Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page xvii
publisher’s note We are pleased to publish the fourth edition of Christianity—a Journey from Facts to Fiction, by Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh , which was first published in 1994. Please note that all the Biblical references except one on page 125, are taken from the New Oxford Annotated Bible, with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Versions, New York, Oxford University Press, 1973. The name of Muhammad sa , the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol sa , which is an abbreviation for the salutation ( ) S allall a hu ‘Alaihi Wasallam (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The names of other Prophets as and messengers are followed by the symbol as , an abbreviation for ( / ) ‘ Alaihissal a m/ ‘ Alaihimussal a m (on whom be peace). The actual salutations have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case. The symbol ra is used with the name of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa and those of the Promised Messiah as. It stands for ( / / ) Ra di All a hu ‘anhu/‘anh a /‘anhum (May Allah be pleased with him/with her/with them). rh stands for ( ) Ra h imahull a hu Ta‘ a l a (may Allah’s blessing be on him). at stands for ( ) Ayyadahull a hu Ta‘ a l a (May Allah, the Almighty help him). In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the follow- ing system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society. ا at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a , i , u pre- ceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word ‘honour’.