Part III
Invitation
The Messiah Has Come
The twelve arguments which I have presented are enough to prove
the truth of the claim of Hazrat Mirza Sahib (on whom be peace).
Anybody who is prepared to deliberate upon them with the
intention of finding out the truth will not only perceive the truth
but will be convinced of it. Hazrat Mirza Sahib is the Messiah
promised and commissioned by God for our time; he is His
Messenger. To wait for anyone else is pointless. A person who
gains this conviction will hasten to declare his belief, as one who=
is
thirsty will run to a spring. He will not hang back for a moment,
but will at once enter the Messiah's fold and will think it=
his
salvation.
Testimony of God and His Prophet
What can be more convincing for a Muslim than the testimony of
God and His Prophet? For Hazrat Mirza Sahib we have the
testimony of both, and furthermore, the testimony of other
prophets. Our own judgment and reason point to the present time
as the time for a reformer. The Signs which the Holy Prophet (on
whom be peace and the blessings of God) enumerated as signs of
the Messiah and Mahdi have become visible. The purity of Hazrat
Mirza Sahib's personal life testifies to the truth of his claim. The
enemies of Islam whom the Promised Messiah had to defeat have
been defeated. The internal dangers from which Muslims suffer
have reached their utmost limit. In the presence of the Holy Quran
these dangers could not be worse than they are. The Promised
Messiah has re-stated Muslim beliefs and removed the dangerous
distortions Islam was undergoing from within. Throughout his life
he enjoyed the help and love of God, as prophets and favorites of
God have always done. He was granted victory after victory. He
was protected from intrigues and attacks. His enemies suffered
disgrace and death, as enemies of the prophets and the messengers
of God have done in the past. The processes of nature pressed
themselves into the service of his cause and heaven and earth
moved in his favour. A special knowledge of the Holy Quran was
bestowed on him, also special means for its diffusion. He invited all
and sundry, including the most learned, to test his claim to
miraculous and intellectual gifts, but nobody dared do so. His
miraculous Arabic works and his special knowledge of the meaning
of the Holy Quran remained unchallenged. And why? Had not
God Himself promised that 'only the pure in heart will have access
to the Holy Book' (56:80)? He was granted also a knowledge of the
unseen. Several thousand examples of this knowledge were shown
by him with the special help of God. His prophecies came true and
afforded visible evidence of the Might and Power of God.
This accorded with God's own law, for God only grants an abundance
of such knowledge to His Messengers. Throughout his life he
remained a devotee of God and His Prophet, and such devotees are
not driven by God out of His Grace. He left behind followers
sincere in word and deed. A number of them enjoy special contact
with God. They are able to quicken the spiritually dead and to
resolve spiritual difficulties. They are devoted to caring for=
religion,
indifferent to worldly interests and worldly contacts. They long for
the glory and triumph of Islam and care about nothing else. These
facts bear witness to the authenticity of Hazrat Mirza Sahib. To
refuse to believe in him, therefore, cannot be right, or pleasing to
God. Muslims who love Islam and the Holy Prophet, who are
prepared to place the interests of Islam above their personal
interests, will not hesitate to accept the truth after that truth has
become so clear. If the arguments which I have enumerated above
fail to prove the truth of his claim, then the question is: What=
better
arguments were ever adduced in support of earlier prophets? What
better proofs prompted belief in their authenticity? The arguments
in support of Hazrat Mirza Sahib are more numerous and more
cogent than the arguments in support of earlier prophets, excepting,
of course, the Holy Prophet (on whom be peace and the
blessings of God). Why then believe in the earlier prophets but not
in the Promised Messiah? True belief is not belief inherited from
parents or accepted as a tradition. True belief is assent after=
deliberation. If this is not true belief, then we have to deny=
the
authenticity of earlier prophets. If we cannot deny their authenticity,
we have to accept that of Hazrat Mirza Sahib, the Promised
Messiah (on whom be peace). An understanding and intelligent
person will adopt the second alternative. He will accept the
Promised Messiah rather than deny the earlier prophets. He will
not hesitate to accept one who has come to proclaim the truth of the
Holy Prophet of Islam, to lead Islam to triumph again and to make
Muslims Muslims once more. To accept the Will of God and to
subscribe to His Plan yields His blessings. To resist His plan and
His Will can yield no blessings.
The condition of Islam today stirs our pity. Nobody who loves
Islam can view this condition with equanimity. Every lover of
Islam will do all he can to save Islam from the dangers which seem
to threaten its very existence. He will wish to see it live and=
prosper
again. The enemies of Islam have become so hardened that they can
see evil but no good in it. The friends of Islam are disappointed=
and
disgusted, or if not disgusted with it they are at least indifferent to
its interests. They profess loyalty to it, but the profession does=
not
travel beyond their lips. True, they care for the political prosperity
of Islam. If a Muslim country loses its freedom, they are stricken
and raise an alarm. But if hundreds and thousands of Muslims give
up Islam and become Christians or Hindus, they are moved not at
all. They can raise volunteers for political programmes, but not for
the exposition and propagation of Islam. A denial of the Turkish
Sultan as Khalifa infuriates them, but a denial of the Holy Prophet
does not even move them. The political outlook is on the increase.
Little interest is taken in Islam as such. Muslims are interested in
their political fortunes. The promotion of Islamic Tabligh among
non-Muslims is a far cry. They do not like even to repel the
unrestrained attacks which non-Muslims constantly hurl against
Islam. To do so seems inexpedient or impolite. For Islam as such
they have no use. Only the name is retained for political purposes.
There is only one way to rescue Islam from this abject state, and
that is to accept the Promised Messiah and to enter his fold. Islam
cannot advance now except under his leadership. Jihad by the
sword cannot help Islam. The desideratum is true faith in Islam, a
true conception of its teachings, and a united effort on its behalf.
Without this Islam cannot rise again. The Holy Prophet of Islam,
say the enemies of Islam, used the sword for its propagation. But
for the sword, Islam would not have spread at all. Islam, according
to them, could cite no reason or argument in its support. Wittingly
or unwittingly Muslims themselves have supported this attack.
God today has ordained that this vile attack on His Beloved
Prophet should be repulsed and proved false. He has, therefore, sent
one of the followers of the Holy Prophet to defeat the enemies of
Islam and to lead Islam to triumph again, not by physical force but
by argument and persuasion. Only thus will the world be convinced
that what the servant can achieve, the master could achieve
many times over. For Muslims today, this is the only way. God
wants even the enemies of the Holy Prophet to join him as his
followers and servants. To make this possible there is only one
way, and that is to present to the world the true Islam, the Islam
described anew by the Promised Messiah, by methods taught by
him and with the faith re-created by him. This is the way to guide
lost mankind back to the true path. If, in the knowledge of God,
other avenues existed by which Islam could be helped, why did He
close these avenues for us? To remain aloof from the Promised
Messiah is to hinder the advance of Islam and to help its enemies.
Not to join the Promised Messiah is to embolden the critics of
Islam, to re-inforce their attacks on the Holy Prophet, his teaching,
his example and his honour. The Holy Prophet (on whom be peace
and the blessings of God) said:
'That Umma can never die which has me at one end, and the
Messiah, son of Mary, at the other.'1
From this it seems that belief requires two stone walls for safety.
He who rejects the Promised Messiah is outside the bounds of
safety. He who hinders the Promised Messiah is an enemy of Islam.
He is not happy at the advance of Islam. If this is not so, why
should he oppose the raising of a wall which ensures safety for
Islam? His hostility invites the anger of God. It would be better if
he had not done so.
Great promises
All the great promises made by God for our time are linked with
the coming of the Promised Messiah. Islam is to have a new lease of
life through him. A tree which begins to die of drought becomes
green again if rain comes in time. Even so is the dead and dry tree of
Islam certain to become green again with the coming of the
Promised Messiah. A new power and a new spirit will be granted
to those who join the Promised Messiah. God has long borne with
patience what He has seen. He has remained a silent witness, but
He will remain so no longer. He can no longer permit that a mere
man, a creature of His, should be made an associate with Him; that
those who take Jesus for a son of God or believe him to be alive in
Heaven, or think he was able to raise the physically dead to life or
that he could create, should continue to do so. True, God is
Merciful, but He is also Jealous of His Own Uniqueness and
Oneness. He waited and waited for men to turn to His Holy Book,
but they only turned away from it. They became interested in other
things and paid little attention to the Book of God. They forgot the
warning contained in the Holy Book itself:
'O my Lord, my people indeed treated this Quran as [a=
thing]
abandoned.'2
They abandoned the Book of God and turned to other things.
Small wonder that God abandoned them and turned away from
them. He will not turn to them now until they declare, putting their
hand in the hand of the Promised Messiah, that they will no longer
treat the Holy Book with inattention and indifference, but will
make up for past neglect and past mistakes. They loved the world
but did not love God; God wrested the world from them and
humiliated them. They professed to be Muslims, yet they buried
the last Beloved of God underground and raised the Messiah of
Nazareth alive to Heaven. God made them low on the earth and set
Christians as rulers over them. Their condition now will not
change unless they agree to reform. Political schemes and plans can
avail but little. The degradation of Muslims is the result of the
anger of God. Unless Muslims make their peace with God they will
only go under. Blessed, therefore, is he who hastens to make his
peace with God. He will be saved from humiliation and disgrace.
The Help of God will be with him and the Hand of God will steer
him out of difficulties.
A great event
The coming of the Promised Messiah is no ordinary event: it
is a great event. Did not the Holy Prophet send him greetings? Did he
not warn his followers and say that they must go and join the
Promised Messiah even if it entailed the hardest toil and=
trouble?
Prophecies about the Promised Messiah exist in all religions. No
prophet has failed to mention the coming of the Promised Messiah.
Great must be the man who fulfils the prophecies of so many
prophets, and for whose coming they all asked their peoples to
wait. Blessed are those who witness the Promised Messiah or his
time and receive the benefits promised at his hands. The coming=
of
messengers is rare, especially of great messengers like the=
Promised
Messiah. The Holy Prophet (on whom be peace and the blessings of=
God)
stressed the coming of the Promised Messiah more
than the coming of anyone else. A greater man among Muslims
may not arise. He is the Seal of spiritual leaders (Khatam=
al-Khulafa) who will hereafter arise among the followers of the Holy=
Prophet.
After him we only wait for the Day of Judgment. Every day in
our time is therefore precious, infinitely more precious than the
most precious possession of this world. Lucky is he who knows
the value of the present and decides to join the Promised Messiah,
and so earns the approval and pleasure of God. Such a man
will find the goal of his life and capture the secret
of being truly human.
Future of Ahmadiyyat
When a Messenger of God comes and raises a Jama'at, the first
people to join are generally the poor. But the Jama'at does not
remain poor for all time. It begins to prosper and ultimately even
kings enter its fold. It takes root in a centre, then spreads over the
area for which the Messenger was intended. Nobody need think,
therefore, that our Jama'at is poor and will remain poor. It will
grow by leaps and bounds. Let powerful countries join together
and try to stop its growth; they will not succeed. A day will come
when this Jama'at will beat all other groups and movements in the
race. Revelations of Hazrat Mirza Sahib promise that his followers
will be dominant over those who deny him until the Day of
Judgment; also that the number of those who remain outside his
fold will go on declining, and ultimately kings will Join=
this
Jama'at.
The Jama'at-i-Ahmadiyya, therefore, will not remain as poor=
and
insignificant as it seems today, but will increase in numbers and
influence and begin to surpass others. It will not remain weak but
will become strong and victorious. A revelation of the Promised
Messiah says:
'Kings will seek blessings from thy garments'.
The value of great events or good actions depends upon the time
chosen for them. A thing done at a certain time is very great, but=
at
another time the same thing may be much less great. Those who
were the first to believe in the Holy Prophet remain to this day=
the
spiritual leaders of the world. Those who believed when Islam had
become a power in the world attained little fame or honour.
Therefore those who join the Ahmadiyya Jama'at now, when it is
thought to be weak and insignificant, will attain the honour of=
early
believers. They will inherit special rewards and blessings. Much
time has gone by already, but the door to honour is still open; to
earn nearness to God is still easy. I invite you, dear reader, to
consider how precious is your opportunity. It is for you to say like
all believers:
'Our Lord, we heard a Crier call unto faith, "Believe ye in your
Lord," and we have believed'.3
It is for you to say 'yea' to him who cries in the name of God. It is
for you to become a dearly beloved of God.
I say truly that nobody can find God today outside Ahmadiyyat.
Everybody outside the fold, if he searches his heart, will admit that
he does not have that certainty of belief in God and His promises
which one should have in indubitable realities. Equally will he fail
to find in his heart the light by which he can see the Face of God.
This certainty, this conviction, and this light you will not find
outside the Jama'at of the Promised Messiah. The divine design is
to unite mankind again. He who knows that death is certain cannot
accept a life remote from God, a life devoid of His Light.=
Hasten,
therefore, to the Light and to the certainty of conviction which you
will find today in Ahmadiyyat alone, and without which life can
have no attraction or charm. Lead others in your declaration so that
you are remembered with honour and respect, that believers who
come after you may pray for you to the end of days.
Sacrifices not a burden
True, those who join a Divine Movement have to carry a heavy
load of sacrifices and responsibilities, but not every load is a=
burden.
Does the peasant who carries on his back the produce of his hard
work think his load a burden? Or the mother who carries her baby
in her arms think the baby a burden? Service of a divine movement
and effort on its behalf, therefore, is no burden for believers. Others
may think it a burden, but for believers it is joy and hope. Do not
be overawed, therefore, by the responsibilities you will incur by
accepting the truth. Think, instead, of the gratitude you owe to God,
of the mercy and grace mankind has received from Muhammad,
the Prophet (on whom be peace and the blessings of God). Do not
hesitate to lend your shoulder to the burden which it is the duty of
every Muslim to carry. You may be high-placed or low, a leader or
a common man; in the Sight of God you and other humans are all
equal. The service of Islam is your duty as well as theirs. To believe
in the Messengers of God is your obligation as well as theirs.
Receive, therefore, the Command of God and His scheme of duties
and rewards. Enter the Divine Movement and reap the rewards
ordained for its entrants. The meanest reward that comes from God
is better and more precious than a kingdom.
The Holy Prophet (on whom be peace) has said:
'He who keeps away from a divine Jama'at by so much as a step
is not one of us.'
To stay out of a Jama'at raised by God, therefore, is a serious
matter. It is especially serious for those whose responsibility is
twofold: towards themselves, and towards those who follow their
lead. Men follow their leaders even in matters of religion. In the
Sight of God, the mistakes they make are the mistakes of their
leaders. The Holy Prophet (on whom be peace and the blessings of
God) expressed this thought when he wrote to the=
Roman
Emperor:
'If you deny, the sin of your subjects will also be upon=
you.'
Therefore, dear reader, believe, that if you have friends or
followers they may have no difficulty in believing too; so that you
may not keep others from believing. Share rather the reward of
their belief and of the good deeds which will come from believing.
In the Presence of God
Life here is limited. Nobody knows how long each of us may last.
Sooner or later all must be ready to go and stand in the Presence=
of
Almighty God. Nothing will then avail but true beliefs and good
works. All of us, rich or poor, go from here empty-handed.
Neither rich nor poor take away anything with them when they go
from here to the Hereafter. We all carry only our faith and our good
works with us. Believe, therefore, in the Messenger of God, that
God may grant you peace. Answer the call of Islam that you may
become accepted of God. The duty that was mine has been done. I
have delivered to you the message. It is for you to accept or not.
The least I hope and expect is that you will read this message with
care, and that if you find it right and true you will not hesitate=
to
believe. May God make it so! And our last words are:
'All praise for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.'
1. Kitab Ibn Majah - Babul etisam Bil Sunnat
2. Al-Furqan, 31.
3. Al-Imran, 194