The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page ix
viii H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD Promised Reformer) was the eldest son and the second Khalifah (successor) of the Promised Messiah as. He took charge of the Ahmadiyya Jam a ‘at at the young age of 24 when the Jama'at was still in its infancy and nourished it to its maturity for more than 50 years with his spiritual guidance, prayers, tears, toil and blood. Not only did he fortify the foundations of the Community laid down by the Promised Messiah as , but expanded the structure of the Jam a ‘at by initiating various schemes, organizations, and programs taking his inspiration from the Promised Messiah as and under the Divine guidance. His foremost concern, to which he devoted all his life, was to accomplish the mission of the Promised Messiah as —the daunting task of spreading the message of true Islam in its pristine purity to the ends of the world. To achieve this, he initiated Ta h r i k-e-Jad i d through which spread, and continues to spread, missionary work all over the globe. His acute intelligence, keen intellect, deep and extensive scholarship and above all his God-given knowledge enabled him to produce a vast corpus of writings, speeches etc. His oeuvre is so vast that it will take many years to see the light of publication. When the Promised Messiah as fervently prayed to God to grant him a Sign in support of Islam, Allah gave him the good tidings about this son of his and said: “. . . He will be extremely intelligent. . . and will be filled with secular and spiritual knowledge. . . Son, delight of the heart, high ranking, noble; a manifestation of the First and the Last, of the True and the High; as if Allah has descended from heaven. Behold a light cometh. We shall pour our spirit into him. . . " [Revelation of 20 th February 1886]”