Main Source: Alislam.org

Islam focuses on securing peace in every sphere of human activity. It encourages all to promote education, respect and tolerance, improve social and interfaith harmony, support charitable causes and serve humanity regardless of race, creed or colour. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community is dedicated to establish peace at all levels and to protect the basic human rights of all. In light of this it is keen to recognise efforts made by anyone to advance the cause of peace. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize is therefore awarded in recognition of an individual’s or an organisation’s contribution for the advancement of the cause of peace.

While the current Nobel Peace prize continues to be given away, there is evidence that it is largely becoming political and in some cases has lost its value due to being challenged by a large number of well known scholars. The giving of Nobel Peace prize for example to President Obama even before he had begun his first presidency was considered highly controversial. As compared to that, while the Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace prize may not be as high profile, it has started to generate interest for its choice of awardees. To date three distinguished personalities/institutions have been honoured with this prize. These are Lord Avebury, Abdus Satter Edhi and SOS Children’s Village UK.

Criteria for Nomination

All nominations must be made on the official nomination form (ANNEX 1) and will be appraised in light of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at’s (Islam’s) ideological framework and will also consider:
1. How has the individual’s/organisation’s work had a direct impact or led to direct change?
2. How has the impact/change advanced the cause of peace?
Peace, or types of ‘peace’ applicable would be economic, social, religious, national or international. This could be achieved in a number of ways, including:

* Negotiation/mediation to bring peace to an area;
* Implementation of any major charitable project for the benefit of humanity;
* Development of ideas (e.g. economic, scientific, political or social) that result in or play a key role in the promotion of peace;
* Playing a leading role in human rights or other causes to highlight particular issues and enable action to promote peace;

Nominees therefore may be from a wide range of backgrounds depending upon the work they have carried out so could include (but are not limited to) journalists, authors, scientists, academics, charity workers, religious leaders, lobbyists, business persons, parliamentarians and country leaders. (This list is not exhaustive).

The basis for nomination could be either long-standing service to a particular cause, or a major project/specific idea that has had significant impact.