World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace — Page 124
124 in an effort to end Islam. To the contrary, there is a great deal of re- ligious freedom in the vast majority of Western and non-Muslim countries. Our Jam a ‘at is extremely grateful that such freedoms exist, which allow Ahmadi Muslims to propagate the message of Islam in non-Muslim countries. Therefore we are able to intro- duce the real and beautiful teachings of Islam, which are of peace and harmony, to the Western world. Certainly, it is due to reli- gious freedom and tolerance that I am able to stand before you today and present the true Islam. Clearly therefore, today there is no question of religious wars. The only other situation that can arise is where a majority Muslim country and a majority Christian country, or any other country, are engaged in a non-religious war. How should a Muslim citizen living in those countries, wheth- er Christian or any other religion, react to such circumstances? To answer this question, Islam has provided a golden principle, which is that a person should never assist in cruelty or oppression. Therefore, if cruelty or oppression is perpetrated by a Muslim country then it should be stopped. If cruelty is conducted by a Christian country then that too should be stopped. How can an individual citizen stop his own country from cru- elty and injustice? The answer to this is very simple. In the present day, democracy is prevalent throughout the Western world. If a just minded citizen sees that his government is acting in an op- pressive way, then he should raise his voice in opposition and seek to guide his country to the right path—or even a group of people can rise up. If a citizen sees that his country is violating the sover- eignty of another nation, then he should draw the attention of his government and raise his concerns. To stand up and peacefully lodge your concerns is not an act of rebellion or revolt. In fact, it