Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 300
300 ever, a real sacrifice should be involved, nations should be prepared to make it, for as it is the duty of individu- als to make sacrifices for the purpose of establishing peace, it is also the duty of nations to make sacrifices to that end, they being as much bound by moral principles as individuals. The failure of the schemes hitherto adopted for promoting international peace and amity is due, in my opinion, to the differences between the principles on which those schemes were based and the principles laid down in the Holy Quran for that purpose. These differ- ences relate to five matters. (1) Each nation insists upon the observance of the terms of previous agreements entered into by it with other nations individually, and is not willing to relin- quish them in favour of a common agreement and understanding between all nations. (2) When a dispute arises between two or more na- tions it is allowed to take its course, and no attempt is made by other nations to compel the nations concerned to arrive at a settlement before the matter assumes serious proportions. (3) Different nations take sides in such disputes and thus promote dissension. (4) After a refractory nation has made its submission the other nations do not confine themselves to the settlement of the original dispute; each of them seeks to derive some advantage from the situation of the van- quished nation.