The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page x
Foreword We are pleased to publish the English translation of a lecture delivered in urdu by Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad ra , second Successor of the Promised Messiah as , entitled, Islam Mein Ikhtil a f a t K a A gh a z []. The lecture was delivered at the Islamiyyah College Lahore, on 26 February 1919. The primary purpose of this lecture was to provide a correct and accurate historical account of the conflicts which arose most prominently during the khil a fat of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra. The lecture is an academic masterpiece of scholarship and explains the events of the era of the third khil a fat in a manner that no other historian has been able to match, be it Muslim or non-Muslim. It is an extremely significant lecture because it deals with a very important era in the history of Islam. Furthermore, the narrations, which detail the actual historical account of that era are hidden from the eyes of most people. Some historians have claimed that these conflicts arose due to the incapability of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra , while others assert that this was the doing of various companions of the Holy Prophet sa , due to their greed for power and political