Page 6 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

Foreword

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t was January 12, 2015. I was lying on a bed in New Delhi’s
I Max Hospital, experiencing severe pain after surgery. The
doctor eventually entered my room and said: ‘Don’t worry,
this is a temporary phase. Soon everything will be normal.’

I had not slept the entire night and these words of the
doctor set me thinking. I began to reflect upon those who
were nowadays engaged in a self-styled holy war.

These perpetrators of violence have made other people
their target everywhere—in places of worship, markets,
hotels, public places, even graveyards. The violence unleashed
by them has led to the merciless killing of large numbers of
innocent people. I was then reminded of a verse from the
Quran which tells us that killing one human being is akin to
killing all of mankind. (5:32) There are now more than seven
billion people in the world. This means that those who kill
even a single person deserve the punishment of killing seven
billion people. I was very distressed when this thought came
to my mind and I questioned myself as to how those who
killed others would bear such severe punishment.
What is the reason behind the seriousness of the issue of
human killing? It is because this matter apparently pertains to
human beings, but in reality it pertains directly to God. This
means that killing a human being is tantamount to intervening
in the creation plan of God. It is to deprive a person of the chance
to live his full life and play the role destined for him by his
Creator. It is only when a person lives out the full span of his

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