The Devotion of Life — Page 185
185 The God-given Passion for Tabligh of Hadrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad ra Right from childhood Hadrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad ra took great interest in and had a passion for serving Islam and for Tabligh (to propagate the message of Islam). He expressed this in an address made in 1914 in the meeting of the first ‘Majlis-e-Shura’ (Consultative Body) of his era, saying: “The first duty of a Khalifa is Tabligh. As far as I have reflected, I do not know why right from childhood I had an interest in Tabligh ; this love for Tabligh has been so great that I cannot quite encompass it. From a very young age I used to make such prayer and I had such ambition that whatever needed doing for Islam should be done by me. I am not aware of how long I have had this desire. Whenever I noticed, I found this passion within me and I would pray that all ventures of Islam be accomplished by me to the extent that until the Day of Judgment there should be no era during which those who serve Islam are not from among my protégés. I did not understand and still do not understand why this love and passion to serve Islam was put in my nature, but I do know this much that this passion is very old. So it was due to this passion and desire that I prayed to Allah the Exalted that may I be the one to perform the task of Tabligh of Islam and I thank God that He gave me great glad-tidings in response to my prayers. You are the people that have been