I would like to make this question a little more concrete. I did an interview with Mr. Ahmed about 8 years ago. He told me in this interview that in 100 years Switzerland will be Islamic. So after this calculation it would be about 92 years until Switzerland becomes Islamic. My question is, does your conversion work proceed according to plan? And do you perhaps expect special events, that this conversion will occur suddenly one day, or is this a gradual process?
And would, according to this interpretation, Christianity be a transgression of religion? I want to criticise this question. Some 8 years ago I was taking an interview with Sheikh Nasir Saab and he was telling me that within 100 years from now on, Switzerland will become Islamic. Now 92 years are left and my question to you is, is the schedule, the programme of your conversion, Switzerland to Islam, according to your plan, is everything working alright and you are doing your job properly? How it looks like, how your plan is working?
And is it so that you are expecting one big blast after which suddenly everybody will be converted? Or do you think it is taking step by step? Very interesting question, but again asked with a wrong emphasis. If the translation is correct, I am overawed by the question. It presents a picture of Ahmadiyya plotting, as if a secret plot is being hatched by the Ahmadiyya community to overthrow the Swiss system of life and suddenly in a big explosion, you will see Ahmadiyya emerge victorious and the rest of the population’s resistance suddenly breaks down.
This is the impression of the question which I received from the translation. If that is so, it has nothing to do with Ahmadiyya way of life, it has nothing to do with Ahmadiyya thinking. There is no plotting in Ahmadiyya. Everything is above board and open. We have never been suspected of any underground movements of any sort, whether connected with force or otherwise. This is how we preach. We have invited you and I am telling you whatever you want to know. You lead me to regions of inquiry and I am being led by you and I respond to you in whichever region you want me to answer.
Apart from this, we have no system of preaching, no secret sly programs and plots of overthrowing any government or any social system or any religion. So if anybody is afraid of us from these points of view, the fears are totally groundless. But if given us a chance, you come to us through conviction. To stop you from that would be a cruelty to you. As a civilian of Switzerland, you have a right to choose your religion and anybody who stands in your way and my way of genuine civilized dialogue is not only being cruel to me but also is being cruel to you.
So this dialogue is the type of dialogue which must be promoted. It is to the advantage of every person involved. There is no criminal activity, no plot whatsoever. So if you spread it through love, through conviction, what if the whole Switzerland becomes Ahmadiyya or anything else? The major is important. The intent is important and the approach is important. As far as that assessment of 100 years is concerned, I am the head of the Ahmadiyya community. I have an authority to speak on these issues. I have absolutely no reason to believe that this would happen. Not to my knowledge.
So if something has been told to Sheikh Sahib secretly by some authority, I don’t know. As far as I am concerned, I should love not only Switzerland but the entire world including Russia to become Ahmadiyya overnight. This is my ambition. And if it is a crime, I should be punished. We don’t have any kind of secret plans. There is no idea of violence or coercion in our preaching. This is a completely wrong view of things. There are no such plans. But the point is that we have to do this. We have to do this. We have to do this. We have to do this. We have to do this. We have to do this. We have to do this.
The threat that was raised in your question is in turn a threat to you. Because if there is something between you and me, if you are convinced of me or you are convinced of something and there is something in between that wants to take you away from this conviction, then that would be against your conscience. And you are a free Swiss citizen and you have the right to choose your religion. And if you are convinced that Ahmadiyyat is right, then no one has the right to take this conviction away from you.
And in this sense, it is of course my ambition, not just a question of 100 years. Who said that at the age of 100 years, I don’t know because of which authority, because of which information, but I as the head of the Ahmadiyya Way have absolutely no reason to repeat this claim here in this sense. Of course, it is my ambition and my wish that from today to tomorrow the whole world, including Russia, would accept Ahmadiyyat.
But it has to happen on the path of love. It is a question of means and a question of intentions and a question of approach to a subject. And if this is an approach of love and you are convinced of it, then there is no reason why you should be prevented from doing so. May I repeat my follow-up question? You have translated it. Do you think that Christianity is a religion of transition? No, I think Christianity has already undergone all the changes which Christianity could undergo in the last 2000 years.
It’s a long history of Christianity to change from the original and it went through the same fate as everything else in the world does. Even the buildings are gradually destroyed with the passage of time and they lose shape and form and colour. Every religion has gone through some changes. Even Islam has gone through some changes from the point of view of onlookers. This is why 72 sects have come into being from one single Muslim party at the time of the Holy Prophet of Islam.
So Christianity has gone through not only many changes, but it has come to an end. Why I say it has come to an end? Because Christianity now is bequeathing the new generation, not Christianity, but atheism. Because the younger generation in the Christian countries are not any longer interested in new sects and forms of Christianity, rather in an open rebellion against the concept of God. This is the growing fear which Christianity is confronted with.
And if she does not open her eyes to this problem and tackles in time, it will be too late in life for them to remain, to keep Christianity as a life force in the world. So I advise you sympathetically, although we are rivals in religion, but in all honesty we belong to the same stage of those who believe in God. This is the fundamental round which we must gather our forces. So when I said Christianity has reached the teether of all its changes, what I meant was that the second stage of ultimate rebellion against religion as such has already reached and is widening.
So this end means both in the buildings and in the various forms, the sects and so on. And these 2000 years have changed Christianity to a certain extent. So I do not believe that it is a transitional form, but I believe that Christianity has come to an end. Because the result of Christianity, if we look at the current young generation, is not that the young generation is interested in other Christian sects or Christian forms of appearance, but the young generation is a majority rebellious against Christianity, against God himself. And it is time for the religious forces to unite.
Because Islam has also experienced changes. Islam is divided into 72 sects. No, 72 sects and 73rd is the Jamaat. So I said 72 sects. So Islam is divided into 72 sects. And this also shows that different types of play have emerged and are possible. But now is the time that you and we, who are rivals in relation to the forms of appearance of religion, but still should take our forces together to face this second surge of the godless forces and to put these godless forces together.
