With Love to the Muslims of the World — Page 41
41 In the beginning, all proceeded well and he was heard very cordially; but then something was said by the inter- preter which changed the mood dramatically, and signs of displeasure appeared on every face. When he enquired as to what had brought this change, he was told by the interpreter, simply and frankly, that it was because he— the interpreter—had told them that the Ahmad i s had changed the Holy Qur’an substantially. The interpreter said it so innocently that it was clear he obviously be- lieved in this allegation. Fortunately for the Ahmad i scholar, he was carrying a copy of the Russian rendering of the Holy Qur’an which had been recently published by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a‘ at. He immediately presented this copy to the ulema for scrutiny and comparison with other copies which they had. It did not take them long of course to change their opinion and to apologize for this accusation. A H MADIYYAT NOT N EW TO R USSIA Since a large majority of Russian Muslims have not even heard of the name of Ahmadiyyat hence the need for writing this brief introduction. Historically speaking, Ahmadiyyat is not altogether new to Russia. In 1919, an Ahmad i who was in the service of the British army was sent to Iran together with the members of his battalion. His name was Fati h Mu h ammad. He was posted along with his battalion somewhere near the Iranian border with Russia. There, through his con- vincing preaching, another Muslim officer joined Ahmadiyyat. During one of the expeditions into Russian