Pope Benedict XVI has been urged to use his influence to encourage religious tolerance and basic human values throughout the world.
The head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, called on the Pope to act at a recent meeting of Israeli religious scholars with the pontiff.
“It is with regret that if we now observe the current circumstances of the world closely, we find that the foundation for another world war has already been laid,” said Masroor Ahmad. “As a consequence of so many countries having nuclear weapons, grudges and enmities are increasing and the world sits on the precipice of destruction.”
He added that he believes it is “essential” to make efforts to save the world from “destruction”.
The cleric also said the world should judge faith organisations on their true teachings and not on the wrong acts of some of its members.
“If a person does not follow a particular teaching properly whilst claiming to subscribe to it, then it is he who is in error, not the teaching.” he said. “From cover to cover, the Holy Qur’an teaches love, affection, peace, reconciliation and the spirit of sacrifice.
“Hence, if anybody portrays Islam as an extreme and violent religion filled with teachings of bloodshed, then such a portrayal has no link with the real Islam.”
