Qasim Choudhary, USA
Headlines are calling it an invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared it a ‘special military operation.’ Whatever label we put on it, the current crisis in Ukraine has the world watching. Putin believes Ukraine is an illegitimate country that exists on land that’s historically and rightfully Russian and is showing no signs of withdrawing. The Russian President’s decision to deploy soldiers in eastern Ukraine was met with economic sanctions from the U.S and Western allies. As U.S president Joe Biden puts it, ‘Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.’ As the situation grows increasingly volatile, people around the world are asking, could this be the start of the third World War?
In light of recent developments in Ukraine some have just recently sparked the conversation of an imminent global war, however the Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba), has been warning the world of possible global warfare for over a decade. As the Caliph stated in 2015,
‘For many years I have warned that the world is moving rapidly towards another world war and now others are reaching the same conclusion.’
For years the Caliph has been drawing the attention of global leaders towards peace and absolute justice. More recently, the Caliph remarked in a statement regarding the Russia-Ukraine crisis,
‘I have written letters to the leaders of various nations urging them to set aside their national and vested interests in order to prioritise the peace and security of the world by adopting true justice at all levels of society. Most regrettably, now a war in Ukraine has started and so the situation has become extremely grave and precarious… As the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I can only draw the attention of the world’s political leaders towards prioritising the peace of the world and setting aside their national interests and enmities for the sake of the wellbeing of all mankind. Thus, it is my sincere prayer that the world’s leaders act with sense and wisdom and strive for the betterment of humanity.
How did we get it here? According to the Caliph, the world has become heedless in fulfilling its rights owed towards its creator and thus injustice has permeated through every level of society.
For those of us sitting thousands of miles away and with no political voice, a state of helplessness is a common ground. The Caliph, however, has provided us with a practical solution to avoid the torment of warfare, bloodshed, and destruction. The Caliph declared,
‘I believe that we still have the time to stop such a war in its tracks but the solution remains, as I have already said, to act with justice and to leave aside all vested interests.
In conclusion, it is my belief that unless the world comes to recognise its Creator and accepts Him as the Sustainer of mankind, true justice cannot prevail.
Not only will true justice not prevail, but we will also experience a lethal nuclear war whose catastrophic consequences will be faced by our future generations.
I pray that the world comes to understand this reality. I pray that we all play our respective roles in furthering the cause of humanity. And I pray that true peace, based upon justice, is established in all parts of the world.’
About the Author: Qasim Choudhary is a graduate from the Ahmadiyya Institute of Languages and Theology in Canada, and serves as an Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States of America.
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