Comments

4 Review of Religions – March 2002 Opposition of the non-Ahmadi Muslim to the Ahmaddiyya Community has grown intensely over the last hundred years. H o w e v e r, the greater has been the hostility, the greater has been the progress of the Ahmadiyya C o m m u n i t y. The correlation between the advancement of the Ahmadiyya Community and the opposition shown to it by its opponents has been so consistent and apparent that we wonder why it has not been registered by those who oppose it. M o r e o v e r, the past hundred years has also witnessed the decline of the power of Muslim States. At the time of the Promised Messiah, that is the during the latter part of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, the Ottoman Empire was still in existence, though showing signs of degeneration in the sphere of its social and moral values. N o w, the past glory of the Islamic empires has become nothing but the stuff of memories for the Muslims. Their empires have crumbled, having become subject nations of Western Imperialism and the subsequent independence has been assured only with the support and complicity of the Western powers, who have maintained their political and military hold over these countries. None dare to oppose them. Those who do are quickly cut down. The plight of the Muslims is sad to see. Currently, although we feel for the anguish of the Pa l e s t i n i a n s and the injustices they continue to endure, we cannot condone the un-Islamic response to such injustice. Palestinians have reached such a point of desperation that even Pa l e s t i n i a n women are prepared to blow themselves up in support of their cause in order to avenge in some small way the tyranny of their rulers, as has been witnessed only Notes & Comments ACCEPTANCE OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH(AS) by Basit Ahmed – UK 5Review of Religions – March 2002 r e c e n t l y. However, in the process it is the lives of innocent men, women and children that are being threatened. Such acts of desperation lead only to ever greater suffering for other innocent Palestinians, since the Israeli government will always take its revenge, ‘ten eyes for one eye and ten teeth for one t o o t h ’ . It is regrettable and sad that Muslims who are the followers of such a great Prophet, the Holy Prophet Muhammad( s a ) of Islam, that they seem unable to find support and sustenance from the great teachings and advice of the Holy Founder of Islam. In circumstances such as theirs, where they are without power to resist tyranny with force, they would do well to turn to God and seek justice from Him and Him alone—instead of reacting to injustice with injustice. The Holy Prophet of Islam( s a ) advised the rulers to be wary of the prayer of the wronged and the oppressor to be mindful of the All-Seeing God Almighty who helps and supports those who turn to Him. It was He who released the Jews from the clutches of the great Pharaoh and it was the Almighty God who gave the early Muslims victory over their powerful oppressors. Re m e m b e r, also the fire that was lit for the Prophet Abraham( a s ) a n d put out by the hand of God. The condition is only that the suffering people should obey the commands of God. Thus it is that Muslims will find it well nigh impossible to regain their lost power and glory unless they begin to obey the commands of God as prescribed in the Holy Q u r’an and made clear by the Holy Prophet Muhammad of I s l a m( s a ). Consequently, the prophecy of the Holy Pr o p h e t( s a ) regarding the appearance at the head of the fourteenth century Hijri of the Promised Mesiah and Mahdi needs to be given due care and attention. Until they accept and follow such an Imam promised to the Muslim Umma by God and His Prophet, for Muslims there can be no hope. It is such an Imam, who in the guise of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam A h m a d( a s ) of Qadian, has claimed to be the Reformer of this age. It is he who claims to be the Imam Mahdi and the Promised Messiah for the Muslims. He makes such a claim based on revelation and supports his claim with nothing other than the Holy Qur’an and Notes & Comments 6 Review of Religions – March 2002 the Ahadith. The numerous pro- phecies made by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad( a s ) of Qadian that have come true can only provide strength to the believers. They also provide good reason to believe that the many other prophesies made by him for the future would also be fulfilled. For the one who doubts his truth, the fulfilment of his very numerous prophecies should provide ample grounds to accept the truth of his claim to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. The Promised Messiah( a s ) was once asked by a non-Ahmadi Muslim: ‘What will be the fate of the Muslims living in Arabia, Syria, Egypt and India, who are opposed to Mirza Sahib— will they ever progress in the world or would they be destroyed?’ The Promised Messiah( a s ) r e p l i e d that [as stated in the Ahadith] at the time of the Messiah only those will be saved who follow the Promised Messiah. Those who reject and oppose him will slowly be wiped out. The remaining few will suffer disgrace like the Jews [who rejected their Messiah]. The Muslims who reject the Pr o m i s e d Messiah will lose their Empires and Islam will spread swiftly in the West. It will be the people who accept the Promised Messiah and become true Muslims, be they of the West or of the existing Muslim nations, who will rule over Egypt, Syria and India. Then Promised Messiah( a s ) f u r t h e r stated that this work is being done by God and it has been decided in the heavens that the Community of the Pr o m i s e d Messiah will spread and no one can halt its progress. ‘Unfortunate are those who have stayed away from our Jama’at. Within three hundred years it will come to pass that the Ahmadi Muslims will replace [the nations of] non-Ahmadi Muslims and the remaining non-Ahmadi Muslims will be of no consequence’, (being so small in number) . Notes & Comments