"Peace Is Meeting the Needs of the Hour"
Passion for Peace in Pakistan
-Faisal Ilyas-
Faisal Ilyas is a passionate promoter and practitioner of peacebuilding. Born in Pasia Wala village in Punjab province, and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, Faisal grew up surrounded by “peaceful, prayerful, and lovable people,” that set the stage for his sense of and connection to peace.
Grounded in his family’s love and teachings of peace, Faisal continued his education through university. Like many individuals, learnings in university opened Faisal’s eyes of societal issues disturbing peace at community and national levels such as unemployment, domestic violence, extremism, and in Pakistan a fear of terrorism. Understanding and witnessing these issues, Faisal pursued a path to study peacebuilding, conflict resolution, interfaith harmony, and counter terrorism.
In 2013, he joined Catholic Commission for Interreligious Dialogues and Ecumenism, and through that work he “came to know that peace is the basic need of all individuals and peace should be there in everybody's lives.” Further, he worked with Peace Center Lahore for five years, each year celebrating the International Day of Peace on September 21st. He was particularly involved in their 2017 event, and exuberantly shared he felt, “peace was inside my body and coming out from my soul for the welfare of humanity. I was feeling my transformation happening slowly and gradually. On the 21st September, 2017, I was born as a Peace Ambassador.”
Years later, Faisal enthusiastically identifies as a peace activist, peace builder, and peace ambassador. He is also an alum of the 2021 Peace Practice Alliance. Today, Faisal works at Pak Mission Society, and through his work - particularly after the catastrophic flooding through Pakistan in June 2022 - bridges the important gap between humanitarian aid and peacebuilding. He also has started his own initiative, Peace Hope Pakistan, aiming to address five key interconnected areas of peace practice, interfaith harmony, youth, women, and environment.
We recently had a conversation with Faisal to learn more about his work and peace leadership practices. Infused with hope, optimism, and deep passions for peace, here are some excerpts from our conversation with Faisal Ilyas.
How would you define peace leadership and explain what it means to you?
Leadership is to serve humanity by sacrificing at all levels, and peace leadership requires the same but with peace practices integrated into this work. You may have a lot to share, but you first listen to others' problems. Another form of leadership is the effort to sacrifice for the communal good. I feel you are always striving to learn more about peace leadership. You must invest your efforts, time, knowledge and sometimes emotions in order to be considered a peace leader.
What does your work as a peace leader look like in your current context? Please share about your support during the floods and how you see this type of humanitarian work as the work of a peace leader. Help connect the dots for us.
Peace is meeting the needs of the hour. There are different ways to achieve peace as well. Someone’s peace can be found in meeting basic needs like food, clothes, and shelter. Others find peace in poetry or maybe singing, but it's up to us as peacebuilders to identify the real needs of the people around us. Pakistan was hit with a heavy flooding in the month of June 2022 and more than 70% of the country was badly affected. Being a peace activist, I was disturbed and was trying my best to find a way to help the people in need who are suffering. I started a campaign to gather different goods - mineral water, household items, clothes, mosquito nets, etc. As an employee of Pak Mission Society, I took initiatives for the flood response and helped more than 200 families in Charsadda - KPK and Rajanpur - Punjab. After a one month campaign, I packed up everything I had gathered and went to the flood affected areas. We were able to help support more than 300 families. One of our team members, Ms Kinza Roma, went to the Umar Kot - Sindh flood affected area to deliver awareness sessions on women’s hygiene for young girls, married women, and especially pregnant women in the flood affected areas. Along with awareness, she provided 100 kits consisting of sanitary goods and undergarments. This provision of goods and services to people struggling to survive will certainly work towards positive peace in their communities.
What keeps you in this work and motivates you to continue?
I choose to do the research work in peace studies and wish to continue to complete my PhD, as well. Peace work is now in my blood and I wish to continue till the last breath. I always consider myself a person who cares, loves, and smiles for the comfort of the people around me. Now it’s part of my personality and I do not think to do this, rather it comes out automatically. Being a peace practitioner is who I am and who I will continue to be.
What are you most proud of in terms of your peacebuilding work so far?
This question forced me to smile while thinking that people used to call me “Mr. Peace” or “Peace Ambassador” with great love and affection. I feel good and encouraged because they acknowledge my efforts. Many times, I volunteer my skills to help people understand what peace really is, how you can bring peace to others' lives, and how we each can contribute to bringing peace to this world. I feel proud and happy that people remember and acknowledge me as someone dedicated to cultivating peace as a Peace Promoter.
What, if any, regular practices do you have to foster peace in yourself and others?
Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens. Normally people around you have many challenges just as we do. This is an art to deal with things with a brave heart and a flexible mind. In conversations, we start speaking and do not listen properly, which causes incomplete interaction, with peaceful solutions. So one of my practices is a listening practice. I start listening to people and speak at the end, helping give them words they need with a possible solution - coming to ideas together. People are not difficult but they are different, and we need to deal with them differently, meeting them where they are.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a peace leader?
Please find your inner peace, make yourself at ease first. Your calmness matters a lot. Peacebuilding is a journey and you cannot find it with just one single effort. It's a continuous process. There are so many things which can disturb your peace within no time. Peace is the end product of pursuing many things - love, care, compassion, empathy, patience, acceptance, harmony, respect, and promoter of diversity, etc.
How can we best support your work? Are there any resources or organizations that you support or you have been supported by that you’d like to share with our community? (please provide links as well)
Right now, I’m very thankful to the Euphrates Institute for helping me to implement the Personal Peace Practices Project which I’ve done with around 20 young people. There are many initiatives that we can start right now. I need your kind support for a long time. Peace Hope Pakistan (PHP) is my own initiative. Peace is the human agenda. Peace Hope Pakistan is working in five major areas:
Peace practice initiatives pursued through education, culture, and awareness
Interfaith harmony through training workshops, seminars, and dialogues among inter- and intra-faith communities
Targeting youth to raise their voices, aware and sensitize them for progress
Women are an integral part of our society - their rights and empowerment is the need of the hour
Environment is the medium to live a happy, prosperous, and peaceful life. We need to make it clean and green throughout our surroundings
Other efforts for Peace Hope Pakistan include following the 17 SDGs set by The United Nations and the celebration of all national and international days with collaboration of NGOs & CSOs working at grass root levels in Pakistan or elsewhere in the world. PHP is the member organization of United Religions Initiative Pakistan.
Resource Links:
