Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 117
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 117 religiosity that while the faith is in such distress you are occupied wholly with the pursuit of the carrion of the world? The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, also indicated that at that time Muslims would neglect the observance of the five daily prayers. The situation at the time of the advent of the Madhi-Messiah was that though there were plenty of mos- ques there were few worshippers. Many of the mosques had fallen into ruin and had become the resort of animals. The Holy Prophet also indicated that the worship of the Muslims would be reduced to the formal postures of the Sa/at and would become empty of spirit. This could be observed everywhere that those who gathered in the mosques partici- pated in the services only formally, without concentration, and went through them as speedily as possible. . The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, also foretold that at the time of the advent of the Mahdi-Messiah, nothing would have been left of Islam but its name, and nothing would have been left of the Quran but its bare words. He also said that the Muslims would neglect the guidance contained in the Quran but would pay great attention to beautifying and decoarting it, preserving it in silken covers. All this came to pass and to a large degree still persists among the Muslims of today. There are few who concentra te on the study of the Quran and seek to make its guidance the rule of their lives. Another prediction of the Holy Prophet was that in the latter days the Muslims would build mosques in rich styles and would spend large amounts of money on their internal decoration, contrary to the simplicity that should be the characteristic of Islamic places of worship. It is common knowledge that many of the famous mosques resemble museums more than places of worship. The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, also predicted that in the latter days the Arabs would stray far away from their faith and would derive no benefit from the Quran. The condition of the Arab countries proclaims eloquently the truth of this prediction.