In trying to educate the public about Islam, the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community has embarked on an Islamic exposition drive under the theme: ‘Trying to educate the public about the Reappearance of Jesus and the Revival of Islam’.
Established March 23, 1889, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community claimed to have fulfilled the metaphorical re-advent of Jesus whose second coming was foretold in the Bible and by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of God be upon him). Thus the community is Islam in its pristine purity, and not a new religion. It is the Renaissance of Islam in these Latter Days.
With its headquarters based in the UK, the community has a membership of nearly 200 million Muslims strictly following the original religion of Islam and have not added or taken out anything as far as the fundamental beliefs and acts of worship are concerned. While Christians and the non-Ahmadiyya Muslims believe that Jesus ascended to heaven bodily and will one day descend bodily, Ahmadi Muslims hold the unique belief that Jesus (peace be upon him) survived the crucifixion and continue his ministry to the remaining Lost Tribes of Israel which had settled in Persia, Afghanistan and Kashmir. He travelled to those regions into the Punjab and settled in Kashmir. There he made his home and in time died a natural death at the age of 120 years.
Ahmadi Muslims also assert that this belief is not only upheld by the Holy Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him), but even by the Holy Bible itself.
Iman Jihad is the Imam for the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community; — St. Lucian by birth who converted to Islam when I changed my Christian name from Crispin Fedee to a preferred Muslim name – Iman Jihad Fedee. ‘I embraced Islam some years ago through the local Sunni Muslim sect, however, I am not a seeker after religion, but rather, a seeker after truth.
In this age says Iman Jihad, ‘true Muslims preach the fulfilment of Islamic prophecies, and the reappearance of Jesus is a fulfilled prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). Indeed, the reappearance of Jesus has fulfilled in Islam just as the prophecy of the second advent of the Prophet Elijah has been fulfilled in Judaism and Christianity’.
The prevailing decline and internecine strife among Muslims of our time are matters of which the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was not uninformed. Through divine revelation, he prophesied one thousand four hundred years ago that Muslims of latter days would split into several sects. He described the pitiable plight of Muslims in such detail as if a view of our time had unfold to him. Thus, the Prophet’s predictions has come true as his prophecies contains graphic descriptions of Muslims of our time. However, along with the terrible portents, the Prophet also gave glorious tidings. He said that in spite of the dire distress the Islamic faith would not perish, and by that God will revive true Islam in the latter days and as a result, only one group among his followers during those days will be the rightly guided (paraphrased). Therefore says Iman Jihad, ‘if Islam is to have its natural and proper place in everyday life of Muslims, it must be practice and taught on truth’.
Too often says Iman Jihad, ‘we as a society accept things blindly without investigating and not learning about the subject firsthand. This is true of many things, including many people’s perceptions of Islam and the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. It is for this reason we have embarked on an Islamic exposition drive encouraging non-Muslims as well as local converts to know about Islam through its 125-year-old revival source’.
In observing March 23 as Promised Messiah’s Day, the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community has organized a three-day exposition where the general public is invited to come and learn firsthand about Islam, the Prophet of Islam, Qur’an, and the second advent of Jesus.
This three-day event will be held at the Central Library from Wednesday March 26 to Friday the 28. Admission is free.
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