Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 27
THE REN AISSANCE OF ISLAM 27 perilous springless horse-drawn contraptions that were occa- sionally available for this purpose, followed by a railway journey of 24 miles. He had to undertake this journey to A. mritsar and back on several occasions in connection with the printing of Braheen Ahmadiyya. The book was thus con- ceived, written and published entirely through the efforts of a single individual assisted only by the grace and bounty of the Divine. The first two parts of the book were published in r 880, the third followed in r882 and the fourth in r884. Further work on the book was then laid aside as Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's attention was diverted from r 882 onwards to a much wider field. In that year he was commissioned by God Almighty, through revelation, as the Reformer of the century. On the publication of the first two parts of the Braheen Ahmadiyya J tributes in superlative terms were paid to the book and its author by leading M~slim divines and outstand- ing Muslim personalities. Attention may here be drawn to some of the published reviews of the book. Maulvi Muhammad Husain Sahib of Batala, leader of the Ahle Hadees sect, published in his journal Ishaatas Sunnah (V01. VII, Nos. 6-r r) a detailed review of the book extending over two hundred pages. In the opening part of the review he observed: In our opinion, keeping in mind this age and its circumstances, this is a book the equal of which has not been published in Islam to this day, whatever might happen hereafter. The author has proved himself so steadfast in the service of Islam through his pen, his money, his tongue, etc. , that few such instances are to be found among the Muslims. If anyone should be disposed to consider our language an instance of Asiatic exaggeration he should point out at least one book which refutes the opponents of Islam, particularly the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj, so emphatically and forcefully and should name three or four such helpers of Islam who are deter- mined to serve Islam not only with money, pen and tongue but also with their persons and who have challenged the opponents of