Truth Prevails — Page 145
( 145 ) So the conclusion Mr. Faruqi has drawn from these passages is clearly absurd. For, long before this, in 1906, in the very first issue of the “ Tashhizul Azhan ”, Introduction, page 1, Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad wrote in regard to the Promised Messiah, addressing himself to mankind at large: “Is it your idea that you belong to a big nation; or that you have jewels and diamonds; or that your strength lies in a large number of men at your back; or that you are a big chief, or a king, or a very learned man; or the presiding priest at some important shrine; or a faqir with an extraordinary reach in the occult sciences, and therefore, you have no need to accept this Messenger?” Again, on page 8, he wrote: “In short, every nation is eagerly waiting for the advent of a prophet; and for this advent the proper time is positively conceded to be this era itself; the signs conveyed to us by the Holy Prophet, to enable us to recognise this prophet; and facilities made available for us that we should come to identify him correctly – all these are indications of the great eminence of our Apostle. ” On page 5 and 6 he wrote: “What we need to determine is whether in these times there is a need for a prophet, or there is no need for one. Irrespective of whether you call these times good or bad, as far as can be seen, at no time has there been so much sin and transgression, evil and wickednees, as there is these days. All mankind with one voice, has risen to cry out that sin has reached the limit. This is the time, therefore, when the need for an Appointed One from God is more acute than ever before. ” It is important to bear in mind that this article we are here quoting from is the one on which Maulvi Mohammad Ali wrote a review at the time wherein he said: “The Editor of this journal is Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, a son of the Promised Messiah, in the first issue, who has written an Introduction running into 14 pages. Members of the Movement would, of course, read this Introduction with due attention. But I would also very much like to hold up this article before the opponents of our Movement, as an argument in favour of the truth of this Movement. The gist of the article is that at times when evil spreads in the world; and people leave the path of truth and virtue, to stray away into wickedness and transgression; when like vultures they fall upon the carrion of worldly aims, becoming altogether oblivious of the needs of a higher life, and the requirements of the life to come – at such times, it has always been the way with Allah