Fulfilment of a Grand Prophecy - Hazrat Ahmad’s Challenge to John Alexander Dowie — Page 7
7. Fulfillment of a Grand Prophecy. PREFACE. The end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century was an era when many people across the world desperately awaited the advent of a divine reformer. This was because scriptures of many of the world's major religions contained prophecies about the advent of such a reformer in the "latter days". Christians were expecting the second advent of the Messiahªs, Hindus were waiting for Krishna to appear, Sikhs were looking forward to receiving their Guru. Buddhists also awaited the advent of Buddha and the Muslims were longing for Imam Mahdi to appear. If all these prophecies would see their fruition, the world would have a host of reformers, each pulling mankind towards them. Ironically, this could result in disorder and fragmentation rather than reformation and unity. A superficial reading of these prophecies from various faiths, however, point out that these reformers could all be in the person of one figure, who would unify people upon one common platform. . This was a period when there was not only a scattered global (if not universal) anticipation of the arrival of a divine reformer, but also an economic haven for all impostors who could make their fortunes by misleading eager truth-seeking minds. Many religions teach that in order to protect true divine reformers from their many impersonators, the Almighty God creates touchstones that serve as the guiding light for seekers of the truth. The history of divine messengers is a clear witness that these guiding lights would discriminate truth from falsehood. In this era under discussion, two such contenders, geographically separated from each other by thousands of miles, claimed to be from God,. One of these was Dr. John Alexander Dowie, who claimed to be the Elijah III and the. First Apostle of God. He was propagating his message from Zion, a suburban town he founded some forty-two miles north of Chicago. as. In the eastern hemisphere, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the second coming of the Messiah and reformer of the Islamic faith, lived in a small village of India called. Qadian. . Dr. Dowie was of Christian faith and wanted to draw followers from all denominations and dispensations towards his belief system. He considered all other Christians not subscribing to his church as apostates. Furthermore he scorned Muhammad, the holy founder of Islam, in foul language and with a display of deep hatred for Muslims in general. . Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas announced that he has been appointed by God as the reformer of the age that all nations had been waiting for. Explaining his mission, he declared that at his hand all nations would unite and, as such, he would fulfill the ultimate aim of God to unify all of mankind. He further stated that he had attained this status in the following of. Mohammad, the holy founder of Islam, for whom he had a deep love and devotion. He