Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 179
179 Muslims themselves, testifies that Islam has indeed been disfig - ured. The only question that remains is whether or not Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as has presented to the world the lovely and pristine face of Islam that instantly draws both Muslims and non-Muslims to itself, and whether or not the Promised Messiah as has cleansed the holy teachings of Islam of everything that had been added to it by ungodly and self-serving mullahs. To answer these questions, I will now give some general examples of how the image of Islam had been distorted by people and how the Promised Messiah as has once again presented it to the world in its pristine form. The central teaching of religion, around which all other teach - ings revolve, is the belief in God. In Islam, belief in God is the root for which all other doctrines and practices are like leaves and branches. This is the core belief which all other beliefs and practices are meant to uphold. The essential component of belief in God is the belief in God’s Oneness. From the day the Holy Prophet s as made his claim of prophethood till the day of his demise, he con - tinued to profess, ‘There is no God but Allah. ’ He did not desist from doing so despite suffering all kinds of hardship and persecu - tion. Even on his deathbed, his only worry was lest this teaching that he had re-established with so many sacrifices should become lost from the world. The heart of a Muslim is torn apart to read in Hadith that when the Holy Prophet s as was on his deathbed and his body would be covered with sweat because of the severity of the illness which was affecting his every nerve, his only fear was lest his followers should forget his teaching after him and become engrossed in idolatry. Even at that time of extreme suffering, he