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MANAGEMENT BOARDMr Munir-ud-din Shams (Chairman)

Mr Mansoor Shah (Secretary)Mr Naseer Ahmad QamarMr Mubarak Ahmad ZafarMr Mirza Fakhar AhmadMr. Abdul Baqi Arshad

CHIEF EDITOR AND MANAGERMansoor Ahmed Shah

EDITORIAL BOARDBasit Ahmad

Bockarie Tommy Kallon.Fareed AhmadFazal AhmadFauzia BajwaMansoor Saqi

Mahmood HanifMansoora Hyder-Hanif

Navida ShahidSarah Waseem

Saleem Ahmad MalikTanveer Khokhar

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORSAmatul Hadi Ahmad

Farina Qureshi

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Shaukia Mir

DESIGN AND LAYOUTTanveer Khokhar

PUBLISHERAl Shirakatul Islamiyyah

DISTRIBUTIONMuhammad Hanif

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© Islamic Publications, 2007ISSN No: 0034-6721

Views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya

Muslim Community

September 2007, Vol.102, No.09CONTENTSEDITORIALThe significance of fasting in Ramadan.By Bockarie Tommy Kallon – UK....................... 2

ESSENCE OF ISLAM – Part 23 – Revelation, Inspiration, Visions and Dreams The door of converse and communion with Allah remains open today as it was before.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) ...................... 4

AHMADIYYA MUSLIM CENTENARYADDRESS – (1889-1869)A keynote address to an audience of dignitaries at a Thanksgiving Dinner to mark the FirstCentenary of the founding of the AhmadiyyaMovement in Islam. Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru) ........................... 16

THE SIGNIFICANCE AND BLESSINGS OF KHILAFAT Startingoff with our articles on the blessedinstitution of Khilafat: Understanding the great Divine bounty in Khilafat and ourresponsibilities in this regard. By Dr Iftikhar Ayaz Khan, OBE – UK ................ 28

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH(AS) WITH ALLAH THE ALMIGHTYAs with all Prophets of Allah, the PromisedMessiah(as) enjoyed a special relationship with Allah Almighty. By Bilal Atkinson, UK ......................................... 49

Cover photo from Dreamscape Photo Library

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2 The Review of Religions – September 2007

Bockarie Tommy Kallon – London UK

EDITORIAL

The Significance of Fasting inRamadanOnce again we have entered intothe Holy Month of Ramadan towhich Muslims the world overalways look forward with a joyoussurge of anticipation that inspiresthe hearts of the young and the oldalike. During Ramadan, the ninthmonth of the lunar calendar currentin Islam, fasting – completeabstention from food, drink andconjugal relations from dawn tillsunset – is obligatory upon everyadult Muslim, subject to certainpermissible exemptions, notablyfor the sick, infirm, pregnantwomen, nursing mothers and thosetravelling on a journey.

The purpose of the fast, as of allforms of Islamic worship, is todraw people closer to Allah. It is aphysical, moral and spiritualexercise designed to promoterighteousness and guard againstevil. By abstaining from the lawful,it becomes much easier to avoid theunlawful. Among other things, theMuslim learns, through personal

experience, discipline what hunger,poverty and discomfort mean to theless fortunate sections of societyand is better able to empathise withthem. Thus fasting goes a long wayto minimise and remove the painsand sufferings of humanity.

Ramadan is a season of closercommunion with Allah Almighty,providing numerous opportunitiesto seek His pleasure. As such, thebirth of the new moon whichsignifies the start of the lunarmonth is greeted with excitement.Felicitations are exchanged allaround as mosques begin to befilled with eager worshippers. Anextra prayer service is held everyevening during which thecongregation is privileged to listento the recitation of the Holy Qur’anfrom beginning to end over thecourse of the month. Numerouspeople read the Holy Qur’anthrough by themselves. Others hearit inter-preted and expoundedduring discourses held and areflection over the Divine signscontained therein take up a large

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portion of one’s time. Abandoningthe comforts of beds, most of thenight is passed in supplication andglorification of Allah. The day maybe spent in worldly pursuits asusual but, more than during othermonths, the hearts remain tied inthe remembrance and praise ofAllah. Greater attention is directedtowards philanthropic causes suchas caring for the poor, the needy,the widow, the orphan, the sick, thedistressed, the neighbour and thewayfarer. Towards the close of eachday, the heart experiences a glow ofgratitude to the Divine that Hisgrace has enabled one to approachthe end of the fast having spent thenight and the day striving toconduct oneself in conformity toHis will.

Numberless people experiencecloser communion with theirMaker and Creator during thisblessed month, the intensity andfrequency of which continue toincrease as the month progresses.During the last ten days ofRamadan, many people go intoretreat, as it were, into a mosque,devoting their entire time notoccupied by obligatory and volun-tary prayer services, to the study of

the Holy Qur’an and the remem-brance of Allah. This period ofcomplete devotion is the culmi-nation of the physical, moral andspiritual discipline instituted byIslam.

Fasting is the only form of worshipin which the only audience is noneother than God himself. In otherforms of worship, one could allegethat someone is praying or givingalms to be seen as amongst thefaithful but a fast is onlyundertaken for God – there is noshowing-off. The spiritualrecompense of the Islamic fast andits con-comitant activities isbeyond the fancy of the materialist.The Holy Prophet of Islam(saw) isreported to have said:

“There are appropriate spiritualrewards for all worship andrighteous action; the ultimatereward of a person whoobserves the fast solely forwinning the pleasure of Allah isAllah Himself.”

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EDITORIAL

The Review of Religions – September 2007

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I tell you truly that every doorcan be closed but the door of thedescent of the Holy Spirit isnever closed. Open the doors ofyour hearts so that it might enterinto them.

There is no safeguarding lawthrough following which we cansecure ourselves absolutelyagainst mistakes. That is thereason why the philosophers,who framed the rules of logic andinvented the methods ofdiscussion and built the argu-ments of philosophy, fellcontinuously into error. They leftas the legacy of their ignorance

hundreds of false notions andmistaken philosophies and vaindiscourses. This shows that it isimpossible to arrive at the truthof every matter and to determinethe correct doctrines as the resultof one’s own research withoutmaking a mistake. We have neverknown any individual, nor heardof one or read of one in any bookof history, who was free fromerror in the whole field of hisvision and reflection. It follows,therefore, that it is basicallyimpossible to find people who,through the study of the laws ofnature and squaring theirconscience with the circum-

This series sets out, in the words of the Promised Messiah(as), Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmad, a summary of his exposition of four outstanding topics: ISLAM; ALLAH,THE EXALTED; THE HOLY PROPHET(sa) and THE HOLY QUR’AN. The originalcompilation, in Urdu, from which these extracts have been translated into English, wascollated with great care and diligence by Syed Daud Ahmad Sahib, Allah have mercyon him and reward him graciously for his great labour of love. Amin. The Englishrendering is by the late Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, may Allah be pleased withhim, and is quoted from The Essence of Islam, Volume 1. All references throughout,unless otherwise specifically mentioned, are from the Holy Qur’an.

ESSENCE OF ISLAM: Part 23 – Revelation, Inspiration, Visions andDreams

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5The Review of Religions – September 2007

stances of the world, carried theirresearch to the highest level oftruth, without any possibility ofmistake…

Obviously, if man cannot escapeerror through his own knowledgeand if God (Who is Gracious andMerciful, and is free from everymistake and knows the truth ofevery matter) does not help Hisservants through His truerevelation, how could we humblecreatures emerge out of thedarknesses of ignorance anderror, and how could we bedelivered from the calamities ofdoubt and suspicion? I, therefore,affirm with full conviction thatthe wisdom and mercy andsustaining love of God Almightydemand that from time to time,when He deems it right, Heshould create men who should berecipients of revelation for thepurpose of ascertaining truedoctrines and establishingcorrect morals, and who shouldhave bestowed upon them thecapacity of impressing theirteachings upon others so thatmankind, who have been created

for true guidance, should not bedeprived of their needed goodfortune.(Purani Tehrirain, RuhaniKhaza’in, vol. 2, pp. 20-21)

ESSENCE OF ISLAM – REVELATION, INSPIRATION, VISIONS AND DREAMS

The founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community was Hadhrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as).The founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community was HadhratMirza Ghulam Ahmad(as). In 1891,he claimed, on the basis of Divinerevelation, that he was the PromisedMessiah and Mahdi whose adventhad been foretold by Muhammad,the Holy Prophet of Islam (peaceand blessings of Allah be upon him)and by the scriptures of other faiths. The founder’s claim constitutes thebasis of the beliefs of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community.

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The Hidden World ofRevelation God Almighty has divided Hiswonderful universe into threeparts.

(1) The world which is manifestand can be felt through theeyes and the ears and otherphysical senses and throughordinary instruments.

(2) The world which is hiddenand which can be understoodthrough reason andconjecture.

(3) The world which is hiddenbeyond hidden, which is soimperceptible that few areaware of it. That world isentirely unseen; reason hasnot been granted the abilityto reach it, except throughmere conjecture. This worldis disclosed only throughvisions, revelation, inspi-ration, and not by any othermeans.

As is well established, it is theway of Allah that for thediscovery of the first two worlds

that we have mentioned He hasbestowed upon man differenttypes of faculties and powers. Inthe same way, the AbsoluteBounteous One has appointed ameans for man for the discoveryof the third world; and thatmeans is revelation, inspirationand visions. This means is notallowed to be wholly suspendedat any time; indeed, those whocomply with the conditions forachieving it have, throughout,been its recipients and willcontinue to be such.

As man has been created forunlimited progress and GodAlmighty is free from deficien-cies, miserliness and holding-back, it would be an unworthythought that He put into the heartof man the eagerness to learn thesecrets of all the three worlds andyet has deprived him wholly ofthe knowledge of the means ofacquiring knowledge of the thirdworld. This impels wise peopleto believe in the permanent needof inspiration and visions andthey do not confine revelation,like the Aryas, to the four Rishisbeside whom it is impossible for


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a fifth person to arrive at thatexcellence. Instead, wise people,believing in the absolute bountyof God Almighty, deem the doorof inspiration ever open and donot confine it to any country orreligion. It is true, however, thatit is limited to the straight path.By treading along this path theseblessings can be achieved,inasmuch as it is necessary forthe achievement of everything tofollow the rules and methodswhich are necessary for itsachievement. Wise people do notdeny the wonders of the world ofvisions. They have to admit thatthe Absolute Benefactor, Whohas bestowed upon man facultiesand powers for the discovery ofevery little matter in the firstworld, would not deprive man ofthe means of discovering thegrand affairs of the third worldthrough which a true and perfectrelationship with God Almightycan be established, and true andcertain understanding havingbeen achieved, the lights ofheaven become manifest in thisvery world. This method is alsoopen, like the methods ofdiscovering the other two worlds,

and the truthful people adopt itwith great conviction and followit and obtain its fruits.

The wonders of this third worldare numberless. In comparisonwith the other two worlds, theyare like the sun as compared to agrain of poppy seed. To insistthat the mysteries of that worldshould be wholly revealedthrough reason would be likeshutting one’s eyes and insistingthat visible things should becomeperceptible through the sense ofsmell.

The wonders of the third worldtotally frustrate reason. No oneneed be surprised at the creationof souls for in this very worldsuch mysteries are revealed tothose who have experience ofvisions, that reason wholly failsto penetrate their reality. Attimes, a person who has acapacity to see visions can seesomeone from a distance ofhundreds of miles despitenumberless intervening obstruc-tions. In fact, on some occasions,in a state of complete wakeful-ness, he can hear his voice also,


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and it is even more wonderfulthat sometimes the other personcan hear the voice of the firstone. On occasions, in a visionresembling the state ofwakefulness, he can meet thesouls of those who have passedon. As a general rule, meetingwith all dwellers of graves –blessed or benighted – is possiblein this manner. I myself have hadsuch experiences.

This refutes entirely the doctrineof the transmigration of soulscurrent among the Hindus. Thegreatest wonder is thatsometimes one possessing thecapacity for vision, throughconcentration, appears to anotherperson, with the permission ofGod Almighty, at a distance ofhundreds of miles in a state ofcomplete wakefulness withouthis body moving from its place.Reason holds that a personcannot be at two places at thesame time, yet this impossibilitybecomes possible in the thirdworld. In the same way, a personof understanding witnesseshundreds of wonders with hisown eyes and is surprised at the

denial of those who altogetherreject the wonders of the thirdworld. I have witnessed thewonders and rare visions of thatworld with my own eyesapproximately five thousandtimes and have experience ofthem happening to myself.

It would take a large volume torecord details of these expe-riences. One wonderful aspect ofthese experiences is that somematters which have no externalexistence come into beingthrough Divine power. Theauthor of Futuhat and Fusus andother great Sufis have recorded anumber of their own experiencesof this kind in their compilations.But as there is a great differencebetween hearing and seeing, Icould not have obtained thatcertainty by merely reading theseaccounts which I have acquiredthrough my own experience.

I recall that in a vision I saw thatI had drawn up with my ownhand certain Divine decreeswhich related to the future andthen presented the paper to GodAlmighty, the Omnipotent, the


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Glorious, for His signature. (Itshould be borne in mind that itoften happens in visions and truedreams that some Divineattributes of beauty or gloryappear in human form to theperson seeing the vision and heimagines the form to be GodAlmighty. This experience iswell-known to those who arefavoured with visions and cannotbe denied). In short, I presentedthat book to that personificationof beauty, which appeared asGod Almighty, the Omnipotent,the Incomparable and theUnfathomable, in the state of myvision. On my presenting thatdocument, God Almighty, Whoappeared in the form of a ruler,dipped His pen in red ink andsprinkled it in my direction andwith the ink that remained at thepoint of the pen He signed thedocument. Thereupon the visioncame to an end and when Iopened my eyes I saw severaldrops of red ink fall on myclothes and two or three of themfell on the cap of one ‘Abdullahof Sannaur who was sitting nearme at the time. That red inkwhich was part of the vision

became materialised and becamevisible externally.

I have seen several other visionsof the type which it would taketoo long to set down, butwhereby my own experienceconfirmed that sometimes amatter that is observed in a visionassumes external form by thecommand of Allah. Thesematters cannot be appreciatedthrough reason alone. Indeed aperson who is afflicted with thepride of his reason hears thesethings and affirms arrogantly thatthey are impossible and false andthat the person who claims tohave had such experience iseither a liar or is mad or is self-deceived and for lack of properresearch, has not been able topenetrate to the reality. Such aone does not reflect that thesematters are testified to bythousands of the righteous fromtheir personal experiences, andof which they undertake ademonstration to those whomight keep company with them.Can they be set aside with mereverbal denials?


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The truth of the matter is that,apart from the wonders of theworld of vision, reason has notbeen able to comprehend fullyeven that which pertains to theworld of reason and there aremillions of Divine mysterieswhich are still hidden andbeyond the reach of the wise. (Surmah Chashm Arya, RuhaniKhaza’in, vol. 2, pp. 175-181,footnote)

Man’s Ability to ReceiveRevelation As God has invested man withthe faculty of reason for theunderstanding, to some degree,of elementary matters, in thesame way God has vested in hima hidden faculty of receivingrevelation. When human reasonarrives at the limit of its reach,then at that stage God Almighty,for the purpose of leading Histrue and faithful servants to theperfection of understanding andcertainty, guides them throughrevelation and visions. Thus thestages which reason could notreach are traversed by means ofrevelation and visions, andseekers after truth thereby arrive

at full certainty. This is the wayof Allah, to guide to whichProphets have appeared in theworld. Without treading thispath, no one has ever arrived attrue and perfect understanding.But a poor dry philosopher is insuch a hurry that he desireseverything to be disclosed at thestage of reason. He does notknow that reason cannot carry aburden beyond its strength, norcan it step further than itscapacity. He does not reflect that,to carry a person to his desiredexcellence, God Almighty hasbestowed upon him not only thefaculty of reason but also thefaculty of experiencing visionsand revelations. It is the height ofmisfortune to make use of onlythe elementary means out ofthose that God has, out of HisPerfect Wisdom, bestowed uponman for the purpose ofrecognising God, and to remainignorant of the rest. It isextremely unwise to let thosefaculties atrophy through lack ofuse and to derive no benefit fromthem. A person who does not usethe faculty of receivingrevelation and denies its


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existence cannot be a truephilosopher, whereas theexistence of this faculty has beenestablished by the testimony ofthousands of the righteous and allmen of true understanding havearrived at perfect understandingthrough this means. (Surmah Chashm Arya, RuhaniKhaza’in, vol. 2, pp. 87-90)

Non-Prophets Can also ReceiveRevelation Some ignorant clerics go so far intheir denial that they assert thatthe door of revelation isaltogether closed and that it is notopen to a Muslim to enable himto perfect his faith through thisbounty and then to actrighteously under the urge of hisfaith.

The answer to those who thinklike this is that if the Muslims areso unfortunate and blind and arethe worst of people, why havethey been named the best ofpeople by God Almighty? Thetruth is that those who think likethis are themselves foolish andstupid. As God Almighty hastaught the Muslims the prayer

that is set out in the SurahFatihah (Ch.1:Vs.6-7). He hasalso designed to bestow uponthem the bounty that wasbestowed upon the Prophets; thatis to say, the bounty of conversewith the Divine which is thefountainhead of all bounties. HasGod Almighty merely cheated uswith this prayer? What good canthere be in a useless and fallenpeople who are even worse thanthe women of Israel of the past?

Obviously, the mother of Mosesand the mother of Jesus wereboth women and, as ouropponents also believe, theywere not Prophets. Yet they werefavoured with Divine revelation.Is it to be imagined that if aMuslim were to have such a puresoul as that of Abraham and wereto be so obedient to GodAlmighty as to cast aside his egoaltogether, and were to be soabsorbed in the love of GodAlmighty that he should entirelylose his own self, yet he cannotbe the recipient of revelation likethe mother of Moses? Can anyreasonable person attribute suchmiserliness to God Almighty?


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My only response to such peopleis:

Curse of Allah be upon theliars.

The truth is that when thesepeople became the insects of theearth, and the only insignia ofIslam left in them were theirturbans, beards, circumcision, afew verbal affirmations, andmere formalities of observingPrayer and fasting, GodAlmighty deadened their hearts.Thousands of dark veils coveredtheir eyes and they lost all signsof spiritual life. They thus deniedthe possibility of converse withthe Divine. This denial is, intruth, a denial of Islam; but sincetheir hearts are dead, they do notrealise their own true condition. (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part V,Ruhani Khaza’in vol. 21, pp.310-311)

O ye Muslims! Beware that suchthinking is sheer ignorance andstupidity. If Islam is such a deadreligion, whom can you invite toit? Will you carry its corpse toJapan or will you present it to

Europe? Who would be foolishenough to fall in love with a deadreligion that is bereft of allblessing and spirituality such asappeared in the religions of thepast? In those religions evenwomen received revelation, aswas the case with the mother ofMoses and the mother of Jesus,but your men are not equal evento those women. O ye stupid andblind ones, our Holy Prophet, ourlord and master (thousands ofblessings be on him) was aheadof all Prophets in his spiritualgrace. The grace of previousProphets came to an end at acertain stage and now thosepeoples and their religions aredead. There is no life in them.But the grace of the HolyProphet(saw) continues till the Dayof Judgement. That is why it isnot needed that a Messiah shouldcome from outside for hispeople. To be brought up underthe shadow of the HolyProphet(saw) can convert a humbleperson into a Messiah, as Godhas done in my case.(Chashma-e-Masihi, RuhaniKhaza’in, vol. 20, p. 389)


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Revelation: the Highest Stageof Divine Understanding Our claim is true and is clearlyestablished that by treading alongthe straight path a true seeker canbecome the recipient of Divinerevelation. My own experiencetestifies to it. Besides, everyreasonable person canunderstand that there is no higherstage of the understanding of theDivine in this world than that aperson should converse with hisGracious Lord – glory be to Him.This is the stage where souls arecompletely satisfied and alldoubts and suspicions areremoved. Having arrived at thisstage of purification a personachieves the understanding forwhich he has been created. Thisstage is truly the key to salvationand to solving the problems ofephemeral existence. It proveshow close the True Creator is toHis weak creation. We havelearnt of this stage by the lightwhich is the Qur’an. That lightgives us the good news that thefountain of revelation never runsdry. When any dweller of theEast or the West, searches forGod Almighty and makes his

peace with Him and removes theintervening veils in between, hewill surely find Him; and whenhe finds Him truly and perfectly,then God will speak to him.

The Vedas have denied man thisstage and have confined it to thefour Rishis, who, according tothe Arya Samajists, are theauthors of the Vedas. This is anerror of the Vedas like the othergreat errors contained therein. Itis obvious that all human beingsare alike in their nature and whatis possible for one man ispossible for all, and the closenessto the Divine and Hisunderstanding, which is permis-sible in the case of one humanbeing, is permissible in the caseof all, for they all have the samenature. It is true that there isdiversity in respect of the degreesof excellence, but no one is shutout from the kind of excellencewhich is open to others. Shouldthere be a person who should nothave the slightest capacity toacquire human excellence thenthat person cannot be includedwithin the category of humanbeings. In short, there can be a


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difference in capacities, but therecannot be a total absence ofcapacity. (Surmah Chashm Arya, RuhaniKhaza’in, vol. 2, pp. 239-240)

The Gracious and Merciful Lord,Who has invested human naturewith the hunger and thirst of Hisown complete understanding hasendowed human nature with twotypes of faculties for the purposeof arriving at that understanding.One type is the intellectualfaculties, the source of which isthe brain, and the other type isspiritual faculties the source ofwhich is the heart. The purity ofspiritual faculties depends uponthe purity of the heart. Thatwhich cannot be discoveredthrough the intellectual facultiesis reached through the spiritualfaculties. Spiritual faculties candevelop such purity that thegraces of the Source of Grace canbe mirrored in them, but thecondition is that they should beeager for the acquisition of graceand all intervening veils andobstructions should be removedso that they might become therecipients of the grace of perfect

understanding. Their recognitionof the Divine should not belimited to the affirmation thatthere should be a Creator of thisuniverse. Rather, by beingperfectly graced with the honourof Divine converse, they shouldbe able to behold Hiscountenance directly throughhaving observed His great signsand should thus be able to seewith complete certainty that thatCreator truly exists. But as thenature of most people is not freefrom obstruction, they areafflicted with the love and greedof the world, pride, arrogance,self-esteem, hypocrisy, self-worship, and other moral delin-quencies, and are deliberatelyneglectful of the obligations dueto Allah and to His creatures, andpurposely turn away fromsincerity and fidelity and love ofGod and devotion to Him, andcut asunder deliberately fromGod Almighty.

On account of all types ofobstructions, veils, desires andpassions, they are not qualifiedthat the grace of converse withthe Divine should descend upon


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them which should exhibit thelights of their being acceptable toGod.

Yet the eternal bounty of God,which does not wish that humannature should go to waste, makesit possible for most humanbeings to see occasionally truedreams or to receive truerevelation so that they shouldrealise that the way for theirstepping forward is open. Buttheir dreams and revelations donot indicate their beingacceptable to God and are notaccompanied by signs of the loveand grace of God, nor are suchpeople purified of the impuritiesof their egos. They see thesedreams so that they might befurnished with an argument forbelieving in God’s Prophets, forif they were to be deprivedaltogether of the understandingof true dreams and truerevelations, and they should haveno certain knowledge of them,they could plead before GodAlmighty that they were unableto understand the reality ofProphethood for they had noknowledge of it. They had no

sample of it before their eyes.Therefore, from the beginning ithas been the way of God thatirrespective of a person beinggood or bad or righteous ordisobedient, or being thefollower of a true faith or of afalse one, he is shown truedreams or is vouchsafed truerevelation so that his conjecturewhich derives from hearing ofsuch matters may be convertedinto certainty and he may have asample in his hands which shouldhelp his spiritual progress. TheWise Creator has so fashionedthe human brain and has soinvested it with the spiritualfaculties that it can see some truedreams and can receive sometrue revelations. But thesedreams and revelations are not anindication of any spiritual rank orgreatness, but are only a sampleof the way through whichprogress could be made. (Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, RuhaniKhaza’in vol. 22, pp. 8-10)


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After recitation from the HolyQur’an by Mr Laiq AhmadTahir; its translation by MrBashir Ahmad Orchard; awelcome introductory address byMr Aftab Ahmad Khan, thenNational President of theAhmadiyya Muslim AssociationUK; a poem recited by anArmenian leader; and a speechby Lord Avebury, Joint-Chairman of the ParliamentaryGroup for Human Rights;tashahhud, ta’awwudh andbismillah, Huzur(ru) said:

AhmadiyyaMuslimCentenary(1889-1989)

Keynote Address byHadhrat Mirza TahirAhmad, KhalifatulMasih IV(ru)

Delivered at aThanksgiving Centenarydinner attended byseveral leading MPs,MEPs, Mayors,Councillors,Ambassadors and otherdistinguished guests atthe Grosvenor HouseHotel, London W1, on 23March 1989 (100 yearsafter the foundation ofthe Ahmadiyya MuslimJama’at on 23rd March1889).

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Your Lordships, Rt. Hon. Mr.David Mellor, MP, YourLordships the Mayors, YourExcellencies the DiplomaticRepresentatives of variouscountries and all theDistinguished Guests

First of all I thank you forgracing this occasion with yourpresence and for being so kind tous. I shall speak on just a fewpoints as I know the night isripening rapidly and I see thesigns of fatigue on some facesalready, so I will not take muchlonger of your time.

Now, we have been discussingthe subject of tolerance andpersecution.

According to my study tolerancehas always been an outstandingfeature of the British character.The only thing the British cannottolerate is intolerance. It is therewhere there is a parting of theways between them and us.

We have somehow learnt to livewith intolerance not only inPakistan – it will be unfair to

single out the country Pakistan,which is my country (and mybeloved country for that matter);but, unfortunately, there is anattitude of intolerance towardsAhmadis – but there are othercountries in the world whichhave been intolerant. Therewould always be other countries(that are intolerant): it onlydepends on how far you havecreated a threat to the old order.From then on, once the messageis delivered, a potent force ofrevolution starts striving ahead,or forging forward, to change theorder of things which havebecome obsolete and bring abouta new order. When this sort ofrevolution is challenged –whether it is a challenge ofcoercion to be carried out or to beachieved with the help of thesword or whether the challenge isthrough persuasion, love andcontinuous sacrifice, regardlessof this – this challenge is alwaysmet with hatred and utmosthostility. Human history bearsme out that there is no change inthis relationship. This relation-ship between the challenger ofthe old order and those who

AHMADIYYA MUSLIM CENTENARY ADDRESS – (1889-1989)

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belong to the old order is aconstant in the history of humanaffairs.

Religion particularly has beenposing this challenge in variousparts of the world. Now,sometimes this challenge in thebeginning is so humble, soinsignificant to look at that it isimpossible for anybody tobelieve that religion poses a realthreat and can usher in a new era,a new order of things, a newsystem or a new religious code ofvalues and so on and so forth.

Look at the history ofChristianity, for instance. Howhumble was Jesus Christ, peacebe upon him? How helpless werehis few disciples? The teachingwas amazing, yet so powerless tolook at from the point of view ofthe Roman Emperor and hisdeputies, governors etc. Theteaching was that if somebodysmacks you on the right cheek,offer the other one. How couldthis small insignificant section ofsociety, looked down upon bytheir own people, by the Jews,react? They were so small in

number and so weak in theirsocial status. They were allfishermen; in fact almost all ofthem, as far as I remember, werelooked down upon and belongingto the lower status of society. Ontop of it, add this teaching thatyou are not permitted to hit backat your offender. Yet thatmessage was taken veryseriously. It posed a threat. Thatmessage was understood by thewhole society. What was there inthat humble message – that mostmeek attitude in life – whichcreated such turmoil and threat tothat region? It was the basicpotential of truth.

It is the truth which the peoplefear. Whether it is meek, humble,softly spread or boldly deliveredto the opponents, it still remainstrue. It is only the truth whichpeople of an age who are untruehate. So the prophets and themessengers of this entire worldcome in an age which is living alie, such as, unfortunately, thisage today.

I do not want to hurt thesensibilities of any human being.


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We have been on the receivingend as far as hurting the sensi-bilities are concerned. We fullyunderstand. We know what thesuffering is, to be hurt and to belashed many times. So it is not inthat spirit at all that I am sayingthat the world is living a lietoday; it is because this is true.

I am a man of truth. I know I ama man of truth from my owninner personal experience andfrom my long relationship withhuman beings and with God, myCreator. So when I express truth,even if it sounds bitter to someears, I express it with humilityand with softness.

I do not say that Ahmadis aretrue. Never in my sermons or anydeclaration of mine have I madethat tall claim. I keep tellingAhmadis that all your sacrificesare for the sake of truth; forupholding truth. If you yourselflose the battle within yourselfthen you have no right to wage abattle outside you, without you,in the society, to cause anydisturbance at all. So this is thereal plight of Ahmadis.

It is not a question of Pakistan orIndia, even in Britain we haveseen hard days. We have beenpersecuted here. The gentlemansitting before you, anEnglishman by birth, acceptedthe Ahmadiyya Community andhe was beaten up miserably inthe streets of Batley here inEngland.

So the persecution does notbelong to any particular countryof the world. It all depends onhow far the challenge of truth hasgone. That challenge may not beso vocal. It may be inherent andlatent as a quality in somepeople. But the truth is the mosthated thing in the world whichlives a lie as I have repeatedlysaid.

By living a lie permanently, ifyou penetrate deeply in the fabricof all human organisations andthe human philosophies whichsupport those organisations, youwill find, unfortunately, thatthere is nowhere any com-mitment to absolute truth inhuman affairs today.


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I know there are politicianssitting on my right and on myleft, and I love them both. Theyare wonderful human beings intheir personal relationships, but Iam sure that as representatives ofGreat Britain, they can playhavoc with the peace of othercountries if their interests clashor dare to clash with those ofGreat Britain.

This is what I mean: there is alack of adherence to absolutevalues. There is no value such asloyalty to truth, justice and fairplay. There is no truth even in acountry being philanthropist andkind to the requirements of theneedy.

What happened in Africa a fewyears ago? What is happeningtoday in Sudan? The entire richworld knew what was coming byway of drought and famine andby way of deaths of hundreds andthousands of people out ofmerciless hunger. They knew itin advance, because the UnitedNations special experts hadpredicted it. The entire world’sgovernments had been informed

in advance about this coming.Nobody was moving; nobodywas taking any steps to alleviatethe forthcoming suffering ofAfrica.

Preparations should have beenundertaken far ahead of timewhen this was about tomaterialise, because it is notpossible to start helping peoplejust like that in these greatfamines scouring thousands ofmiles of difficult territories andin an area which cannot becommunicated with easily. Butnobody was moving. Why? Itwas because you were dealingwith not just the sheer reality ofthe suffering but with politics,foremost and uppermost.

There were countries that werefriends of Russia. If America hadstarted helping them, whileAmerica could, these countrieswould still enjoy the friendshipof Russia yet beg America forbread. That was not acceptable topoliticians. Russia was wreakingfurther suffering on those areasbecause that would have broughtsuch countries closer to the leftist


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philosophy. Suffering and hungeralways deliver the message ofcommunism better than anopulent society could ever do. Sothe Russians were wreaking theworst that was to come. Thingsstarted happening. It was alreadytoo late and the conditionsworsened. Even if committed,the powerful nations could nothelp to remove to any real degreethe suffering that humanity, aswe know from the news, issuffering (sic) in large areas ofWest Africa.

So that is what I mean by living alie. We stick to values inprinciple. We speak very highlyof civilization. We want toproject our image as a peopleunderstanding the human valuesand really intend to promotethose values. It is good as far asall this does not conflict with ourown personal interest. Themoment that values begin toconflict with personal interest,the entire superstructure of thesevalues falls apart. Nothing is leftout.

This is the difference between

true religion and civilization. Attimes religion appears to be moreheinous, cruel and backward thanthe polished sheen of civilizationbut in real terms of human valuesand real periods of crises, it isalways true religion which comesto support humanity at large. SoChristianity has been performingan immense task of humanservice not only in Europe but inAfrica and in other Third Worldcountries.

So we as Ahmadis belong to thatpart of the world which isconsidered religious, but it is somisunderstood unfortunately.People claim that it is religionwhich creates disorder; it isreligion which is a cause ofpersecution. We have been on thereceiving end; we should knowbetter. I know and I bear witnessto this fact that it is not religion,it is politics which plays havocwith religion and begins toexploit religion. It is the ulteriormotive of certain people –whether they are in religiousgarbs or political garbs – it is stillpolitics in the wider sense of theword “politics” and not in the


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limited sense in which you knowwhere politics is in Great Britain.I mean that personal ulteriormotives must be served and thatis what is understood to be thepolitics at large in the world.And, as such, it is the corrupthuman beings who exploitreligion.

Religions have never meant theuse of force. Religions alwaysstand for absolute values. Thebest test for that is to go closer tothe sources of religion. Theymust be purest at the source.

If you look at Islam through thereflecting mirror of Khomeinitoday I would not call it a fairattitude because Khomeini isstanding 1400 years from thesource of Islam, which emanatedfrom the revelation to HadhratMuhammad Mustafa(saw). So ifyou are passing politicaljudgement, you have every rightto pass a judgement and censurewhat Khomeini stands for but forGod’s sake do not mix it withreligion. Religions must bejudged at sources.

Would it be fair to judgeChristianity in the reign of QueenElizabeth I; or during the periodof persecution in Spain; or theBlack Death in Europe whenthousands of Jewish houses wereburned and Jews occupying thosehouses were burnt alive? Was itreligion? Is that how you judgeChristianity? Certainly not. Soplease, for God’s sake, do notjudge Islam through thereflecting mirrors of Khomeini orQaddafi or any other politicalleader of modern times whohappens to be a Muslim.

As far as Islam goes we knowthat the Holy ProphetMuhammad(saw), the founder ofIslam, and his followers weremost mercilessly persecuted.They never persecuted a singlesoul in the first era of Islamichistory even after they becamepowerful.

Talking of Salman Rushdie’sbook, which was incidentallymentioned, of course, it is not thefixed subject for today’s topic,but because it was brought upearlier let me refer to it briefly.


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It is said that in Islam thepunishment for blasphemy isdeath. No, not at all indeed,because in the time of the HolyProphet of Islam(saw) himself,blasphemy of the highest orderwas committed against hehimself and this fact wasrecorded in the Holy Qur’an aswell in the Tradition.

The fact to which I am referringto is more of an episode inIslamic history but a verybrilliant episode. Returning froman expedition which wasunfortunately a very unfruitfuland a very tiring expedition,considered to be a total failure bysome; an erstwhile leader ofMadinah known by the nameAbdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul,who had been deprived theopportunity of becoming thecommon leader of the entireMadinah because of themigration of the ProphetMuhammad(saw), was a member ofthat expedition. Abdullah binUbayy bin Salul kept needlingthe Holy Prophet(saw) for what hehad done to him by deprivinghim of acquiring that eminent

position of becoming the leaderof all the united tribes whooccupied Madinah at that time.So Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salulthought he had a chance of alifetime. So in company hedeclared that, “when we return toMadinah, the one mosthonourable will surely drive outtherefrom the one most mean”(Ch.63:V.9) and vilest inMadinah and banish him fromMadinah forever. These are thewords used by him recorded inthe Holy Qur’an and also theTraditions.

Of course everybody understoodthe message. The lovers of theHoly Prophet(saw) were infuriatedbeyond control. One after theother, they approached the HolyProphet of Islam(saw) for per-mission to murder this man whohad committed this blasphemy ofthe highest degree. And theanswer every time was, “No! Notonly would I not permit you tomurder him but there is nopunishment for that person.”Abdullah b. Ubayy’s own sonapproached the Holy Prophet(saw)

to build his case in a very


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interesting manner. He said, “OProphet of God! I know why youare not permitting others tomurder my father because youknow that I am a true Muslim. Itwould hurt me and I may at someunguarded moment rememberthis and take a vengeance againstsome other Muslim who hadmurdered my father. But I havecome to seek permission tomurder my own father. I amseething with indignation forwhat he has done to you. Pleasepermit me.” The answer was,“No, no question of anypunishment.” Long after thatwhen Abdullah bin Ubayy died,despite the strong advice ofothers including those whobecame Caliphs of Islam later on,the Holy Prophet(saw) ledAbdullah bin Ubayy’s Janaza(funeral) prayer himself. Theburial rites were led by the HolyProphet(saw) himself.

This is Islam as known toAhmadiyya Community. This iswhy we are so sure we are boundto become victorious. These arevalues which know no defeat.These are surviving human

values. If a religion has thesequalities, these are the challengesto the old order which make suchpeople who stand for such valuesmost hateable.

So it is not only Pakistan; it isunfortunately the distortedattitude of mankind towards truthwhich is causing us all this. But Iam not afraid. I do not believe inself-pity at all. I tell my followersnever to indulge in pityingthemselves.

The other day, in fact yesterday, Ireceived a message fromRabwah, the Headquarters, thatthe Government of the Punjabhas issued an order that noAhmadi in the Punjab ispermitted to celebrate the 100thanniversary year in anywaywhatsoever and it went on tomention in detail what was to bea final deciding factor in the eyesof the law. If you distributesweetmeats to your children, it isa crime. If you distribute alms tothe poor, it will be considered acrime punishable by rigorousimprisonment. Even if you areneutral or near-joyous in some


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way you will be imprisoned. Theperson, a responsible officerfrom Rabwah, who informed mewas on the verge of breakdown.His voice was shaking and Ithought he would have abreakdown and start crying.

I told him: “What is this non-sense? You are taking pity onyourselves. Those people whohave to take pity on others, theycannot indulge in the luxury ofpitying themselves. Those peoplewho begin to pity themselvesbecome weak in character andbecome nincompoops. They areincapable of bringing about agreat revolution. So my order toyou is to respond in a completelydifferent way. Tell them that wereject your attempt. We willfrustrate your attempt to make usunhappy. What we have earned isGod’s mercy in the last 100years. It is making it incumbentupon us to express our joy atGod’s mercy. So even if we areclothed in rags and tatters, we aregoing to walk the streets ofRabwah laughing and joyous.Whatever you may do, youcannot defeat a people who have

that spirit to live and conquerwhether there is opposition of allsorts.” That changed the wholeattitude. His voice suddenlyacquired a steel edge to itself.

Ever since I have been receivingreports from all over the Punjabthat, “whatever may happen to uswe are enjoying ourselves. Theyare imprisoning some youths,arresting them from here andthere for defying the publicorder. But they have their rights.Even in prison, they go outkissing their handcuffs andshouting “ALLAH-O-AKBAR!(Allah is Great) What a greatachievement? You have failed tosuppress us! You have failed tomake us unhappy!”

This is the spirit. These are thehuman values which mustemerge conqueror in the end.And that is what we know andstand for. We positively knowthis takes time: sometimescenturies of quiet sacrifice,generation after generation. Wehave steeled ourselves for thatand are not expecting any quickresults anywhere in the world.


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What the last one hundred yearshave shown us is that the nextone hundred years have greatthings in store for us.

When I compare this time withthe first century of Christianity Ido sympathise with thoseChristians who used to makethese claims and people lookeddown upon them as mad meneven at the end of the firstcentury. They were not found inmore than a few countries andthey were put to the beasts of thejungle. In the Colosseum, peopleroared with laughter when a poorhelpless Christian was devouredby a beast and the crunching ofthe bones was the most dry soundin their ears. I remember all thatand I knew that the entire RomanEmpire and their might could notdefeat Christianity, because thewill of the people, its dedicationto truth, and its readiness forsacrifice were what were insur-mountable. And so this juncturein history that we are passing hasre-assured me in the light of thepast human endeavours that wewill emerge victorious in the endby the Grace of Allah and all the

best men will emerge victoriouswith us.

May Allah bless you. Let methank you all once again with allmy heart for coming this eveningand spending this precious timewith us.

I know there are many festivalsand feasts where people go andbask in the light and glory of thatevent because they think to bethere is to achieve something, tocome into the limelight. Butthere are others who visit suchoccasions and bring their lightand glory along with them. Theyenlighten the atmosphere whenthey are in such places. To me,you belong to that category.

It was said by the Amir UK,Ambassador Mr Aftab AhmadKhan, that he thanked all thedistinguished guests. To mydictionary of religious termi-nology, all guests are distin-guished. So I take up from thereand turn to those who mightconsider themselves left out asundistinguished guests. No all ofyou are very, very dear guests as


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most distinguished guests. Thankyou once again, one and all, forcoming and sharing this

wonderful time with us. Allahbless you.


Verse references to the Holy Qur’an item count ‘Bismillah...’ (Inthe Name of Allah...) as the first verse of each Chapter. In somenon-standard texts, this is not counted and should the reader referto such texts, the verse quoted in The Review of Religions will befound at one verse less than the number quoted.

In this journal, for the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘(saw)’ or‘saw’ after the words, ‘Holy Prophet’, or the name ‘Muhammad’,are used. They stand for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’ meaning‘Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’. Likewise, the letters‘(as)’ or ‘as’ after the name of all other prophets is an abbreviationmeaning ‘Peace be upon him’ derived from ‘Alaihis salatuwassalam’ which are words that a Muslim utters out of respectwhenever he or she comes across that name. The abbreviation ‘ra’or (ra) stands for ‘Radhiallahu Ta’ala anhu and is used forCompanions of a Prophet, meaning Allah be pleased with him orher (when followed by the relevant Arabic pronoun). Finally, ‘ru’or (ru) for Rahemahullahu Ta’ala means the Mercy of Allah theExalted be upon him.

In keeping with current universal practice, local transliterations ofnames of places are preferred to their anglicised versions, e.g.Makkah instead of Mecca, etc.

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(Based on a speech delivered atJalsa Salana, Mauritius, on 17September 2006.)

Allah has promised thoseamong you who believe anddo good works that He willsurely make them Successorsin the earth, as He madeSuccessors from among thosewho were before them; andthat He will surely establishfor them their religion whichHe has chosen for them; andthat He will surely give themin exchange security andpeace after their fear: Theywill worship Me, and they willnot associate anything withMe. Then whoso is ungratefulafter that, they will be therebellious.(Ch.24:V.56)

From the beginning of the knownhistory of mankind, God hasbestowed upon humanity the

blessings of Khilafat. Theinstitution of Khilafat is thatheavenly system of leadershipwhich Allah the Almighty grantsto the body of believers for theirspiritual prosperity and progress.The institution of Khilafat is thatcohesive factor, that bindingaspect, which brings togetherpeople of all races, nations andbackgrounds, under the unity ofOne Creator. This is a greatbounty of Allah Almighty whichis conditional upon the faith andrighteous deeds of the believers.This heavenly lifeline is, in fact,the rope of Allah. To hold on tothis Divine rope is a verifyingfeature for the Community of thebelievers and is a guarantee oftheir peace, sanctity and spiritualprosperity. The truth is that theprogress and glory of Islam islinked with Khilafat.

The verse quoted above fromSurah Al-Nur (Chapter 24)

The Significance and Blessings of KhilafatBy Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz, OBE

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THE SIGNIFICANCE AND BLESSINGS OF KHILAFAT

mentions the wisdom of theDivine system of succession. It isa unanimous consensus of allcommentators that this versepertains to the Islamic Khilafat.Allah has promised to appointKhulafa; He will transformsituations of fear into peacefulones. But Allah expects thebelievers to promulgate the Unityof God on earth and strive torefute any religions that associatepartners with Allah. This is aconditional promise; if theMuslims fulfil the conditions laidby Allah, and as long as theycontinue to fulfil them, Khilafatwill remain amongst them. Beliefin the Unity of God necessitatesunity among the Muslims. Thisunity can only be maintained aslong as there is only one Imam(leader) for the entire Muslimnation. Khilafat provides us witha system to have one Imam for theentire Ummah (Muslim nation). Itis therefore implied in the versethat was recited that whenever theMuslims cease to have only oneImam among them, Khilafat willbe taken away from them.

In this connection, the Holy

Prophet Muhammad(saw) said:

‘O Muslims! This prophet-hood will remain with you aslong as Allah wishes it toremain. Then it would come toan end, to be replaced withKhilafat which would be onthe pattern of prophethood,and would remain as long asAllah wills. Then this Khilafatwould also come to an end.Then there will be the rule ofthe oppressors and that periodtoo will come to an end. Afterthat, Khilafat on the pattern ofprophethood, would re-emerge.’ (Musnad Ahmad: Vol.5,P.404)

After saying this, the HolyProphet(saw) did not add any furthercomments, inferring that it wouldcontinue till the Day ofJudgement.

At the time of the demise of theHoly Prophet(saw), the Companionswere overwhelmed with insur-mountable grief and Allah theAlmighty blessed them with theinstitution of Khilafat. During this

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golden era, Islam spread far andwide with full glory. The HolyProphet(saw) had already spoken ofthis when he had said:

‘O Muslims! It is essential foryou to follow my Sunnah, thatis, my practice, and thepractice of my Khulafa,because they will be grantedguidance from Allah theAlmighty.’

Within a span of just thirty years,during Khilafat-e-Rashida(rightly-guided Khilafat), Islamgloriously spread not only all overArabia, but as far and wide asAfghanistan and the borders ofChina, Cyprus and NorthernAfrica; the banner of Islam wasfluttering all over with theblessings of Khilafat. Then after along spell of tragic events forIslam, the Mercy of Allah surgedonce again and in accordance withHis promises, Allah Almightyraised the Reformer of the LatterDays – the Leader, the Imam, theSaviour, the Guided One, raisedto the status of the PromisedMessiah. The purpose of hiscoming was:

[to] Revive the faith and establishthe Law.

That is, the revival of Islam andenforcement of its teachings, itslaw, its rules and regulations, toensure the spiritual and moralprosperity of Muslims. All thecommentators of the Holy Qur’anagree that the verse,

He it is Who has sent HisMessenger with the guidanceand the Religion of truth, thatHe may cause it to prevailover all religions… (Ch.61:V.10)

prophesises the supremacy ofIslam over other faiths and itsvictory is to be fulfilled with all itsgrandeur during the time of theImam Mahdi(as).

Hadhrat Syed Muhammad IsmailShaheed(ra) writes in his book,‘Status of the Imam’ that:

“The advent of faith wasinitiated by the Holy

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Prophet(saw) and its finalvictory will be at the hand ofHadhrat Mahdi(as).” (Mansab-i-Imamat, P.76)

Today we witness that that ImamMahdi and the Promised Messiahis none other than Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian who,as the most loyal and devotedspiritual son of the HolyProphet(saw), with hisimmeasurable love for the HolyProphet(saw), dedicated eachmoment and breath of his life tothe revival and consolidation ofthe mission of the HolyProphet(saw). And as a single soul,totally unknown to the world, heraised a voice from a remote andisolated corner of India, whichwas blessed by Allah, and theJama’at of the Righteous whichhe founded, soon grew to over ahundred thousand within hislifetime.

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

‘This is the reason Allah theAlmighty has sent me, so thatthose who have righteoussouls may be drawn towards

the Unity of God. The fact isthat it is not possible for anyhuman being to have eternallife, therefore, Allah Almightydevised the system of Khilafatso that at no time wouldmankind be deprived of theblessings of Khilafat.’

‘Nabuwwat’, that is, prophethood,differs from Khilafat becauseprophethood comes when there isabsolute spiritual darkness. ButKhilafat comes when that initialdarkness has been eradicated bythe prophet and there is a body ofrighteous followers established bythe prophet. That Community ofthe righteous people then elects aleader with the guidance of Allah.It is abundantly clear that it is GodWho makes a Khalifa. The wordsin the Holy Qur’an, ‘He willsurely make them Successors inthe earth, as He made Successorsfrom among those who werebefore them’, clearly point to thefact that it is indeed GodAlmighty Who makes theKhalifa. A person cannot becomea Khalifa by being a candidate forthe job or by canvassing of anykind. Even when apparently a

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majority of the people arechoosing a Khalifa, it is God Whoputs in their minds whom tochoose.

In his book, Al Wasiyyat [TheWill], in which the PromisedMessiah(as) informed of hisnearing departure from this world,he explained this point further bysaying:

‘When this has always beenthe way how the Will of Allahworks, showing twomanifestations of His Power,you should not thereforegrieve over what I have toldyou, nor should you letyourselves be heartbroken, foryou are destined to see thesecond manifestation of God’spowers as well. And thecoming of that manifestationwould be better for you, for itwould be everlasting, of whichthe chain shall not break untilthe Day of Judgement.’

Accordingly, Allah’s decree wasfulfilled and after the unbearablegrief of the demise of thePromised Messiah(as) and the fears

associated with it, Allah theExalted once again, by the powerof His second manifestation,reassured the believers. Onceagain in the heavily overcast skiesof Islam, the blazing sun ofKhilafat-e-Ahmadiyya rose on the27th of May 1908, effusing thelight of peace and calm in everyheart with the election of HadhratMaulana Nur-ud-din(ra) as the firstKhalifa. He spoke in gloriousterms about the institution ofKhilafat. He said:

“After 1,300 years this bountyhas been granted and weshould be grateful for that.This shall not be given toanyone again until the Day ofJudgement, so be grateful forit, because those who aregrateful, for them the bountyis always increased.”

We, who have the honour to bewithin the fold of this Khilafat,witness and experience itsblessings day in, day out, and wehave absolute faith in the secondpart of this prophecy that theDivine institution of Khilafat willcontinue to the Day of Judgement.

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Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V (mayAllah prolong his life) hasexplained this in a beautifulmanner. He has said:

“The second manifestation ofKhilafat that we are witnessingtoday is an immense gift fromAllah Almighty, with anobjective to unite mankind andprotect it from discord. It is thatstring in which the Communityis threaded like pearls. If pearlsare scattered about, they areneither safe nor do they appearbeautiful. Indeed, pearlsthreaded in a string alone aresecure and at their loveliest.Thus, true faith cannot advancewithout this second mani-festation. Therefore, keep a linkof love, sincerity and devotionwith it; make your zeal forobedience to Khilafat ever-lasting. Develop the fervour ofyour love for it to such anextent that all other rela-tionships appear trivialcompared to it. All blessingsare in loyalty to the Khalifa andthis alone is a shield for youagainst all trouble and strife.”

Likewise, Hadhrat KhalifatulMasih II(ra) stated:

“Just as only that branch isfruit-bearing that is attached toa tree and a severed branchthat is cut off from a treecannot bear fruit, similarlyonly that person can serve theCommunity beneficially whois devoted to the Khalifa. Onewho does not keep a bond withthe Khalifa, the Imam of therighteous, despite having allthe knowledge of the world,cannot be of any service toIslam, and neither will heachieve real success in life.” (Reprinted in Al-Fazl,Rabwah, May 2003)

He further said:

“Listen carefully, and remem-ber that Khilafat is the rope ofAllah and it is such a rope thatyou can make progress only ifyou are holding on to thisrope. The one who will nothold this rope will bedestroyed.” (Dars-ul-Qur’an, March1921)

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“Accordingly, submission toKhilafat is not only obedienceto the commandments ofAllah and His Messenger; it isvital for peace, security andprosperity in this world. TheKhalifa is the ladder toachieve increasing closenesswith Allah.” (Al-Fazl, September 1947)

It must be well understood thatin the verse quoted earlier, theword ‘Yastakhlifannahum’demonstrates that the Khalifawho is chosen is the Successorof the Prophet of Allah, and notthe Successor of the previousKhalifa. That is why in Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya, every Khalifa iscalled Khalifatul Masih, that is,Khalifa of the Messiah. He is thevicegerent of God Almighty onthe surface of this earth and themost beloved person in the sightof Allah. Being a representativeof the Master of the Universe,successes and victories are laidbefore him. With the guidanceand succour of Allah theExalted, he is blessed withvictory.

Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II(ra)

said:

“No one can create any hurdleor barrier in the way of the onewho is appointed Khalifa byAllah. He is given a power anda Divine status and theaccomplishment of successand victory is inherent in hisnature.” (Al Fazl, Qadian,March 1941)

The fact is that the system ofKhilafat which is gifted to thebelievers is a very blessed andmagnificent system of leadership.Khilafat is instituted by AllahHimself in the Jama’at of therighteous, laced with theornaments of pious deeds.Khilafat is appended to prophet-hood and is a perfect shadow ofthe light of prophethood. Khilafatis like the shining moon ofprophethood; it beautifullyreflects the blessings and theblazing light of prophethood.

Khilafat is a Divine provision toconvert each and every fear of thebelievers into calm. It propoundsthe worship of One and only One


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God with such brilliance that theconcept of worshipping any otherentity is hard to sustain. It isKhilafat that testifies the faith andgood deeds of the believers andunites the entire nation in love andturns them into a beautiful rosaryof beads, connecting andprotecting each other.

Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV(ru)

strongly urged us by saying:

“Tie yourselves up inextri-cably to Khilafat till the Dayof Judgement. Surely if youwill remain with Khilafat,Khilafat will definitely remainwith you. That is the nature ofthe relationship between thetwo which will result insustaining the Unity of God.”

Today, we are witnessing the fifthchapter of the blessed institutionof Khilafat. The great gloryworking in favour of HadhratMirza Masroor Ahmad (mayAllah prolong his life) is clearlyevident.

The prophecy revealed to thePromised Messiah(as), Inni ma’aka

yaa Masroor” (I am with you, OMasroor!), is being fulfilled withgreat glory. Today, theAhmadiyya Community is aunique body which has earneditself a unique honour and aglobal identity because of itsservice to humanity. Its blessingshave encompassed the entireworld. We who have faithfullysubmitted to Khilafat very wellknow the fountain of blessingsgushing for mankind to benefit.The services provided in the fieldsof education, preaching andpublication have raised theJama’at to an unmatchable posi-tion. In this turbulent, tumultuousworld, the Ahmadiyya Jama’attoday is an island of unity, peaceand cohesion under the shade ofAllah’s mercy.

Today, by the grace of Allah, thisJama’at is established in about190 countries of the world and thenumber of Ahmadis runs intomany millions. It is with theblessings of Khilafat that theJama’at has been turned into asolid body and all the blessingsthat were promised to the body ofbelievers in Surah Al Nur by


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Allah the Almighty have beengiven to Jama’at Ahmadiyya.Wherever enemies attempt tocreate fear, the help of Allahdescends immediately upon HisJama’at and He dispels all fearsand grants us help and victorywith His grace.

Truly, a great blessing of Khilafatis the unity, discipline andsolidarity it has provided toJama’at Ahmadiyya. The essenceof this blessing is the obedienceto Allah and His Holy ProphetMuhammad(saw). It is thatcomplete obedience which everyAhmadi – wherever he is andwhoever he is – feels honoured tohave wholeheartedly to theKhalifa and to those appointedby him to run the affairs of theJama’at.

The world can observe that byAllah’s grace, every moment,everywhere, the world ofAhmadiyyat is witnessing theglowing light of Allah’s succourand guidance and, under theDivine blessings of Khilafat, theJama’at is moving on towardsensuring the ultimate victory of

Islam. Along with a strongnetwork of Jama’ats wellestablished in over 190 countriesof the world, the Jama’at iscontinually producing literaturein local languages to introducethe pristine teachings of Islamand in this respect the mostsignificant achievement is thetranslation and publication of theHoly Qur’an in over a hundredprincipal lan-guages. In fact,within a few decades, theAhmadiyya Jama’at has pro-duced several times moretranslations of the Holy Qur’anthan were produced during theprevious 1400 years of Islambecause of the Divine blessingsshowered upon it throughKhilafat. This work is continuingat enormous speed by Allah’sgrace.

Similarly, through the blessingsof Khilafat, the Jama’at has builtthousands of mosques in almostevery country of the world andthat number is growing rapidly.Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III(ru)

established the Nusrat JehanScheme to serve humanity in allregions of the world in order to


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appease suffering by openinghospitals, schools and centres ofhuman welfare. He coined theslogan ‘Love for All, Hatred forNone’. And under anothercharity organisation, HumanityFirst, established by HadhratKhalifatul Masih IV(ru), there areso many schemes to provideclean water and alternative,affordable sources of energy tothe poor in Africa and elsewhere.

A unique blessing accorded tothe adherents of Khilafat is thecapacity for financial sacrifices.The Jama’at is totally self-reliantand accepts no assistance orsupport from anyone outside theJama’at. It is the sheer blessingsof Khilafat that the Jama’at isable to afford services like thetwenty-four hour InternationalSatellite Television Station,Muslim Television Ahmadiyya(MTA).

In fact, every Ahmadi hasvowed, for the sake of thepropagation of Islam, to sacrificehis life, wealth, time and honour.This is the only Jama’at todaythat spectacularly demonstrates

the scenario of the sacrifices ofthe pioneers, the Companions ofthe Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw).

Today, the world is waiting for usto step forward and call mankindtowards the Word of God. Today,there are billions of hearts devoidof the love of the HolyProphet(saw). It is up to us to winover those hearts with the love ofIslam and the love of the HolyProphet(saw). That is the way tohonour the priceless gift ofKhilafat from Allah.

Another great blessing for us isthe prayers of the Khalifa. TheKhalifa’s prayers are rewardedmost by Allah. Hadhrat KhalifatulMasih II(ra) says:

“When Allah raises someoneto the status of Khilafat, Healso blesses his prayers withassured acceptance. In fact,the supplications of theKhalifa are more powerfulthan the prayer of any otherindividual.” (Mansab-i-Khilafat, p.32)

There is hardly any Ahmadi who


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has not experienced the miraclesof the acceptance of the Khalifa’sprayers. Not only that, but thereis also a large number of non-Ahmadis who have unshakeablefaith in the prayers of theKhalifa. I will mention here justone event related to the greatpolitician of India, Sir FerozKhan Noon. It was anunforgettable favour of HadhratKhalifatul Masih II(ra) on SirNoon. He had been married forsix years with no child. It was in1925 that one morning his wifetravelled from Lahore to Qadianto see Huzur(ra). She arrived asHuzur(ra) was preparing to go forZuhr prayer. She emotionallyrelated her plight to Huzur(ra) andsaid that she feared that herhusband would marry a secondwoman. Huzur(ra), along withother members of his family,prayed for her and by Allah’sgrace a son was born one yearlater. The Noons had morechildren later on but this son,Noor Hayat, who was the fruit ofthe Khalifa’s prayers grew up tobe a God-loving person and avery successful politician andmember of the National

Assembly. (Al FazlInternational, 15 February2002)

Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II(ra)

said:

“There is one for you who hasaffection and compassion foryou. He has love for you atheart. He considers youraffliction as his own and yoursuffering as his own suffering.He fervently supplicates foryou before Allah. But there isno such person for thoseoutside the panel of Khilafat.When one person is sick in afamily, the whole familybecomes worried and restless.Just imagine the condition ofthe Khalifa who has not one,but hundreds and thousands ofsuch people to pray for.”

The Holy Prophet(saw) said, ‘Yourbest leaders are those whom youlove, whom you pray for and whopray for you.’ Our present Khalifa(may Allah prolong his life), inhis discourses, and in his sermons,has repeatedly drawn ourattention towards the importance


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of prayer. Huzur has said that theblessings of Khilafat areconditional for those who do goodworks and are regular in prayerand observe Allah’s com-mandments with passion.

It is therefore the responsibility ofevery Ahmadi to look into his orher own life and see to whatextent it is in accordance with theteachings of Islam. It is notmerely an observation, nor acustom to say that you have lovefor the Khalifa. You have to havethe real sentiment and you have tothen follow it with perfectobedience and act upon it in orderto be blessed with the specialfavours of Khilafat by Allah.

The Companions of the HolyProphet(saw) demonstrated through-out their lives a most heart-rendering and awe-inspiringexample of devotion and sacrificeand absolute obedience to theProphet of Allah(saw). They said tothe Holy Prophet(saw) that, ‘We willfight on your right and we willfight on your left and the enemycannot reach you until they goover our dead bodies.’ This was

clearly evident from the exampleof one such Companion whofought in battle at every side ofthe Holy Prophet(saw) to defendIslam that his body was choppedinto seventy pieces and onlythrough one part of his little fingerdid his sister recognise his body.Such was the obedience of theCompanions of the HolyProphet(saw). Similarly, once ano-ther Companion, Abdullah binMasood(ra), was in the street whenhe heard the Holy Prophet(saw)

saying “Sit down.” Abdullah binMasood(ra) sat down in the middleof the street immediately and didnot wait even for a moment inorder to obey the Prophet ofAllah(saw).

The same was the obedience thatwas shown by the Companions ofthe Promised Messiah(as). We cansee how Hadhrat KhalifatulMasih I(ra) was obedient to thePromised Messiah(as) as whereverhe would be, as soon as hereceived a message from thePromised Messiah(as) to come, hewould stop all that he was doingand set out to be with thePromised Messiah(as). When the


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Promised Messiah(as) once said tohim ‘You should not go to Bhera’(his home town), that obedientservant never even thought onceof returning to his homeland. ThePromised Messiah(as) used to say,‘Nur-ud-din follows me like theveins follow the beating of theheart.’

There is also the example of HafizRoshan Ali(ra) who had only onedress. Hafiz Roshan Ali(ra) wouldwash his clothes every Thursdaynight and then wear the sameagain on Friday morning. Onenight, it was freezing cold and hisdress was hanging on the washingline outside. He received amessage from the PromisedMessiah(as) that said, ‘I need you,please come.’ Hafiz Roshan Ali(ra)

got up straight away and put onhis cold wet clothes and wrappedhimself in his quilt and presentedhimself to the PromisedMessiah(as).

The examples of such heart-rending devotion and dedicationare so many. These incidents arenot mere tales; they are not theresimply to be related and then

forgotten. The point to rememberis that whenever we refer to themwe must also reaffirm our ownpledge of allegiance to Khilafat.Every moment we should besaying, ‘O our beloved Khalifa,we are going to sacrificeeverything we have for yourservice – our life, our time, ourhonour – everything is a sacrificefor you, whatever you order us todo, we shall oblige.’ Today, thetime has come for us to trulydemonstrate the fulfilment ofthose pledges that we have made.Our claims of loyalty to Khilafatwill only be proven right when welive out our assertions during ourdaily lives, bringing about a puretransformation in our conduct andacting upon all commands anddecisions of the Khalifa. We needto form a close bond with theKhalifa in order to benefit fromthe blessings of Khilafat. EveryAhmadi has the facility to requesta meeting with Huzur. Huzur’stours to various countries enablethe people of those countries topartake of those blessings. EveryAhmadi should make it a habit offrequently writing to Huzur andseeking his prayers and guidance


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at every step in life. We are indeedhighly fortunate to have beenhonoured with this Divineinstitution and we should make itour obligation to serve thisinstitution in every possiblemanner, so that we can becomethe deserving recipients of Allah’sfavours. Huzur has said that eachAhmadi should try to pray all thetime for the strength of theKhilafat. We should makechanges in our lives so that wecan serve the Khalifa and therebyspeed up the march towards thevictory of Islam.

Even if every particle of ourbodies and souls turned inappreciation towards Allah, westill cannot fulfil the demands ofgratitude. We must develop thissentiment in our hearts that weneed to be grateful to Allah theAlmighty so that He grants us theability to fulfil this responsibilityand we may continue to benefitfrom the spiritual light that isbestowed upon us through thisnoble institution.

A fundamental and importantresponsibility of the righteous

with regard to Khilafat is that theyshould respect, love and honour itfrom the depth of their hearts.Their attachment to it should beabsolutely solid always, saving itfrom the slightest scratch. Thiscan only happen when it ismatched with the spirit of totalobedience to the Khalifa. Whenwe believe with conviction thatAllah chooses the Khalifa and theKhalifa is the vicegerent of Allahon this earth and he is also themost beloved of Allah in thisworld, then it is incumbent uponus that we love him with our heartand soul. We should be preparedto sacrifice everything in his way.There should be no lack ofenthusiasm in the obedience ofthe Khalifa. It should be taken justas obedience to the HolyProphet(saw).

Obedience means that each andevery word coming from theKhalifa should be passionatelycomplied. To forget or neglect anedict of the Khalifa isunbecoming of a true Ahmadi.Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I(ra)

said:

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“Bai’at, that is the pledge ofinitiation into Ahmadiyyat, isin reality total submission tothe obedience of the Khalifaand never to ignore even theslightest of his commands.” (Al-Furqan, June 1967)

Regarding the relationships andthe responsibilities of therighteous towards the Khalifa,we should bear in mind that theHoly Prophet(saw) said:

“If you witness the presenceof the Khalifa on this earth,submit to him, even if yourbody is tattered into fine fibreand all your wealth isplundered.”(Masnad Ahmad bin Hambal,Hadith No. 22353)

The love that the Khalifa holdsfor the people of the Communityis something that we witnessdaily in our lives. What we needto focus on is the extent of ourlove for the Khalifa. We receivehis prayers at every moment andwe should also pray for himtruly. Every Ahmadi must alsomake it his duty to listen to the

sermons of the Khalifa andencourage our youngsters to doso also. This is an absolutenecessity. The meaning ofobedience is that we oblige toevery call that comes from theKhalifa. It is not the dignity of anAhmadi that he or she overlooksthat instruction or bypasses it.Our present Beloved Huzurfurther says:

“If you aim to progress andbe triumphant over the world,then my advice to you andmy message for you is tomaintain a bond withKhilafat and to firmly holdonto this cord of Allah. Allour advancements areinherently dependant upon abond with Khilafat.”

The greatest blessing promisedthrough Khilafat is theprotection, the stability, thespiritual strength and progress ofIslam and the gift of peace andcalm from within, accorded tothe believers. That is expressedin the part of the verse of theHoly Qur’ans:

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…and that He will surelyestablish for them theirreligion which He has chosenfor them…(Ch.24:V.56)

It is an irrevocable declarationand promise of the Master of theUniverse that through Khilafat Hewill provide that strength,harmony and unity to Muslimsthat will enable them to fulfil theheavenly decree of Islam’svictory. Implicit in this assuranceis also the fact that those outsidethe panel of Khilafat will betotally deprived of such blessingsand success and progress will beshowered upon those within thefold of Khilafat.

The world today is a witness thatthis great Divine promise is beingbeautifully fulfilled in theastonishing accomplishments andachievements of Jama’atAhmadiyya and the plight ofthose who are still wonderingwhat to do. Let everyone whobelieves in Allah and His HolyProphet(saw) and the Holy Qur’anknow full well that the onlysanctuary of peace and protection

from the evils of this world issubmission and total obedience ofthe heavenly appointed Khalifa. Ifwe really have a heart for Islam, ifour heart cries for what we seehappening against Islam in theworld today, then we should nothesitate even for a moment toshed all our doubts for the sake ofAllah’s blessings and moveforward to pledge our devotionand faithfulness to the Khalifa ofthe day.

The present times, with all theiranxieties and concerns, demandthat every fair-minded personshould assess and appreciate forhimself how Allah the Exalted hashonoured Jama’at Ahmadiyyawith the gift of Khilafat. Truly, inthe eyes of Allah, this is the onlyJama’at in the whole worldwhich, through its word anddeeds, has fulfilled the Divineconditions to deserve Khilafat.

Accordingly, the claim of theAhmadis that they are, in theworld of today, the true models ofthe pure teachings of Islam andthey are the ones who are movingon the path of righteousness and

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the fast track towards the finalvictory of Islam has become anabsolute fact. Today, no one canever find lasting peace, harmonyand prosperity anywhere besidesunder the wings of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya.

Let those out there come out ofthe darkness of ignorance,prejudice and negligence and seefor themselves the blazing sun ofKhilafat and radiate their soulswith its light. Let us not bedestroyed by our ego and falseimage.

The Muslim world, with greatconcern and anxiety, hasattempted to establish Khilafat tounite the Ummah. But all suchattempts have met with frustrationand some of those who dreamt ofbecoming ‘Amir-ul-Momineen’(Commander of the Faithful) havemet a horrifying tragic end. Leteveryone know that the only God-gifted Khilafat is Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya that will last till theDay of Judgement and there canbe no other Khilafat or Khalifa orAmir-ul-Momineen besides theone the seeds of which were sown

by the Mahdi and Messiah of theLatter Days, Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad of Qadian(as).

So O ye claiming to be the loyaland loving servants of the HolyProphet(saw)! Come forward, shedall your doubts and hesitationsand move into the sanctuary ofAhmadiyyat to enjoy the decreedfruits of Divine Khilafat.

There are so many Muslimscholars lamenting the depri-vation of Khilafat. A well knownnon-Ahmadi scholar of Pakistanby the name of Rahmat Ali writes:

“The whole nation is guilty ofdestroying the institution ofKhilafat. Muslims all over theworld today are beingdisgraced and humiliatedbecause they have ignored therighteous faith. There is onlyone solution and that is theentire Muslim nation, byreviving the institution ofKhilafat, should gather underone banner.” (Roze Nama Din,21 May 2002)

It is through the blessings of

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Khilafat that the progress ofAhmadiyyat has been reallyspectacular especially sincePakistan declared Ahmadis to benon-Muslims. It is a demons-tration that God is behind thisCommunity and behind theKhalifatul Masih. Efforts toannihilate Ahmadiyyat have notsucceeded. On the contrary,Ahmadiyyat is on the march withever increasing vigour. How greatis Allah! How Merciful andCompassionate is He! He is withAhmadiyyat. He is withKhalifatul Masih always and weare marching forward with everincreasing speed under the ableleadership of Khalifatul Masih V.

Inclusive in obedience to theKhalifa are all those providingservices to the Jama’at on behalfof the Khalifa. We are blessedwith a wonderful and uniquesystem of organisation andmanagement (Nizaam) whichcaters for the spiritual and moralneeds of all members of theJama’at according to their age andgender. The spirit of obedience inIslam flows down from Allah tothe Amir and down to all the

office bearers. The HolyProphet(saw) said that when you areunified at one hand and you havean Amir and someone tries tobreak your unity and divide you,you should completely disas-sociate with such a person andrefuse to accept what he says.(Muslim Kitab, Al-Amaarah)

Our beloved present KhalifatulMasih has instructed that theJama’at office bearers must workdiligently and honestly to fulfiltheir duties. They have to be justand fair and serve people withutmost humility. He said:

“Remember, if you have madethe claim that you loveKhilafat because of Allah,then the administration of theJama’at is part of the Khilafatand you have to be obedient toit. You have to be faithful tothe administration of theJama’at.”

Every Ahmadi must rememberthat the Promised Messiah(as)

likened his followers to the greenbranches stemming from his ownself and he has said that it is only

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by becoming established with thissystem of Khilafat that you willbecome the green branches,otherwise the one who severs thislink will see the severed branchesdry up. So remember the plight ofanyone who tries to break thisunity.

In less than two years from nowInsha’Allah (God-Willing),Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya will becompleting its first 100 years. Aswe are stepping into the secondcentury of this Divine era, Huzurhas drawn our attention toobserving a fast every month,offering two Nawafil (voluntaryprayers) everyday and recitingspecial prayers to seek Allah’sforgiveness and mercy and toremain under His protectionalways. Huzur has also instructedus to join the institution ofWasiyyat and be prepared to offergreater sacrifices for the victoryof Islam. We should make surethat the institution of Khilafatcontinues to grow stronger andstronger with time so that ourprogeny, generation after gener-ation, continues to enrich itselfwith the blessings of Khilafat

bestowed upon us by Allah duringour lives. It is also a blessing ofKhilafat that we have the Waqf-e-Nau Scheme for preparing ourchildren to shoulder, withexcellence, the futureresponsibilities of the Jama’at.

The youngsters of today will bethe leaders and ambassadors ofthe Jama’at tomorrow. To createlove for the institution of Khilafatin their hearts and to bind themwith this blessed system is a vitalduty of the parents. It is a sign ofthe living and progressing nationsthat the future generations arebrought up to keep the flagfluttering for which theirancestors sacrificed their lives. Inview of the significance of thisgreat responsibility, HadhratKhalifatul Maish II(ra) had taken apledge from the Jama’at, thewords of which are just asimportant and relevant today asthey were then. The pledge was:

“We will continue to strive tillthe last breath for the stabilityand the safeguard of theinstitution of Khilafat and wewill ensure that our progeny,

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generation after generation,remain solidly attached toKhilafat and benefit from it sothat Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyyacontinues till the Day ofJudgement and the work of thepropagation of Islam con-tinues through the AhmadiyyaMovement and the flag ofHadhrat Muhammad(saw) risesabove all other flags. O ourGracious God, enable us tofulfil this pledge!”

Today, we must leave thisgathering with the pledge that wewill become the right hand of ourbeloved Khalifa; that we aregoing to prove every word of ourpledge to be true and follow ourbeloved master to whichever pathof righteousness he will call us.We will run to that call and willsacrifice everything that we holddear; our life and our death will beat his feet. Let each one of us holdAllah as a witness that we aregoing to hold the precious wordsof our Khalifa within our heartsand we are going to mould all hisdirections into true actions in sucha way that even the angels whoare made of the substance of

obedience, will envy us. O OurGod! Grant us the ability so thatwe can fulfil this promise, for allexcellence and all praise belongsto you, the Benefactor of all. MayHe grant us the ability to fulfil allour pledges.

So O ye the kindling lights ofKhilafat on this beautiful island ofMauritius! Rise up to the demandsof the time and fulfil yourcovenant to our beloved Khalifato transform yourselves into thepristine models of the teachings ofIslam, so that by the charisma ofyour spiritual powers and themagnetic force of your conduct,you become the cause of guidancefor all on this island and beyond.Our beloved Khalifa has beenhere and is proud of you. So striveon and keep the flag ofAhmadiyyat flying high. May youall enjoy everlasting unity, peace,harmony and prosperity throughthe blessings of Khilafat. Allah bewith you always!

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COMPETITIONKhilafat Centenary Article

The Review of Religions is running a competition for articleson Khilafat to be published during 2007-s2008.

The winning entry will receive a copy of The Review ofReligions in which the best article is published and it will bepersonally signed by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V!

Articles must be unpublished and original and between 4,000words and 7,000 words on one of the following topics:

1. The blessings of Khilafat in Islam2. The institution of Khilafat3. The impact of Khilafat-e-Rashida or

Khilafat-i-Ahmadiyya 4. The concept of Khilafat in religious thought

All entries will be judged by the Editorial Board and theBoard’s decision will be final.

To qualify for this unique opportunity entries must be fullyannotated with cross-references relevant extracts of whichshould be supplied with the article for verification andsubmitted in English in MS Word to reach The Review ofReligions office in London by 30 November 2007. You mustinclude your full contact details including name, address,telephone number and email address. Late entries will not beentertained. Unless prepaid postage is enclosed, unpublishedarticles will not be returned.

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(Based on an address at the UKAnnual Convention at HadeeqatulMahdi in July 2007)

Allah the Almighty’s relationshipwith all His prophets is clearlystated in the Holy Qur’an:

Most surely We help OurMessengers and those whobelieve, both in the present lifeand on the day when thewitnesses will stand forth.(Ch.40:V.52)

This verse holds out a promise toall Divine messengers that God’shelp, comfort and support willalways be with them and the evildesigns and plans of theirdisbelieving opponents will allultimately fail. The truth of thisgreat promise has been demon-strated again and again throughoutthe history of prophet-hood andespecially during the lifetime of theHoly Prophet of Islam,Muhammad(saw). This everlasting

promise of Allah the Almighty toHis prophets has more recentlybeen manifested during the lifetimeof Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmad(as), the Promised Messiahand Mahdi of the Latter Days.

There are so many incidents toillustrate this close spiritualrelationship during his lifetime thatit is impossible to recount them all.However, a few events will behighlighted to describe this Divinerelationship that was demonstratedso manifestly during the life of thePromised Messiah(as).

Throughout his life as a Prophet ofGod, the Promised Messiah(as) wasoften denounced and received allsorts of abuse from his opponentsand he has remarked:

“When such diseased peoplemake Prophets of God thetarget of their insinuations andthink ill of them, God becomestheir enemy and stands up in

The Relationship of the PromisedMessiah(as) with Allah the AlmightyBy Bilal Atkinson – Hartlepool, UK

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defence of His Prophets. Heguards the honour of His dearones with such jealousy as isunparalleled. When I wasmaligned and assailed indifferent ways, the sameprotective jealousy of Godbecame operative in mydefence.” (Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol.20: Al-Wasiyyat, footnote p.317)

The Promised Messiah’s(as)

relationship with Allah theAlmighty began in his childhood.He related that he felt himselfpowerfully attracted towards Godand he was also faintly consciousand aware that some time in thefuture God would engage him tofulfil some of His Divine plans.Even as a small child he requestedhis cousin Hurmat Bibi, thedaughter of his maternal uncle, topray that he may ‘be granted thegrace of prayer.’ This most humblerequest from an innocent childproved that he had a pure heartfilled with the love of God.

In 1869, the Promised Messiah(as)

was requested to hold a debate withand refute certain doctrinesexpounded by Muhammad Hussain

of Batala who had recentlyqualified as a maulvi and whoseviews were not approved of oracceptable to his fellow citizens.The Promised Messiah(as)

proceeded to Batala that sameevening. Muhammad Hussain wasin the mosque and opened thedebate with a speech in which thePromised Messiah(as) found nothingobjectionable regarding certaintheological points as he found themin accord with Islamic teachings.He openly declared that there wasnothing in the speech whichrequired refutation and refusedfurther debate.

For his open and truthful statementthe Promised Messiah(as) wasridiculed not only by hisopponents, but, alas, also by thosewho had invited him to supporttheir views in the debate. Such washis love for truth and honesty thathe was prepared to receive theirridicule whether they were friendor foe. He knew, at the end of theday, he was answerable to Godalone for his actions and not to anyworldly acquaintance or friendship.

He always suffered any humil-iation with great dignity, cheer-

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH(AS) WITH ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY

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fulness and decorum. Only a manof upright and sterling characterhas the courage to speak the trutheven when it is very unpopular. Inthis particular incident in his life,the character he showed did himgreat credit, so much so that Godwas immensely pleased with him.That same night he received therevelation that God was pleasedwith the course of action he hadtaken and that He would bless himso much so that, ‘Kings would seekblessings from his garments.’(Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Vol.1V,p.520)

Today, by the sheer Grace of Allah,we have witnessed on a number ofoccasions the fulfilment of thisDivine promise when kings haveattended previous UK AnnualConventions and have literallyreceived blessings of the garmentsof the Promised Messiah(as) fromthe Khalifa of the day.

The death of the PromisedMessiah’s(as) father was a criticalpoint in his life. He described hispersonal situation at his father’sdeath in the following words:

“I was 34 or 35 years of age

when my father died. In adream I had been warned thathis death was approaching. Hewas then in Lahore andhastened to Qadian. He wasthen suffering from dysenterybut I had no apprehension thathe would die the following day.In fact, there had been somechange for the better in hiscondition and he appeared quitesteadfast. The following day,we were all with him at noonwhen he kindly suggested that Ishould go and have some rest,for it was the month of June andthe heat was intense. I retiredinto an upper room and aservant began to massage myfeet. Presently, I fell into a lightslumber and the revelationcame to me (Arabic):

‘By the heaven (We call towitness heaven where alldecrees originate) and themorning Star (We call towitness that which will happenafter sunset).’(Ch.86:V.2)

I was given to understand thatwhat was to happen after sunsetwas my father’s death, and that


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this revelation was by way ofcondolence on behalf of GodAlmighty.

Holy is Allah! How glorious isHe that He conveyed Hiscondolence on the death of aperson who had died sorrowingover the waste of his life.

Most people would besurprised at this interpretationof mine that God Almightyconsoled me. It should, how-ever, be remembered that whenGod, glorified be His name,treats someone mercifully, Hedeals with him like a friend. Weread in the Traditions that oncertain occasions GodAlmighty laughed. This also isan expression of the same type.

When I received this revelation,which foretold the death of myfather, the thought passedthrough my mind, due to myhumanity, that some of themeans of income which wereavailable to my father wouldnow be closed and we might beconfronted with difficulties.Thereupon, I received anotherrevelation:

‘Is not Allah sufficient for Hisservant?’

This revelation conveyed greatcomfort and satisfaction to meand it found its firm place in myheart. I swear by God Almightyin Whose hand is my life thatHe has fulfilled this comfortingrevelation in a manner which Icould not have imagined. Hehas provided for me as nofather could have provided foranyone. I have been therecipient of His continuousbounties which I find impos-sible to count.

My father died the same dayafter sunset. This was the firstday on which I experienced asign of Divine mercy throughrevelation concerning which Icannot imagine that it wouldever cease to have effectduring my lifetime. I had thewords of the revelation carvedon a semi-precious stone andset in a ring which I have withme securely. Nearly 40 yearsof my life passed under thecare of my father and with hisdeparture from this life I beganto receive Divine revelation


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continuously.” [Kitabul Bariyyah, (Qadian,Zia-ul-Islam Press 1898); Nowprinted in Ruhani Khaza’in(London, 1984), Vol. 13,pp.189-195, footnote]

The Promised Messiah(as) oftenused to say that this message, areassurance – Is not Allah sufficientfor His servant?’ – came to himwith such glory and majesty that itsettled firmly in his heart like asteel nail hammered into a block ofwood and from that moment onAllah took care of him in a waythat has no worldly parallel.

He often said that after thisrevelation, he received so manyfavours from Allah the Almightythat it was not possible to countthem. (Kitabul Bariyyah)

Maulvi Rahim Bakhsh(ra) relatesthat the Promised Messiah(as) said tohim that he had received arevelation (Arabic) that Allahwould deliver him from somesorrow and his Lord was All-Powerful. The PromisedMessiah(as) had continued: ‘ByGod’s grace, I have no sorrow butperhaps the revelation has

reference to some future event.’The very same day, Maulvi RahimBakhsh(ra) continues, someonecame from Amritsar and told himthat the stone for his ring that hehad sent to Hakim MuhammadSharif of Amritsar to be inscribedwith the revelation: ‘Alais-Allahubi Kafin ‘abdahu’’ (Is Allah notsufficient for His servant?) hadbeen lost. He also brought a pageof his book Barahin-e-Ahmadiyyawhich had been very badly printed.Hadhrat Sahib(as) was perturbed byboth these pieces of news and bothof us went to Amritsar. When wearrived at the house of HakimMuhammad Sharif he told HadhratSahib that the stone that had beenlost was recovered and when wewent to the printing press we foundthat printing of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya was proceeding satis-factorily. Thereupon Hadhrat Sahibobserved: ‘God Almighty hadreassured me in advance that Hewould deliver me from sorrow.This was the sorrow.’ (Al-Hakam,Vol. XXXVII, no. 29, August 14,1934, p.3)

At Masjid Al Aqsa in Qadian onthe day of Eid ul Adhia (13th April1900), the Promised Messiah(as)


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was Divinely directed to deliver asermon in the Arabic language. Herequested Hadhrat Maulvi Nur-ud-din(ra) and Hadhrat Abdul Karim(ra)

to sit near him and directed themto write down what he was goingto say.

Hadhrat Bhai Abdur Rahman(ra)

says, “When the PromisedMessiah(as) took his seat on thechair and started to address, itseemed as if he had beentransported to the other world. Hiseyes remained closed and hisblessed face seemed luminous, asif Divine light, having envelopedit, had illuminated it and made itlustrous. At that time, one couldnot gaze at his face. His foreheadradiated bright rays of light thatdazzled the eyes of those wholooked at it.”

For more than one hour thePromised Messiah(as) delivered thesermon which made a deepimpression on all who were veryfortunate to be present at the time.The main topic of this sermon wasthe philosophy of sacrifice. Thissermon – the Khutba Ilhamia – isa unique example of the masteryof the Arabic language bestowed

upon the Promised Messiah(as) bythe Divine Grace of God.

Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib(ra)

delivered an Urdu translation ofthe gist of this sermon and duringthis translation, the PromisedMessiah(as), overtaken by God’sMercy, fell into prostration ingratitude for this great blessingand the whole of the congregationfollowed his example.

After prostration, the PromisedMessiah(as) mentioned that he hadjust seen the word ‘Mubarak’(Congratulations) spelt out inscarlet letters in front of him. Also,regarding this miraculous speech,the Promised Messiah(as) said:

“Subhanallah! (Holy is Allah)At that time, a hidden fountainwas gushing out. I do not knowwhether it was I who wasspeaking, or some angel wasspeaking through my tongue,for I knew that I had no sharein this speech. Self-madesentences came out of mymouth, and every sentence wasa sign for me. It is anintellectual miracle shown byGod, and none can present the


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like of it.”(Haqiqatul Wahi, pp.362-363)

Hadhrat Khalifatul Mash II(ra)

relates:

“In 1907 the PromisedMessiah(as) suffered from asevere cough. While he was inthis condition, a friend fromoutside brought some fruit forhim as a present. The friendsays: ‘I put the fruit beforehim.’ He looked at it and said:Say to him: ‘May Allah rewardyou.’ Then he took up a bananaand asked me how this wouldaffect his cough. I answered: ‘Itis not good.’ He smiled andpeeled the banana and began toeat it. I submitted: ‘You have asevere cough and this is notgood for cough.’ He smiledagain and continued to eat.Stupidly, I repeated that heshould not eat it; on which hesmiled again and said: I havejust received the revelation(Urdu): ‘Cough has beenremoved’, and since then I haveno cough.” (Al-Fazl, Vol.XXX, No. 164,p.3, 17 July 1942)

Hadhrat Maulvi Nur-ud-din(ra)

relates:

“On one occasion, in the courseof a debate, an opponent askedthe Promised Messiah(as) to citea reference from Bukhari andthe Promised Messiah(as) startedturning over its pages veryrapidly. Then he stopped at oneplace and said: Here is thereference. Everyone wassurprised and someone inquiredfrom Hadhrat Sahib(as) how hehad found the reference soquickly. He answered: ‘When Itook the book in my hand andstarted turning over its pages itseemed to me the pages wereblank. I turned them overquickly and then came to a pagewhere I saw some writing andthen I was sure that this was thereference that I needed.’” (Sirat ul Mahdi, part II, No.306)

The Promised Messiah(as) oncesaid:

“It came to my mind once that Ishould write a book setting outthe bounties that Allah hadbestowed upon me. When I was


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about to start on this project, Isaw in a vision that heavy rainwas falling and God said to me:‘If you can count these drops ofrain you will be able to numberMy bounties.’ Then I gave upthe idea.” (Register ofRiwayaati-e-Sahaba, Vol. VII,p. 310)

The Promised Messiah(as) writes:

“A friend of mine, Syed NasirShah, Overseer in the State ofJammu and Kashmir, wasmuch perturbed at havingreceived orders of transfer toGilgit which would involvehim in great hardship duringthe journey and his stay there,to which he did not findhimself equal. He took leaveand came to me and asked meto pray that he should beposted in Jammu and shouldnot have to travel to Gilgit.One night, I supplicated forhim and in respect of severalother matters including theglory of Islam. Then I receivedthe revelation: ‘All prayershave been accepted, includingthe one for the strength andglory of Islam.’

In this manner I was informedthat Syed Nasir Shah’s transferhad been postponed. It gaveme great pleasure that God hadaccepted my supplication onhis behalf. I informed himimmediately of this and on the3rd or 4th day he received aletter from some official of theState to the effect that histransfer had been postponed.”(Tatimma Haqeeqatul Wahipp.157-158)

Hafiz Hamid Ali(ra) relates:

“On one occasion, thePromised Messiah(as) sent meon an errand to a foreign land.I boarded the ship bound formy destination. About half-way, the vessel was caught in astorm and everyone wasterrified that it was going tosink. I tried to reassure all thepassengers and stated confi-dently that I belonged to thePunjab and was going on anerrand on behalf of one whomGod had appointed HisProphet(as) for this age and thatso long as I was on the vessel,it would not sink. GodAlmighty thereafter stilled the


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waters and the vessel arrivedsafe at my destination and Idisembarked. After a shortstop the ship proceeded on butalas on its further voyage itsank after a short time. Whenthe news reached India,members of my family went toHadhrat Sahib(as) and told himthat the vessel by which I wastravelling had sunk to whichHadhrat Sahib(as) said: ‘I haveheard that the vessel by whichHamid Ali was travelling sankon such and such a day’; aftera few minutes he added: ‘ButHamid Ali is busy with hiserrand. He is safe.’ It wouldseem that Hadhrat Sahib(as) hadlearnt the truth through avision.” (Al-Hakam, Vol. XXXVIII,No.2, p.5, 21st January 1935)

There was a man by the name ofPatwari Munshi AtaaMuhammad(ra) who belonged tothe village of Nathpur situatednear to Qadian. He had beenmarried for a long time and hadthree wives but, alas, no children.One day an Ahmadi met him andstarted to preach to him about theadvent of the Promised

Messiah(as). His Tabligh effort wassuccessful in that Munshi AtaaMuhammad(ra) was ready to accepton condition that the PromisedMessiah(as) should pray that not hisyoungest but his eldest wife whowas of advanced age, should bearhim a son. Only by some mira-culous means could his wish befulfilled.

Accordingly, he wrote to thePromised Messiah(as) and said,‘You claim to be the PromisedMessiah and Friend of God. Theprayers of the Friends of God areaccepted. I have now three wives.Twelve years have passed sincemy last marriage, but I have noissue from any of them. I desire tohave a handsome, promising andauspicious son, and that too by myfirst wife. Please pray for thefulfilment of this desire of mine.’The Promised Messiah(as) laterintimated that the man’s eldestwife would bear him a handsomeand prosperous son provided heobserved the repentance ofHadhrat Zakariah(as).

Some months later his eldest wifehad given up hope of bearing himany children and in one last


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desperate attempt to relieve her ofher grief, Munshi AtaaMuhammad(ra) engaged theservices of a local lady gynae-cologist who, after making acursory examination informed thewife that she was incapable ofbearing a child, but astonishingly,she found the woman waspregnant and exclaimed that (Godforbid) God must have made amistake.

Munshi Ataa Muhammad(ra),overjoyed at this miracle,informed the gynaecologist of theprayer of the Promised Messiah(as)

and soon informed his friends ofthis magnificent Divine blessing.In due course, Munshi AtaaMuhammad(ra), was blessed with ahandsome son. After the birth ofhis son, Munshi Sahib(ra), alongwith several other people whocame to know of this miracle,travelled to Qadian and tookinitiation at the hands of thePromised Messiah(as).

This was indeed a great sign of thetruth of the Promised Messiah(as)

and especially for Munshi AtaaMuhammad(ra) and others who nowacknowledged the Promised

Messiah’s(as) close connection andrelationship with Allah the Exalted.There was a small but sincereJama’at in the state of Kapurthala.The members of the Jama’at hadintense love of the PromisedMessiah(as). Once some non-Ahmadi Muslim opponentssought to take possession of theAhmadiyya Mosque ofKapurthala and tried to removethe Ahmadis from it. Eventuallythe matter was brought to court.The local Ahmadis were greatlyperturbed and repeatedly entreat-ed the Promised Messiah(as) tohelp with his prayers. One daywhen requested to pray, thePromised Messiah(as), impressedwith the sincerity as well as theperplexity of the brethren, assuredthem: ‘Be not anxious. If I amrighteous in my claim, you willget the mosque.’ But the attitudeof the judge was openly hostile.He had announced publicly: ‘Youhave invented a new religion, soyou shall have to build a newmosque too and I will decideaccordingly.’ He had not yetwritten his judgement as heintended to write it in thecourtroom. While preparing to goto court, he directed his servant to


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help him on with his shoes. Theservant was about to do so whenthe judge suffered a heart attackand died within a few moments.The new judge who replaced himstudied the record of the case andfound that the Ahmadis were inthe right, decreed the case in theirfavour and awarded the mosque tothem. (Sirat ul Mahdi & Ashab-e-Ahmad – The Promised Messiahby M.M. Ahmad)

No false claimant to prophethoodis permitted to survive for morethan twenty-three years aftermaking his false claim. Thepunishment for such a falseclaimant is clearly illustrated inthe Holy Qur’an where God hasdeclared:

And if he had falsely attributedeven a trivial statement to Us,We would surely have seizedhim by the right hand, andthen surely We would havesevered his jugular vein andnot one of you could have heldUs from him.. (Ch.69:Vs.45-48)

John Alexander Dowie was onesuch claimant. He was born in

Scotland in 1847. In 1872, afterstudying for the Christian Church,he migrated to Australia and soonbecame known as a healer. In1888 he migrated to the U.S.A.and within four years he becamewell known for his powers ofhealing and preaching. Some fouryears later he founded a ChristianCatholic sect and attracted manyfollowers and amassed greatwealth, so much so that in 1901 hestarted to build a town which henamed Zion City for his ever-growing Christian sect. In the sameyear, he claimed to be Elijah (aprophet) and the forerunner to thesecond advent of Jesus Christ(as),who, he claimed, would soondescend on Zion City.

His well-published claim attractedmany more followers, especiallythe rich, and soon the number ofhis followers exceeded 100,000.Dowie claimed that his mission(before Jesus Christ(as) descended),was to destroy Islam. In so doing, atorrent of abuse poured from hismouth denouncing the HolyProphet(as) and the religion ofIslam. In 1902, he published aprophecy to the effect that unlessMuslims became Christian they


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would meet with death anddestruction.

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

came to know of this prophecy andwrote a leaflet highlighting thebeauties of Islam and sent it to Mr.Dowie. He informed him that hehad been sent by God as thePromised Messiah(as) andchallenged him to enter a prayerduel that each of them should prayto God that the impostor should bepunished and destroyed by Himwithin the lifetime of the other.The leaflet was also publishedwidely throughout the U.S.A. andEurope where the challenge wasdiscussed for more than a year.

Mr. Dowie did not take up thechallenge and continued to prayfor the destruction of Islam. In1903 he published in his paper:

“I pray to God that Islam willsoon disappear from the world.O God, accept this prayer ofmine. O God, destroy Islam.”(Leaves of Healing, 14thFebruary 1903)

Later that same year, he wrote:

“The black spot on the mantleof man (Islam) will meet itsend at the hands of Zion.”

The Promised Messiah(as) issuedanother leaflet which ended bysaying:

“Though he (Dowie) may tryhard as he can to fly from deathwhich awaits him, yet a flightfrom such a contest will benothing less than death to himand calamity will certainlyovertake his Zion, for he mustbear the consequences either ofthe acceptance of the challengeor its refusal.”

When prompted why he did notreply to the challenge, Dowie,indirectly referring to the PromisedMessiah(as), made a claim that hewould crush him with his foot as hewould gnats and flies. It is reportedthat he later wrote:

“If I am not a messenger of Godon this earth, then no one is.”

The prophecy of the PromisedMessiah(as) soon began to takeeffect. The feet with which Dowiewas going to crush Islam and the

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Promised Messiah(as) suddenlybegan to crush him. Dowiesuffered an attack of paralysis andthough a supposed healer he wasunable to heal himself and had togo in search of a cure. As hishuman weaknesses began tosurface for all to see, he wasaccused of illicit and immoralpractices. His wife and son laterleft him as well as many of hisfollowers and he was eventuallyexpelled from Zion City a brokenman.

On 20th February 1907, thePromised Messiah(as) issuedanother leaflet announcing theappearance of another heavenlysign:

“God says: I shall manifest afresh sign of great victory. Thissign will be for the whole worldand will be wrought by God’shands from heaven. Let everyeye wait for it, for God willmanifest it soon, so thateveryone might bear witnessthat this humble one, who isbeing reviled from alldirections, is from Him.Blessed are those who wouldtake advantage of it.”

(Announcement of 20thFebruary 1907. Inner title pageof the pamphlet: Qadian keArya aur Ham)

Alexander Dowie died within afortnight of the publication of thisprophecy which is a sure proof fora seeker after truth that it related tohim. The prophecy specified thatthe predicted sign would be for thewhole world and would bemanifested soon. Dowie did notsurvive it even for three weeks.(Tatimma Haqeeqatul Wahi p.75,footnote)

On 9th March 1907, Dowie diedafter suffering a paralysing stroke.Almighty God surely cut off thejugular vein of the impostor. (Siratul Mahdi and Ashab-e-Ahmad)

The Holy Qur’an clearlyemphasises:

Allah has decreed: ‘Mostsurely I will prevail, I and MyMessengers.’ Verily, Allah isPowerful, Mighty. (Ch.58:V.22)

This verse implants an absolutefaith and conviction into the hearts

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and minds of the messengers ofGod reassuring them of ultimatesuccess, support and victory intheir noble missions. The story ofall the prophets of God is a clearwitness to this truth. They stoodup against the prevalent customsand trends of their societies. Theywere mocked, ridiculed, humi-liated, persecuted and even thrownout of their homes and lands anddispossessed of all their belong-ings and worldly wealth.However, the outcome of theirDivine mission always provedsuccessful because God was theguarantor of their success.

The faith which prophets of Godhave in the truth of their mission,their relationship with God and theunfailing character of Hispromises and assurances to them isquite outstanding and dazzling.Not only are the prophets of Godunmindful of the hostility andattacks of their enemies, they evenchallenge their opponents to useall their powers to destroy thembecause they are perfectlyconvinced of God’s help, pro-tection and support.

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

was no exception to any otherprophet. Allah the Almightyappointed him a Prophet of God,subservient to MuhammadMustafa(saw), the Holy Prophet ofIslam and in so doing hisrelationship with God grewstronger and stronger and he wasre-assured time and again of Hisnearness, guidance, protection andthe ultimate victory of his mission.In one of His revelations, Allahthe Almighty announced toHadhrat Ahmad(as):

“Despair not of the mercy ofAllah. Hearken, indeed themercy of Allah is near.Hearken, the help of Allah isnear. It will come to thee byevery distant track. Allah willhelp thee from Himself. Menwhom We shall inspire fromheaven will help thee. There isno changing the words ofAllah. We have bestowed uponthee a manifest victory and Wehave bestowed upon himintimate nearness to Us. He isthe bravest of people. Hadfaith ascended to the Pleiadeshe would have brought itdown. Allah will illuminate hisarguments. Mercy flows from

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thy lips, O Ahmad. You areunder Our care. Allah willexalt thy name and perfect Hisbounty upon thee in this worldand the hereafter.” (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya part III pp.238-242 sub-footnote & Tadhkirapp.32-33)

The relationship of all prophetswith Allah the Almighty is deeplycemented and unbreakable. Theirdeep love for their Creator andtheir deep longing to draw evercloser to Him is unparalleled.Hadhrat Ahmad, the PromisedMessiah and Mahdi(as) was noexception to this and Godappreciated his love and blessedhim with His grace, benevolence,mercy and protection.

I have only been able to relate avery small number of thethousands of incidents regardingthe Promised Messiah’s(as)

relationship with God.

In conclusion, I leave with thevery words of Allah the Almighty,Who in one of His revelations tothe Promised Messiah(as) declared:

“Since in this age, you are the

standard-bearer of My Unity,restoring the treasure to its lostplace in the world, you are asdear to me as My ownSingleness and Unity. Andsince the Christians, as a falsedoctrine, have taken JesusChrist as a Son of God, Mysense of honour has demandedthat I should love you, theMessiah of the dispensation ofMuhammad, like a son, so thatthe world should know thatamong the followers of theHoly Prophet Muhammad(saw)

there can be men who canattain as it were the position ofChildren of God. And sinceday and night you areabsorbed in the service of thereligion of the Holy Prophet,who is My beloved, in theposition of a spiritual son ofthis prophet, I bless youeverlastingly with My ownlove.”(Tadhkira)

All praise belongs to Allah, Lordof all the worlds.

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