presenting Islam as peaceful, tolerant, rational, inspiring
When the Muslims had reached the lowest ebb of their political and religious decline, Allah Almighty recalled His promise given in the Qur'an that:
and in accordance with the hadith, which says that Allah shall send a Mujaddid at the beginning of every century to renew the faith and revive the religion, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani was sent as the Reformer of the Fourteenth Century. In a time of great hopelessness for the Muslims, when there was a dire need for religious reforms, there rose a voice from the remote village of Qadian, saying, that there is no need to lose hope or to be afraid of the attacks made by other religions on Islam. Islam is still very much alive even today because it is a living religion and the God it presents, is a Living God. He is still Present and ready to help just as He was thirteen hundred years ago. He is the same God who revealed the Holy Quran and declared Islam as the everlasting faith. He has sent me as a Mujaddid and as a Caliph of Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, so that I should assist to prove and establish the superiority of Islam over all other religions in accordance with the promise of Allah, as Allah says in the Qur'an,
Islam shall reign supreme over the materialistic forces and although the political might of the Muslims has come to an end they shall now dominate the world through their spiritual powers, for the time of the spiritual dominance of Islam in the world has now come. The promise of Allah shall certainly be fulfilled. This period has been chosen for the dominance and triumph of Islam over all religions and movements, whether it is the religions of the Jews, Christians, Hindus, Aryas, Sikhs, Buddhists and others, or movements which dazzle the world such as materialism, communism, fascism, nazism, etc. The following is an example of the splendid writings of Hazrat Mirza Sahib that strengthen and renew one's faith and infuse a sense of hope:
So Hazrat Mirza Sahib wanted to instil hope in the Muslims who were passing through a period of universal depression. The following incident gives an idea of the encouragement and comfort he gave: Once Hazrat Maulana Nuruddin came to Hazrat Mirza Sahib and said: “You wish to spread Islam in Europe and America, but the people there are getting averse even to the name of religion.” Hazrat Sahib replied: “Good, the board is being wiped clean. It will then be easier to make new impressions. Let them remove the idol of the Divinity of Jesus from their hearts so that Islam can easily take its place”. Then he said: “Maulvi Sahib, only a person with a keen eyesight can see the new moon in the sky. But when it becomes the full moon then everyone can see it. Similarly, my eyes have sighted the crescent of the spiritual dominance of Islam. If Allah pleases, the day shall soon come when it will shine like the full moon and the whole world will see it.” He proved his claim by actionHazrat Mirza Sahib did not only make tall claims but he set to work putting his plans into action. Although he had been involved in refuting the false beliefs of other religions since his early youth, now he renewed his efforts with added vigour. However, the novelty of his philosophical outlook and its amazing power, which left both Muslims and non-Muslims spellbound, was first manifested in his famous book Baraheen-i-Ahmadiyya. It was so remarkable that both friends and foes had to admit that no one had ever defended and safeguarded Islam in the same manner throughout the thirteen hundred year long history of Islam. Maulvi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, who was the leader of the Ahle Hadith sect and a leading religious scholar, wrote in his review of Baraheen-i-Ahmadiyya:
“In our opinion, this book in this age, and to meet the present circumstances, is such that the like of it has not been written up to this time in Islam, and nothing may be said about the future, Allah may (if He wishes) bring about another matter (like this). Its author, too, has proved himself to be firmly staunch in helping the cause of Islam with his money, with his pen and his tongue, and with his personal religious experiences. And he has done this (service) to such an extent that an example of it is rarely met with among the Muslims who have gone before. If anyone considers these words of ours to be Asiatic exaggeration, let him point out to us at least one such book as has in it such forceful refutation of all classes of the opponents of Islam, especially the Arya Samaj, and let him give us the particulars of two or three persons as the helpers of the cause of Islam who, besides serving Islam with their money and their personal efforts and their pens and their tongues, have also come forward with their religious experiences and have proclaimed, as against the opponents of Islam and the deniers of revelation, the manly challenge that whoever doubted the truth of revelation might come to them and witness the truth thereof, and have made (even) the non-Muslims witness the same.” (Isha‘at as-Sunna, vol. vii, no. 6, June to August 1884, pp. 169 – 170) Next: 4. The basis of Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s religious philosophy  |
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