A Misconception Removed — Page iii
iii About the Author Born in 1835 in Qadian (India), Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi as , remained dedicated to the study of the Holy Quran and to a life of prayer and devotion. Finding Islam the target of foul at- tacks from all directions, the fortunes of Muslims at a low ebb, faith yielding to doubt and religion only skin-deep, he undertook vindication and exposition of Islam. In his vast corpus of writings (including his epoch-making Br a h i n-e-Ahmadiyya ), his lectures, discourses, religious debates etc. , he argued that Islam was a living faith and the only faith by following which man could establish contact with his Creator and enter into communion with Him. The teachings contained in the Holy Quran and the Law promulgated by Islam were designed to raise man to moral, intellectual and spiritual perfection. He announced that God had appointed him the Messiah and Mahdi as mentioned in the prophecies of the Bible, the Holy Quran and A ha d i th. In 1889 he began to accept initiation into his Community which is now established in one hundred and seventy-six countries. His eighty books are written mostly in Urdu, but some are also in Arabic and Persian. After his demise in 1908, the Promised Messiah as was succeeded by Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra , Khalifatul Masih I. On the death of Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra in