March 23rd 1889 became a revolutionary day in world religions’ history. On that day the waiting of all the religions for a reformer, a savior, a redeemer, a spiritual guide and a Messiah came to end…
It is not only the Jews, who for the past two thousand years are still awaiting the second coming of a prophet (Elijah). In fact, every religion contains prophecies about the second advent of a reformer in the latter day that is still awaited. For example; the Hindus awaits the re-advent of Krishna foretold in their scriptures; the Christians awaits the second appearance of Jesus; the Muslim majority awaits the appearance of the Imam Mahdi (rightly guided leader) as well as the second appearance of Jesus. Zoroastrians believed in the coming of Mesio Darbahme. The Buddhists also awaits the advent of Prophet Buddha in this time and age. (With the exception of Old Testament Jews), all other religions prescribed precisely the same time for the appearance of their respective spiritual reformers. For example, the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him) foretold that the Imam Mahdi (rightly guided leader) will appear in the 14th century of Islam (19th century Christian calendar) and at which time there will be famines and earthquakes and other natural disasters. He also predicted that the Muslims of that time will digress in spirituality and their scholars will become the worst creature on earth. In addition he predicted a solar and lunar eclipse in the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan. Jesus (peace be upon him) also predicted the eclipses; wars—nations fighting against nations; stars falling down which metaphorically refer to the appalling spiritual condition of the religious scholars. Prophet Buddha predicted occurrence of plague as a sign of his re-advent. Plague is also found in the Hindu scriptures as a sign of the re-advent of their Holy reformer. These are but a few signs that the founders of all these religions foretold.
Now if we look back at the late 19th and early 20th century, we realize that all these signs materialized one after another. From natural disasters to the spiritual condition of the religious scholars, eclipses and plague; wars and rumors of wars; nations fought against nations is the historical event of world war one and two—all these prophecies come true during the late 19th and early 20th century. But the phenomenon of so many waiting respectively for the reappearance of their Promised One poses a serious question; would God send so many Promised Ones with different teachings to different religions all at the same time? The conclusion is therefore unavoidable, that all these prophecies referred to one and the same person. This is why the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him) had already foretold that Jesus and Mahdi is one person.
After receiving revelation from God, in 1889 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian India claimed to be that spiritual reformer that all the religions were awaiting. He came to manifest to the world the truthfulness of all the prophets. He explained how Jesus (peace be upon him) was an exalted prophet of God, who fulfilled his mission, survived death on the cross and died a natural death. He explained how Prophet Muhammad is the Seal of Prophets and is the last law bearing prophet. He elucidated the real meanings of Jihad and admonished Muslims to keep away from the self-made bloody interpretation of Jihad. Above all, through his established worldwide community, The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community today, his message of peace is spread the world over. I encourage you to Know more about him today—his mission and his century year old community, The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
AMC is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian India who, in 1889, upon receiving revelation from God proclaimed his advent to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Since the last decades of nineteenth century, the Promised Messiah’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of the revival of Islam. He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam's true and essential teachings. He also recognized the noble teachings of the great religious founders including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and Guru Nanak, and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.
AMC is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), emphatically declared that an aggressive "jihad by the sword" has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual "jihad of the pen" to defend Islam. To this end, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), penned over 80 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. As part of its effort to revive Islam, AMC continues to spread the Promised Messiah’s teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) adheres to the sacred teachings of the Holy Qur’an, and its members are ardent followers of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Peace and blessing of God be upon him).
Similarly, AMC is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Qur'anic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God's creatures. Today, AMC continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world.
AMC is the foremost Islamic organization with CENTRAL AUTHORITY (leadership). Over a century ago, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), reminded his followers of God's promise to safeguard the message of Islam through khilafat (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). AMC believes that only spiritual successorship can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded the Promised Messiah since his demise in 1908. AMC's fifth and current spiritual head, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of its spiritual successors, AMC has now built over 15,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Qur’an into over 60 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA), the Internet (www.alislam.org) and print (Islam International Publications). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community lives up to its motto; LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE, and has been at the forefront of disaster relief worldwide through an independent charitable organization called, Humanity First International.
Proclamation of the Promised Messiah
Don’t you feel that the world today needs the divine guidance more than ever before? Is it not the time when servants of God are being drawn away from God, by the glamour of material world, more then ever before? If your conscience replies in the affirmative then please give due importance to the call of one who claimed to be sent by God in order to reestablish the real and certain contact and relation of human with Him. The following extracts are taken from written Speeches of the Promised Messiah confirming his appearance. Lecture Ludhiana was delivered before a large audience on 4th November 1905 at Ludhiana—a town in Punjab, India. In this lecture the Promised Messiah began by proclaiming gratitude to God Almighty Who had once again given him the opportunity to revisit this town so to convey God’s message to its citizens—where 14 years before when he had visited Ludhiana, he had just a few followers which he acknowledge:
"...Today I thank God as I look back to the time when I had but a handful of people by my side and the number of my Jama’at (following) was very small in number. Today you witness a large Jama’at with me whose membership has already reached 300,000; it is increasing by the day, and will certainly reach hundreds of millions...”
“It is an accepted fact that the means of recognizing the Prophets of God are the miracles and signs which accompany them. Just as an officer appointed by the government is assigned a distinguishing mark, the appointees of God too are given signs which make their recognition easier. I maintain that God has manifested not one, two, or two hundred signs in my favour, but tens of thousands of them. These signs are not unknown and obscure, they have been witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people and I can confidently say that probably hundreds of such witnesses are present in this very meeting.
"Signs appeared for me from the heaven and so they did from the earth. The signs which were the conditions precedent to my advent, and which the prophets, including the Holy Prophet (Muhammad), had foretold, appeared in my support. One of them was the eclipse of the sun and the moon which must have been witnessed by everyone. Indeed this was the prophecy recorded in the authentic tradition (Hadith) according to which both the sun and the moon were to be eclipsed during the month of Ramadan, testifying to the coming of the Mahdi and Messiah. Now come and tell me whether this prophecy has been fulfilled or not? Who can deny having witnessed this sign?
"Another prophecy was that the plague would rage as an epidemic at the time to such an extent that seven out of ten people would die. Now has this sign appeared or has it not?
"Another prediction on record is that during that time a new form of transport would appear which would render the camels useless. Has not the introduction of the railways (steam engine) fulfilled this prophecy? How many of these signs can I go on recounting, for it is a very long series? "Just imagine that whereas I, the claimant, have been called a liar and Anti-Christ isn’t it very strange that all these signs should have duly appeared for me? If somebody else were yet to come, what would be left for him? Be fair for once and fear God!
"Does He ever grant so much support to a liar? Isn’t it strange that anyone who ever rose to oppose me was defeated and I emerged successful and safe out of every calamity and hardship in which my adversaries tried to implicate me? Can anybody swear and say that this is how liars end up? I regret to say, what has gone wrong with these clerics who oppose me? Why do they not closely study the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of the Holy Prophet (Muhammad)? Don’t they know that all the important scholars and divines of the past foretold that the advent of the Promised Messiah would take place in the fourteenth century (19th century Christian calendar)? The visions of all the recipients of revelation also point to the same period. It is clearly recorded in the book Hujaj-ul-Kiramah that the advent of the Promised Messiah would not exceed the fourteenth century (19th century Christian calendar). It was these very people, who oppose me today that used to shout from pulpits that even the beasts prayed for safety from the thirteenth century and that the fourteenth (Islamic) century would be auspicious.
"How strange that in the fourteenth century (i.e., 19th century Christian calendar), in which the Promised Imam (religious leader) was to appear, an impostor should appear in his place and that he should be supported by hundreds of thousands of signs and God Almighty should help him to emerge successfully out of every contest and competition! Just pause and think before trying to answer…” [Lecture Ludhiana pp. 2, 61-63]
“I, the claimant of both these dignities, have been among you for twenty-five years. Who then are you waiting for beside me? All these signs refer to the one who is present at the time of their manifestation, and not to someone of whom there is no trace in the world. It is a case of strange hard-heartedness. I simply fail to understand why people still await someone else when my claim has been affirmed by all the relevant signs and all opposition against me has frustrated! …I prophesy that after me and till the end of days, no Mahdi will ever appear from God who will create disturbance in the world through war and bloodshed, nor will there be any Messiah (Jesus, son of Mary) who will descend physically from heaven. You had better bid farewell to both these notions. These are vain desires which the people of this generation will carry with them to the grave. No Messiah will descend and no blood-thirsty Mahdi will appear. He who was to come has come, and I am that one fulfilling God’s promise. He who does not accept me, fights God for having sent me”. [Majmu’ah Ishtihaarat, vol. 3, p. 520. The Essence of Islam vol. 4, pp. 101-102.]
“If I am in error in claiming to be the Promised Messiah, then why don’t you try to make the Promised Messiah you have in mind descend from heaven in these very days, for I am here and he for whom you are waiting is nowhere to be seen. My claim can only be effectively refuted if he descends from heaven and I am proved to be false. If you are indeed truthful, you should supplicate all together that the Messiah, son of Mary, should soon be seen descending from heaven. If you are indeed in the right, your prayer will be heard, for the prayers of the righteous are accepted in contrast to the prayers of the false. But you may be certain that this prayer of yours will not be accepted as you are in error. The Messiah has come but you have failed to recognize him. Your vain hope will never be fulfilled; this age will pass and no one from among you will see the Messiah descending from heaven’ [The Essence of Islam vol. 4, p. 208].
“I solemnly believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) is dead and is in the company of the departed ones. And why should I not believe this, when God Almighty has declared him dead in His Mighty Book, the Holy Qur’an. There is no mention anywhere in the Qur’an of his extraordinarily long life or of his second advent. Rather the Holy Qur’an declares him to be dead and says nothing more. I consider it an utterly false and vain notion that he is alive in his physical body and will appear in this world a second time. I believe this, not only on the basis of the revelations vouchsafed to me, but also because I know that it is opposed to the clear, conclusive and certain testimony of the Holy Qur’an”. [Asmani Faislah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p. 315. /The Essence of Islam, vol. 3, p. 169].
“Remember very well that no one shall ever come down from heaven. All our opponents who are alive today shall die and none from among them shall ever see Jesus, son of Mary coming down from heaven; then their children that are left after them shall also die and none from among them shall ever see Jesus, son of Mary coming down from heaven and then their third generation shall also die and they too shall not see the son of Mary coming down. Then God shall cause great consternation in their minds and they shall then say that even the age of the domination of the cross has passed away and the way of life has changed completely, yet the son of Mary has not come down. Then in dismay the wise among them shall forsake this belief and three centuries from now shall not have passed when those who await the coming of Jesus son of Mary, whether be Muslims or Christians, shall relinquish altogether this conception. Then shall prevail only one religion over the whole world and there shall be only one religious Leader. I come only to sow the seed, which has been planted by my hand. It shall now grow and flourish and there is none that can hinder it”. [Roohani Khazain vol. 120: Tazkiratush Shahadatain p. 67]
Please do not remain away from God as His nearness is a real Heaven and a great treasure that one can feel even in this world. In order to unite the whole mankind under the flag of peace (Islam), the divine reformer of the latter days has come. He is the Mahdi for Muslims, Messiah for Christians and the Krishna for Hindus. Please listen to the call of God and become amongst His loved ones. Islam, like all true religions, taught Love, Peace and Tolerance in its beginning. They are the unholy scholars of the latter dark ages who attributed hatred, terrorism and violence towards Islam. The Promised Messiah rejected all sorts of hatred, terrorism and violence in the name of God and that is the main reason why he and his followers are unanimously declared Non-Muslims by the terrorists and the so-called Muslim scholars of this dark age....
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