Souvenir on Baitur Rahman Mosque USA Inauguration — Page 2
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement And His Mi ss ion "How can that Ummah peri sh when I am at its beginning and the Me ssiah at it s end!" A Saying of the Holy Prophet Muha mm ad (peace and blessin gs of A llah be on him) Th e Ahm a di yya Mu s lim Co mmunit y is a wo rldwid e progressive Movement within th e broa der spec trum o fl slam. Its fo und er, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was bo rn on February 13, 1835, at Qadian (No rth e rn India) - a sma ll to wn which lacked all mode rn facilitie s of communication with th e rest of the world. Sin ce his childh oo d, he showed an extr ao rdin a ry indiff erence to materi al va lu es. He dedicated most of hi s time e ith er in th e s tud y of th e Holy Qur'an or in supplication tO God Almig hty. In th e late ninetee nth c entury , in Indi a, th e aggressive and often offensive C hri stian a nd Hindu co nt entions again st Islam and its Prophet (peace and blessin gs of Allah be o n him) were a matter of d ee p conc ern to Hazrar Ahmad. He grieved extremely at th e pitiable state of th e Mu slim masses who we re un a bl e to defe nd th e honor of th e ir Prophet and th e glo ry o f th eir faith. Hazrat Ahm ad t oo k over th e responsibility to defe nd Islam. From abo ut 1872, he began to emer ge as a reputable scholar, an el oq ue nt speaker and a disting ui shed pr eacher in Islam. In 1882, he r ece ived a divine r ev elation th at he had been commissio ned as th e Refo rm er to re-establ is h fa ith in one Go d and th e Proph et h oo d of Muhamm ad (peace and blessin gs of Alla h be o n him). In 1889, he cl aimed th at he was th e Promised Messiah and th e Mahdi wh ose ad ve nt in th e la tt er days h ad been prophesied by th e Holy Prophet of Isla m. O n March 23, 1889, he fo und ed th e Moveme nt. H az ra t Ahmad 's cl aim to be th e Promised Messiah raised a public outcry sin ce Mu slims a nd Chri stians generally believed that he was to desce nd from heaven ph ys ically in t he person of Jesus C hri st (peace be on him ). Thi s claim also made him an o bj ect of ridicule in the eyes of th e o rth odox Mu slims. Th e Ahm adiy ya Muslim C ommunit y was to be recog niz ed as a dynamic re li gious for ce championing th e cause of Islam, de s pit e bitter and at times viole nt o pp ositio n. A hm adi Mu slims demons tr ate a commitment to th e be tt e rm e nt of mankind. Th e ir spirit of selfless servi ce is deeply ap pr eciated universa ll y. 2 J Ha z rat Mirza G hulam Ahmad (1835. 1908) Th e mission of th e fo und er of th e co mmunit y was to revi ve a nd rekindle ma nkind 's fa ith in G o d, to work fo r th e renaissan ce of Islam, to gat her a nd unit e all faiths und er its bann er, to reca ptur e Islam's lost moral exc el lence and glor y, a nd to re in st itut e its tru e teachin gs. In fulfillme nt of his divinely assigned role of the Prin ce of Peace, his mission was to inculcate am ong mankind t he spirit of toleran ce, good will a nd tru e broth e rho od , and to abolish hatr ed a nd discrimination based on race, colo r, creed , c ul t ur e, s tatu s, language or nationalit y. He established Ahm adi yya Mu slim Co mmuni ty to serve o th ers throu gh se lfl ess sacrifice, devotion and love.