The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 25
THE PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI. THE REVIVAL OF ISLAM. The Holy Prophet had prophesied that after earlier glorious successes the condition of Muslims would decline. He had foretold that at the time of Mahdi and Messiah, nothing would be left of Islam but its name and nothing would be left of the Quran but its words. He predicted that Muslims would fall into decline and would become divided among themselves. . All this has happened as foretold by the Prophet. The function of Mahdi and Messiah was reformation of Muslims and revival of. Islam. He was to act as a judge and a guide for Muslims to remove their misunderstandings and misconceptions about Islam and to remove their divisions and unify them. This function was adequately performed by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah. . He generated in the hearts of Muslims, a deep love and honour for the. Quran and the Holy Prophet Mohammad, peace be on him. He created firm faith and reliance upon God. By stressing upon prayers and supplications to Allah, he inculcated the spirit of establishing personal relationship with the Creator. Acting as a wise judge and guide he solved their disputes and doctrinal errors. . Some of these may be mentioned. At the time of the advent of the Promised Messiah, one great misconception current among. Muslim divines was that a large number of verses of the Holy Quran, according to some as many as six hundred, had been abrogated by verses subsequently revealed. This was a great error which destroyed the reliability of the Holy Quran. The Promised Messiah rejected this notion completely and explained that it was based upon a totally erroneous interpretation of some of the verses of the Holy Quran. He emphasized that not a single letter from the Holy Quran can be abrogated. . With respect to the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the. Prophet), Muslims were divided into two groups. One considered the. Quran to be basic and fundamental and sought to reject Hadith 25