The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 189
THE PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI. Translations of selected verses of the Holy Quran have been published in 117 languages. These translations are standard and modern, appealing to the modern mind leading to the love of the Holy. Quran. Is this great Jihad not indicative of love of the Holy Quran by members of the Ahmadiyya Movement?. When Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah announced his mission a century ago, Muslims were very weak in every respect and it was time of despair. At that time he prophesied that through revival at his hands, Islam will again emerge triumphant. . At one time the target of Christian onslaughts, Islam is now marching forward and has taken the lead. Western writers openly admit the. Renaissance of Islam. Houston Smith writes in his book 'The. Religions of Man' at the end of his chapter on Islam: "Of some of the religions considered in this book, we had to admit that they may be dying and on their way out. Not so Islam. . Youngest of the major religions of the world, it is again stirring with some of strength and vigour of youth. From Morocco, opposing. Gibralter on the Atlantic, eastward by way of Egypt through the entire Middle East, Pakistan and Indonesia to the Philippines in the. Pacific, Islam is a vital force in the contemporary world. Numbering in the vicinity of 350,000,000, one out of every seven persons in today's world belongs to this religion which guides both thought and deed to a detail not often paralleled in the West. Islam is not merely consolidating its position; it is expanding and expanding rapidly. As early as 1773 Goethe wrote a poem in which he compared. Muhammad to a stream which moves forward always increasing, carrying brothers with him to the eternal Father. Today Islam is spreading not only in Africa and Southeast Asia but even to some extent in China, England and the United States. Some claim it to be the fastest growing religion in the world. As recently as 1947 a new. Muslim State has been born, Pakistan, with a population of 70 millions. In some areas where Islam and Christianity are competing for converts, Islam is growing at a rate of ten to one. " 189