Voices for Peace – Zagreb, Croatia

By the Grace of Allah Almighty the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Croatia organized its very first Peace Symposium in the Press House (Novinarski dom) of Zagreb the capital city of Croatia.

The event took place on the 10 th of February 2024. The theme of the Peace Symposium was “voices for Peace” to support and highlight the international initiative to achieve a ceasefire and peace in the current war in Gaza.

The Program started at 17:35 with the welcoming words of the Moderator of the evening Mišel Androić Sahib who announced the recitation of the Holy Quran. Verse from chapter 7 verses 56-59 were recited by Yasser Al-Masri Sahib. The Croatian translation was delivered by Ammar Al-Masri Sahib. Thereafter Elvedin Bostandžjia Sahib gave the welcoming address about the Peace Sympozium initiative, its efforts and goals.

A brief introduction was also given about the history of Ahmadiyya and its establishment in India by the blessed hand of the Promissed Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). The blessed institution of Khilafat and the Peace efforts of the fifth Kalif, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) were highlighted. A short note about the registration of the Ahmadiyya community in Croatia 2014 was made.

The first speaker of this evening was Stanko Perica, president of the Jesuit Service for Refugees in Southeast Europe (JRS). He spoke about “Refugee crises as a result of the absence of peace”. Stanko Perica mentioned that “the UN estimates that there are more than 110 million forcibly displaced people in the world today. There have never been so many in history. At the time of the Second World War, when millions of people were fleeing from the fear of death, from slaughter, from genocide, there were between 40 and 60 million displaced people, so today we have twice as many.”

He added that since 1948 we have more than 7 million Palestinian refugees with the tip of the iceberg in the current war marking 85% of the Palestinians being displaced in Gaza. At the end of his speech he said that our religious responsibility is to promote dialogue, education and solidarity which are the tools of peace. Tools that today’s world urgently needs.

The second speaker was Dr. Mijo Nikić a pastor, professor of psychology and author. He spoke about the verses from the Bible “Blessed are the peacemakers because they will be called sons of God”. Talking about the need of peace he said that conflicts and wars do not solve problems, but only increase existing conflicts and create new hotspots of despair. Urgency for peace is never lost because in war everything is lost but in peace everything is gained.

Mijo Nikić mentioned that at the day of Judgement those who know how to effectively show love to those who are in trouble will be saved. People who are compassionate and show solidarity create the best conditions for real peace to reign in this world.

The third speaker was Dr. Sead Alić, a prominent Philosophe and author living in Zagreb. He spoke about how “double standards increase suffering and hinder the path to peace”.

He said that we live in a world where some are allowed to have atomic weapons and others are not, we live in a world where some are Islamic terrorists and others are deranged individuals. Palestinians are terrorists even if they fight for their country similar to Ukrainians. Refugees from countries attacked by western-made bombs are not acceptable compared to refugees from Ukraine. The legal system of the world has been collapsed because the policies of the UN do not apply to the USA or Israel.

Towards the end of his speech he mentioned that the worst thing in the current conflict in Gaza is that people are afraid to even speak out loud against the terror due to the pressure inflicted by the propaganda machinery. This has led to the scenario that people who survived the atrocities of the Holocaust are now torturing and killing Palestinians.

The last speaker of the evening was Murabbi and Sadr Jamaat of Croatia, Rana Munawwar Muhammad. The topic of the speech was about how to halt warfare and move towards peace according to the teachings of Islam.

Murabbi Sahib explained that it is a wrong perception that Muslims hate Jewish people or in any way tolerate terrorism of any kind. Many Verses from the Holy Quran about the principles of war were presented as for example that it is not allowed to harm any religious places as churches, synagogues or mosques. No harm should be inflicted upon children, women and elderly. And that whenever even the slightest opportunity for a peace process is given, has to be adopted immediately.

Examples were given from the history of Islam when the Holy Prophet Muhammed (saw) conquered Mekka and forgave all Mekkans and showed mercy even though they had prior brutally tortured and killed Muslims during the many years of persecution in Mekka.

Another example was given from the conquest of Jerusalem by Hazrat Umar (ra) who granted peace and security to the Christians and Jews in the Peace treaty. He allowed Jewish families to settle in Jerusalem after he cleaned the ancient temple. In respect of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher Hazrat Umar (ra) prayed outside where today a mosque is built. And he gave the responsibility of the keys of that church to Muslims who till today due to mutual respect carry out the duty to open and close the doors of the church every day.

Towards the end of the speech the horrific situation in Gaza was mentioned that in no way even according to the Thora which is also mentioned in the Holy Quran, the principle eye for an eye is not applicable to Gaza, because the number of killed children which mounts 36 Israeli children vs over 10.500 children killed in Gaza (figures that were available at that time), is devastating. There is an urgent need for a ceasefire.

Murabbi Sahib quoted Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih V (atba) from the Friday sermon where Huzoor said: “For as long as world leaders do not couragesly strive for a ceasefire, they are invariably responsible for taking the world towards destruction.” And “The rate at which the state of war is escalating, and how the Israeli government and other major global powers are adopting certain policies, it’s apparent that a world war is staring us in the face.”

Again the attention was put towards the fact that justice and equality has to be established with mutual respect and open dialogue for everyone to bring an end to the conflicts and wars in this world.

The event was concluded by Mišel Androić who thanked the guests for attending the event and draw their attention towards an exhibition which consisted of posters made by 7 and 8 grade students about their message of peace to the world. This exhibition was displayed in the main hall visible to the audience. The programme ended with the silent prayer led by Murabbi Sahib.

After the event guests were invited for refreshments. During this gathering the organizers thanked the guests and the guest forwarded words of appreciation about the event and the message of peace delivered. The event was a great success, especially as it was the very first event of such a kind organized by Ahmadiyya Croatia at such a level. Alhamdulillah.