majestythe King on the occasion of the openingsession on September 22nd, the followingtelegram was received:

Balmoral Castle, O.H.M.S., September 22nd,1924. Chairman of Conference on Some LivingReligions within the Empire, ImperialInstitute, S.W.

I am commanded to express the thanks of the

King to you and members of Conference foryour kind message of loyal greetings to HisMajesty. STAMFORDHAM.

“Mr. ramsay Macdonald, the PrimeMinister at the time, was good enough toforward a friendly message in the followingterms:

10, Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W.1. I am glad to have this opportunity to send aword of greeting to the Conference on SomeLiving Religions within the Empire. Many religions and many creeds live in amitywithin our Empire, each by their different wayleading our peoples onwards towards someultimate light. I welcome cordially the objectsof the Conference and the knowledge which itspreads amongst us that our peoples, in theaspirations of the Spirit, " walk not back toback but with an unity of track." J. RAMSAY MACDONALD. 22nd September, 1924.

Sir denison also noted his delight at theattendance of the head of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, observing:

“As we had foreseen, it was not alwayspossible to secure the attendance inLondon of all whom we had invited to readpapers; but the response was from theoutset most encouraging, and we wereespecially gratified that the Khalifat-ul-Masih, the head of the AhmadiyyaMovement, immediately signified hisintention to come to London with anumber of his followers for the expresspurpose of attending the Conference. Thisremarkable enterprise led to great publicityin the Press and secured considerableinterest for our Conference.”

he added that:


“Those who attended the Conference mustwell remember the distinguished figure ofhis holiness the Khalifat-ul-Masih, thecentre of a group of twelve green-turbanedfollowers …. As head of the AhmadiyyaCommunity, the Khalifat-ul-Masih residesat Qadian in the Punjab, and was able to callto his side several well-known Moslemtheologians and scholars of high standing.The lecture composed by his holiness wasread by Ch. Zafar Allah Khan, LL.B.(London), barrister-at-law. Zulfigar AliKhan should also be mentioned, as onewho, by his manly and gracious demeanour,made friends on all sides. dr. Muhammaddin came specially from Chicago, M.Mubarak Ali from Berlin, and F. r. hakeemfrom the Gold Coast, making no less thantwenty members of the AhmadiyyaMovement.

in fact islam was represented by three speakersone of which was an address by hazratKhalifatul Masih ii(ra). William Loftus harewrites:

“After a brief adjournment, the conferencereassembled to hear the paper by Al hajthe Khalifaht-al-Masih, Mirza Bashir-ud-din, the head of the Ahmadiyyamovement which has its headquarters atQadian in the Punjab. Supported by aband of green-turbaned scholars, theKhalifaht al Masiah made a fineimpressive picture. he spoke a few wordsin english:

‘Sisters and Brothers: First of all I intend toput a few ideas before the minds of themembers of the conference, that people maythink over serious questions, and decide forthemselves what religion they should accept.I should like to apologise to you for asking myfriend and follower to read my paper to you,for I am not accustomed to read papers. In

my own language I have spoken sometimessix hours before an audience of 10,000people but I think it will be more difficult toread in a language that I do not know well.’

The Secretary of the delegation then readthe paper.”

The Secretary of the delegation was SirMuhammad Zafrulla Khan(ra) who was aPakistani politician, diplomat, and internationaljurist, subsequently known particularly for hisrepresentation of Pakistan at the united nations(un).

in the book about the event, William Loftushare described the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity contribution at the event asfollows:

“The Ahmadiyya movement is about 34years old, being founded by hazrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad. he claimed to be Madhiand the Messiah of ancient prophecy. hemet great opposition, but with increasingsuccess. Missions have been sent to manycountries. Ahmadiyya claims to be theoutcome of islam just as Christianity wasof Judaism, an inevitable and necessarydevelopment ; not to be as a new law but toexpound anew the teachings of islam. Theclaim to be the Messiah was not a claim tobe identical with Jesus, but to have receivedhis power and spirit. The speaker gave greatattention to showing that this age is onedestined for the fulfilment of the promisesof the ancient prophecy, and a longargument followed to prove that God stillguides and inspires men as in the oldendays. The speaker then gave a doctrinaldiscourse on what he described asregenerated islam, beginning with thebelief in the unity of God, upon which allother excellencies of belief and conductdepend. The speaker concluded by af-



firming the necessity of applying the moralqualities generated by religion to socio-logical and political problems.

The islamic day was in every respect a greatachievement.”

Sir denison noted that during the course ofthe Conference, several receptions wereheld. one was kindly given by LadyBlomfield at Claridge's and another washeld at the ritz hotel at the invitation ofMr A. r. dard to meet the leader of theAhmadiyya Movement. The photographicgroups taken bear objective witness to theunique character of these cosmopolitanassemblies.

At the concluding session of the

Conference a number of those who hadaddressed us were invited to the platform;a few short addresses, including a brilliantone in hindustani by his holiness theKhalifat-ul-Masih, were given, expressingsatisfaction at the success of theConference…”

The exhibition was designed to appeal to theChristian population of Britain to providegreater awareness and influence of ‘the livingsister religions of the empire’. There wasconcern at the early stages by the organisers thatdue to the political unrest that prevailed in indiaat the time, there might be difficulties onsecuring indian speakers or writers of papers.however, the only challenge that was facedconcerned the timing, space and costs of theevent.

Hazrat khalifahtul Masih ii(ra) (white turban) at the imperial institute, london where ‘TheConference of religions within the Empire’ was held in 1924. Muhammad Zafrulla khan(ra) isseated immediately to the right of him holding a walking stick.

“the London Conference of Livingreligions began on 22 September 1924.hazrat Khalifahtul Masih ii’s paper on“the Ahmadiyya Movement” waspresented on 23 September and was readout by Chaudhry Muhammad ZafrullaKhan. the paper was well-received andmuch appreciated:

“People sat with rapt attention and manyseemed to jump with pleasure at every newphase of Islam discovered. … At the close of thelecture people cheered and cheered again and thepresident had to wait some minutes to make hisremarks. He thanked His Holiness for having sobeautifully explained to them the religioustruths”. (review of religions, october 1924)

in the summer of 1924, hazrat Sahib(ra) wasinvited to represent islam in the Conferenceof empire religions held in the imperialinstitute, London. he accepted the invitationand travelled to London with a party ofdivines and scholars, which included the lateSahibzada Mirza Sharif Ahmad Sahib, thelate hafiz raushan ‘Ali Sahib, the lateMaulawi Zulfiqar ‘Ali Khan Sahib, the lateChaudhri Fateh Muhammad Sial Sahib, thelate Shaikh yaqub ‘Ali irfani Sahib, the lateBhai ‘Abdur rahman Qadiani Sahib. dr.hashmatullah Khan Sahib and others.Chaudri Muhammad Sharif Sahib,Montgomery, was accorded permission tojoin the party of his own. Master Muhammaddin Sahib was called from America. the lateAl-haj Maulawi ‘Abdur rahim nayyar was incharge of the London Mission.

i was already in europe and was directed tobe available. A furnished residence, 6,Chesham Place, was rented for accommo-dation of the party. We were crowded, allarrangements were reduced to the minimum

and simplest, but we were a happy andcheerful company.

hazrat Sahib(ra) and those accompanying himhad taken time en route to visit Palestine andSyria and had made a brief stop in rome. ihad arrived in London in good time towelcome the party on arrival. it was a historicvisit. it is much to be regretted that a detailedauthentic account of it has not yet beenpublished, though plenty of published andunpublished material is available for a wholevolume.

i shall here confine myself to only one mainincident. it must, however, be stated that itwas a great privilege to be afforded theopportunity of being in the intimatecompany of hazrat Khalifahtul Masih ii(ra)

and so many other eminent and reveredpersonages for a period of several weeks.there was much to observe and a great dealto note and learn. one felt one was a memberof a peripatetic spiritual acad emy. All mannerof topics and problems, social and economic,moral and spiritual came up and werediscussed, debated and pronounced upon. Adiscussion sometimes developed betweenhazrat Sahib(ra) and the late hafiz raushan‘Ali Sahib in which the latter always sought tomaintain his position with such cogency,clarity and pertinacity that no possible aspectwas left unexplored. it was an intellectualtreat to witness and derive benefit from thetreasures of knowledge and learning whichwere drawn upon in clarification, supportand refutation of a proposition as thediscussion proceeded. one revelled in thewhole process of illumination. it was atremendously rewarding and enrichingexperience, enlivened throughout withsincere goodwill, deep affection and thecommon bond of allegiance and devotion


A pErsonAl ACCoUnT By sir MUHAMMAd ZAfrUllA kHAn(ra)

that we cherished towards our beloved andrevered leader.

hazrat Sahib(ra) had written his paper for theConference in urdu and i had been accordedthe privilege of translating it into english. onthe evening preceding the day on which itwas to be read out i was summoned to hazratSahib’s presence and was told by him that thequestion under consideration was whoshould read out the paper at the Conference.he said it had been suggested that he shouldread it himself, but he did not feel quite athome in english and was not sure of hispronunciation of unfamiliar words. one ortwo other names had also been suggestedand hazrat Sahib asked for my view. isubmitted very respectfully that i would bethe best choice for the purpose. hazrat Sahibintimated that the matter should bedetermined by a test. the two or three of uswhose names had been suggested were askedto read aloud portions of the paper andscouts were posted at various points up anddown the house, with, all intervening doorsleft open, to listen and report on the qualityof the performance of each. i recall that thelate Sahibzada Mirza Sharif Ahmad’s reportwas in my favour, except that he had noticeda slight huskiness in my voice. hazrat Sahibconcurred and thus i was awarded thehonour, subject to the direction that dr.hashmatullah Khan Sahib should look aftermy throat to ensure against any hoarsenessdeveloping.

dr. Sahib took so serious a view of hisresponsibility that he started a series ofenergetic paintings of my unoffending throatwith a strong nauseous tincture eachapplication of which brought me to the vergeof sickness. By breakfast time next morningi had endured three or four of these vigorousministrations, and at breakfast felt compelledto appeal to hazrat Sahib against a

continuation of the torture. My throat was intruth beginning to be hoarse in consequenceof this sharp pre-cautionary treatment. Myplaint was received with a hearty laugh byhazrat Sahib and by everyone around thetable, not excepting even dr. Sahib himself,and my further penance was merci fullyremitted.

the paper was to be read in the afternoonsession of the Confer ence in the main hall ofthe imperial institute. there was a recordattendance, every seat was occupied and anumber of people had to stand in the wings,at the back of the hall and down the maincorridor. My turn came and i stepped up tothe lectern. My throat was dry and i feltnervous. hazrat Sahib(ra) was seated next tothe lectern. Just when i was about to startreading, he leaned over and, in a tone thesweetness and gentlesness of which were atonce soothing and heartening, said: “do notbe uneasy; i shall be praying.” this mostaffectionate gesture reassured me completelyand i was able to proceed confidently withmy task. the paper was listened to with raptattention.

the moment the reading was finished peoplemade a rush to the platform in their eagernessto greet and felicitate hazrat Sahib(ra). idescended from the platform and stoodaside. A gentleman wearing an edward Viibeard and a cap, who had been standing atthe farthest end of the hall during thereading, came up to me and shaking my handwith heartiness exclaimed: ‘i am somewhathard of hearing and was standing away back;i heard every word clearly, and goodeighteenth century english at that, nomodern nonsense about it.’ i was wellcontent.” (Review of Religions, 2008)



The ‘Conference on Some Living religionswithin the empire’ was held at the imperialinstitute, Wembley, London, from 22September to 3 october. its objectives was asfollows:

• to bring together in conference, for the firsttime in history, the leading representatives ofthe great historic religions of the world.

• to show to men, in the most impressive way,what and how many important truths thevarious religions held and teach in common.

• to promote and deepen the spirit of humanbrotherhood among religious men of diversefaiths, through friendly conference andmutual good understanding, while notseeking to foster the temper of indifferentism,and not striving to achieve any formal andoutward unity.

• to set forth, by those most competent tospeak, what are deemed the importantdistinctive truths held and taught by eachreligion and by the various chief branches ofChristendom.

• to indicate the impregnable foundations oftheism and the reasons for man’s faith inimmortality and thus to unite and strengthenthe forces which are adverse to a materialisticphilosophy of the universe.

• to secure from leading scholars, representingthe Brahman. Buddhist, Confucian, Parsee,islam, Jewish and other faiths and fromrepresentatives of the various churches ofChristen-dom, full and accurate statements ofthe spiritual and other effects of the religionswhich they hold upon the literature, art,commerce, government, domestic and sociallife of the peoples among whom these faithshave prevailed.

• to inquire what light each religion hasafforded, or may afford, to the other religionsof the world.

• to set forth, for permanent record to bepublished to the world, an accurate andauthoritative account of the present conditionand outlook of religion among the leadingnations of the earth.

• to discover what light religion has to throwon the great problems of the present age,especially the important questions connectedwith temperance, labour, education, wealthand poverty.

• to bring the nations of the earth into a morefriendly fellowship, in the hope of securingpermanent international peace.

1924 ConfErEnCE oBJECTivEs

Guildhall in the City of London had been used as a town hall for several hundred years and is still theceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation.

Guildhall hosts many events throughout the year, the most notable one being the Lord Mayor’s Ban-quet, which is held in honour of the immediate-past Lord Mayor and is the first to be hosted by thenew Lord Mayor of the City of London. in keeping with tradition, it is at this Banquet that the PrimeMinister makes a major world affairs speech.

Guildhall, built between 1411 and 1440, was designed to reflect the importance of London’s rulingelite. in the twenty-first century its splendour is still awe-inspiring and within the walls of this nationaltreasure lie six rooms providing unique surroundings for corporate and private functions.

together with its of history and tradition with the very latest state-of-the-art built-in communicationtechnology made it an ideal location for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to choose this as thesetting for this historic event.

The Great hall where the main conference was held can accommodate up to 900 people in an envi-ronment of a high-arched ceiling, Gothic stained glass windows and monuments to national heroes.

immediately beneath Guildhall is the largest medieval crypt in London. The east crypt has a vaultedceiling resting upon stone and marble pillars and provides a versatile, unusual and atmospheric venue.This was just ideal to hold the welcome reception and display the exhibition.

gUildHAll


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Loyalty

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Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UKThe London Mosque16 Gressenhall RoadLondon SW18 5QLTel: 020 8874 5836Fax: 020 8874 4779

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Email: [email protected]

Twitter:@AhmadiyyaUK


The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community uK organised a Conferenceof World religions on 11th February 2014 as part of its centenarycelebrations.

The venue was the prestigious Guildhall in the city of London andthe event was attended by 500 guests including faith leaders fromvarious countries, politicians, government officials, representativesof various nGos and academics. The theme of the Conference was‘God in the 21st Century’.

Speakers from different faiths addressed the gathering includingrepresentatives from the Chief rabbi of israel, his holiness thedalai Lama and the Vatican. The event also received messages ofsupport from her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister.

The highlight of the event was the keynote address given by thehead of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community, hisholiness hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

The speeches given by the various dignitaries and the keynoteaddress delivered at this historical event are presented in this book.

“The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establishpeace and faith in God. If the world understood this reality thenall countries, whether large or small, would not, in the name ofdefence spending , allocate millions and billions of dollars toexpand their military capabilities. Rather, they would spendthat wealth to feed the hungry, to provide universal educationand to improve the living standards of the developing world.”(hazrat Khalifatul Masih V – head of the worldwideAhmadiyya Muslim Community)

the conference of world religions god in the 2 1st century · ta’ala means the mercy of allah the...

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