Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page ii
FOREWORD The Ahmadiyya Movement is the most dynamic organization within the vast body of Islam today. This is a brief account of its origin, doctrines, teachings and activities. It is designed to assist one engaged in the comparative study of religion to assess the standing and position of the Movement in the field of religion. The Movement was founded in March 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India. It has thus com- pleted 89 years of its first century and already occupies an assured position in the religious pattern of the world: Its branches are spread around the globe and it is acknowledged as the most powerful living force within contemporary Islam. The number of its adherents and its significance in the world of religion are daily, almost hourly, on the increase. No student of religion can afford to neglect or ignore it. . The Movement is established at the very centre of Islam and represents the essence of Islam, shorn of all encrustations that have through the centuries gradually been patched upon the body of Islam and have thus defaced and disfigured it. The Movement does not depart from Islam in the very least, nor does it add one iota to the doctrines and teachings of Islam. Yet it is a fresh presentation of Islam, and more particularly of the wisdom and the philosophy that underlies its doctrines and teachings based upon and. deriving entirely frQm the Holy Quran and the pronouncements and prac- tice of the Holy Prophet of Islam. It is not a new religion nor is it an innovation. It sets forth only that which has been inherent in Islam from the very beginning, but which had been overlaid in the last few centuries or the need of which had not yet arisen. All references, unless otherwise specified, are to the Holy Quran. MIRZ A M UBARAK AHM AD V AKlLiUTT AB SHIR Rabwah J Pakistan