World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace — Page 127
127 C AN M USLIMS I NTEGRATE I NTO W ESTERN S OCIETIES ? for such peace loving Muslims or Islam to be amongst them? Last year I had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Berlin and I ex- plained to him that Islam teaches that you should treat every good aspect of any nation as though it was your own personal property. In response, he said, that if you act upon this teaching then there is no doubt the entire world will join hands and support you. I am quite astonished and saddened when I hear that in some parts of Germany there are people who claim that neither Muslims nor Islam have the capability to integrate into German society. Certainly, it is true that the Islam presented by extremists or terrorists does not have the ability to integrate with any coun- try or society, let alone just Germany. Indeed, a time will surely come when voices of opposition to such extremist ideologies will be raised loudly even in Muslim countries. Nonetheless, the true Islam, which was brought by the Holy Prophet sa , will certainly always attract sincere and decent people towards it. In this era, to revive the original teachings, Allah sent the Promised Messiah as in servitude to the Holy Prophet sa and so his Community practices and preaches the true message of Islam. Let it be clear that no one can justifiably claim that true Islam cannot integrate into any society. True Islam is that which spreads righteousness and goodness and shuns all forms of evil and wrong- doing. True Islam teaches Muslims to stop evil and cruelty wher- ever it exists. Thus, rather than any question of it failing to inte- grate, true Islam naturally pulls society towards it like a magnet. Islam teaches that a person should not just strive to acquire or desire peace for himself, but should make full efforts to spread peace and harmony to other people with the same longing they hold for themselves. This selfless attitude is the way to establish