Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 95
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 95 minated in the dishonour and destruction of the Czar and his family on 16 July 1918. It is not necessary to describe its gruesome details. They are now part of history. This histori- cal event alone would be sufficient in the estimation of any just and reasonable person to establish the truth and righ- teousness of Ahmad beyond the least doubt. In 1905, when the prophecy was published, the Czar was, without a doubt, the most powerful and most absolute monarch of his time. In the eyes of his people he was a demigod, above and set apart from normal human beings. His territories were vaster than those of any other ruler. They stretched across the whole of the old world. His wealth and resources staggered the im- agination. Ahmad was the resident of a small town in a backward province of India, a town which was not in touch with the rest of the world even by telegraph or railway. He had no special interest in the vast dominions of the Czar or in the personal affairs of that. monarch. When he published his prophecy it was completely ignored as a meaningless pro- nouncement of a person on the verge of insanity. Anticipat- ing such a reception he had emphasized that his truth and righteousness would be judged through the fulfilment of the prophecy. He repeated that the prophecy was based on divine revelation which would not be frustrated under any circum- stances. All that was necessary was to await its fulfilment in a spirit of righteousness and steadfastness. It is worthy of note that the prophecy presented a lurid picture of the horrors of the First W or ld War. The miserable end of the Czar was only one of the dozen or so features of the war described in the prophecy though it was the most striking one of them.