Welcome to Ahmadiyyat, The True Islam — Page 265
− Ahmadiyyat sets forth the essence of Islam, shorn of all ± − encrustations that have defaced and disfigured it, and debased Muslim society. It does not depart from Islam in the least nor does it add one iota to − the doctrines or teachings of Islam. Yet it is a fresh presentation of Islam, − − and more particularly of the wisdom and philosophy that underlie its doctrines and teachings, based upon and deriving entirely from the Holy Qur’an and the pronouncements and practice of the Holy Prophet of − Islam. It is not a new religion, nor is it an innovation. It sets forth only sa − that which has been inherent in Islam from the very beginning, but which − had been overlaid in the last few centuries or the need of which had not yet arisen. The Ahmadi Muslims are drawn from every walk of life and are ± − practical persons conforming their lives and activities to the teachings of Islam. They do not reject the moral values of life and have set enviable − examples of full, successful and righteous living. The distinguishing feature of their lives is the upholding of the moral and the spiritual above the material and the physical in a pattern of beneficial co-ordination. As taught by Islam, they believe that the faculties and the capacities bestowed − upon man by God Almighty are a precious bounty and must be developed and exercised at their proper time and occasion and are not to be suppressed or stultified. The moral and spiritual code to which they seek to conform imposes no handicaps upon them. There have, by the Grace and Mercy of God, appeared among them persons possessing high eminence in almost every sphere of human life. There is a failure to recognize the fact that the only way of deliverance is through the establishment of man's relationship with God. Today, the only claimant of such a possibility is the Ahmadiyya Jama'at ± − which furnishes practical illustration of the truth of its claim. It is only through experience of such a relationship, that a person can arrive at absolute certainty of faith in the Divine, which can work the needed moral and spiritual revolution in the life of man. This is the challenge that Ahmadiyya Jama'at presents to an incredulous world. It is the challenge of ± − a revised, resurgent and invigorated Islam. − (What is Ahmadiyyat, A Pamphlet Published by the Ahmadiyya Jama'at, USA) ± ± − 265