A Great Victory for Ahmadiyyat — Page 16
[ 16 ] One of my friends made a very fine point. . . . ( Monthly al-Bal a gh , Karachi, July 1976. p. 59) Indeed the point he made is very fine, but it would be a sur- prise if any maulav i comprehended it. Nevertheless, the Maulav i Sahib being quoted had the nobility of hearing a valid point and passing it on. The fine point mentioned by his friend is as follows. He said that even if we understand the meaning of Great Multitude to mean a simple majority, it is still not applicable to all times and ages. It refers to the time of the Holy Prophet sa and the three centuries that passed after him. ( Ibid. ) That is to say, the ‘Great Multitude’ mentioned by the Holy Prophet sa refers to the majority of the Muslims during the time which, according to the Holy Prophet sa , was the period of righteousness, truthfulness, and light. The Holy Prophet sa himself declared it to be the best of times. That is to say, his time and the time of the next two generations of Muslims. These three are the periods of light. After that darkness was destined to prevail. The quotation continues: In those times a simple majority was the Great Multi- tude. In other times: ‘then falsehood would spread’