Souvenir on 50th Jalsa Salana USA — Page 50
l\IF. SSA(. -E OF ISLAI\1 r \\ll RICA Dt:RINC. TllF 111\IF ()f'TIIE PR()l\IISED l\IFSSL\11 (AS) "I will give you a large party oflslam. " This revelation received by the Promised Messiah (AS) in English was first published in Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya, in 1880. The Promised Messiah (AS) interpreted this divinely received prophecy in the following words: "One group in that party will be from among the Muslims and the other will be from the other nations, that is, from the Hindus, or the Christians of Europe and America. " The Message of Islam started to reach Americans through the blessed efforts of the Promised Messiah (AS) himself. He first conveyed the message to the American people through a pamphlet mailed to thousands of laymen and clergy in the year 1885. On 28 December 1892, at the occasion of the Second Jalsa Salana held in Qadian, con- sultations were held made on how to spread the message of 1'. lam in Europe and America and to promote the welfare of Muslims in these land">. It was decided that a magazine be published that should contain the essentials of Islamic faith presenting the beautiful face of Islam in a rational manner. The Review of Religions was, therefore, initiated by the Promised Messiah (AS) and was mailed to American readers regularly. Dr. Mufti Mohammad Sadiq (RA) translated Promised Messiah's announcements and let- ters into English and mailed them to prominent persons and newspapers in America. Their response indicated that the American people were ready to join the Ahmadiyya Community. Mr. F. L. Anderson (New York), Dr. A. George Baker (Philadelphia) and Mr. Alexander Russell Webb (St. Louis) were the first converts to Islam through correspon- dence with the Promised Messiah (AS). About the Americans, the Promised Messiah (AS) wrote: "they regard it (the faith of Islam) with great honor and respect. They express their joy just as a hungry or thirsty person, at the brink of death, does at the sight of food or drink. " The most significant event that took place in the United States of America was the resounding victory of the Promised Messiah (AS) in a prayer-dual (Mubahilalz) over John Alexander Dowie, a renowned evangelist and a claimant to be the Elijah. Newspapers across America carried the news about the prayer-duel and finally proclaiming victory for the Promised Messiah (AS) when John Alexander Dowie died a miserable death in 1907 in the life of the Promised Messiah (AS). The Papers that printed the Dowie stol}' were: The Literary Digest. The Nell' York Mail and Express, The Herald of Rochester; The Herald of Boston, The Democratic of Rochester; The Albany Press, The Buffalo Time, The Record of Boston, The Pilot of Boston, The Pathfinder of Washington, The Detroit English News, The Burlington Free Press, The Chicago Inter-Ocean, The Baltimore American, The Richmond News, The Houston Chronicle, The Telegraph, The Groonshire Gaze11e, The Argonaut of San Francisco, The Sunday Herald <~{ Boston, The New York Commercial, The New York Advertiser and The Truth Seeker.