Huff Post: Following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, an article by Rob Asgar for Forbes decried the lack of effective leadership in the Muslim world before highlighting the efforts of Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai and former radical Maajid Nawaz in readdressing the balance.
As Asgar put the question:
Why does the Muslim world seem to lack great leaders right now, in the wake of Parisian terror and the ongoing evolution of ISIS?
It is a familiar lament and one which intensifies with every atrocity committed in Islam’s name.
At the forefront of the current cycle of violence is the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL). Since 2011, when fighting broke out in Syria and Iraq, close to 20000 foreign fighters, most of them under 35, have travelled to the region to join the group. As fresh attacks demonstrate, their struggle is no longer confined to the Middle East and like Al Qaeda before them it has taken on an international complexion.
Though still a scant number, these trends show that Muslim youth are increasingly being drawn to radical versions of Islam. What is even more worrying is the lack of effective leadership within Muslim ranks to act as a bulwark against this swell.
However, there is another leading figure in the Muslim world, who along with his followers is forging a path of reconciliation in these perilous times. He too is a Khalifa, but as epitomized by the motto of his community – love for all, hatred for none – the Khilafat he represents is very different to the one of ISIS.
From his offices in the sleepy London suburb of Southfields, whose principal claim to fame is its close proximity to the Wimbledon tennis championships, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad heads the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
For those who are not aware, the Ahmadiyya Movement was founded in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi foretold by the Prophet of Islam. He further claimed to have been chosen by God as a prophet to revive the fortunes of the faith.