[Our readers should note that the below address was given in August 2015—the current state of affairs in the world prove how the words of His Holiness have been proved exactly true—Ed]

After reciting the customary Islamic invocations of Tashhahud^[1], Ta’awwuz^[2] and Surah Al-Fatihah^[3] His Holiness proceeded to say:

“Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and wrongful transgression. He admonished you that you may take heed.”^[4]

The disorder and corruption widespread in the world today have distressed every peace-loving person. Everyone with sympathy and compassion towards humanity is astonished and worried about the current state of affairs in the world. Much has been said and written about this issue, suggesting that this unrest has arisen much more intensely in the Islamic world or that it is being caused by Muslims. And therefore the conclusion is drawn that religion in general, and Islam in particular (God forbid), is the root of this discord. Up until now, the Western world believed that all of this turmoil would remain limited to the Islamic or underdeveloped nations and that it is exclusively a problem confined to them; and that they (that is, the developed nations) would continue to help them (the underdeveloped nations) in the name of resolving these problems and trying to establish justice.
For the past few years, I have been directing their attention towards the fact that the world is in a state of turmoil. Today, it is an error to believe that this situation is confined to a small part of the world. Whilst the majority would agree with my words and explanations, afterwards they would say that they did not think that the world—especially the developed world—would face the horrific situation that “he” has portrayed. However, today their leaders and those who observe world affairs closely have started to say that even the developed world is not safe from this chaos and the terrifying circumstances that stand before us. Thus, the British Prime Minister’s statement also expresses this perilous predicament. The Foreign Minister of Australia has also expressed a similar concern. The former Army Chief of the United Kingdom has voiced similar thoughts. Various newspapers have also started writing on this. The reality is that the world today is enveloped in cruelty and disorder. The developed and well-educated class of people believe that the root cause of this problem is religion, which has now reached its extremes because of a certain Muslim group or organisation. Yet in reality, the root cause of this is their failure to understand religion. The world thinks that we should eschew religion in order to end this disorder and there is abundant propaganda promoting this notion. The press and media also plays its part by saying that religion either makes a person ignorant and dull, or turns him into an extremist. They say that one can only progress by shunning religion and believe that advancement can be achieved by moving away from God Almighty. And due to the spread of this false notion the number of people who deny the existence of God is increasing on a daily basis.

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