Bright Lights of the Ahmadiyya Movement — Page 7
THE PROMISED MESSIAH AS A CHILD (Nusrat Jahan Bashir) 7 All Ahmadi Muslim children know about the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, and love him very much. His name was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and he was a very good, kind, and truthful person. He was, in every way, an ex- cellent man. Allah especially loved him because of his very good qualities. Even as a young child he had these good qualities. That is why Allah Almighty made him a Prophet. It is just like a beautiful flower. In order to get a beautiful healthy flower, you must plant a good healthy seed. Prophets are like that also. They do not wake up one day good. They are good from the very beginning. From early childhood one could see that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was very special. He was born in Qadian, India, on a Friday morning on February 13, 1835. His father's name was Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and his mother's name was Charagh Bibi. Everyone was very happy at his birth and all were struck by the heavenly light that seemed to glow from him. Even as a young child, little Ahmad had a great love of God. He once asked a girl playmate of his to pray for him that he might "be granted the grace of prayer. " How remarkable! Even at a young age he was so pure and desired the nearness of Allah. In the time of the Promised Messiah there were no schools and most children did not get an education. But Ahmad's father did get a tutor for him when he was six or seven years of age. A tutor is a teacher who teaches children at home. He was taught the Holy Quran, and some Persian and Arabic. But this