Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 80
80 AHMADIYY AT Conference of Great Religions was proposed to be held in Lahore on 26, 27 and 28 December 1896, in which the representatives of the principal religions were invited to read papers on five themes on the basis of the teachings of their respective faiths. The themes were: (1) The Physical, Moral and Spiritual States of Man. (2) Life After Death. (3) The True Purpose of Human Life and How it May Be Achieved. (4) The Effect of Human Actions on Life Here and Here- after. (5) The Sources of Divine Knowledge. Ahmad was invited to prepare and read a paper in the Conference setting forth the teachings of Islam on the five selected themes, and he agreed to write a paper to be read by one of his devoted followers, Maulvi Abdul Karim Sahib of Sialkot. Five days before the opening of the Conference Ahmad published an announcement, headed Great News for Seekers after Truth, in the following terms: The Conference of Great Religions, to be held in the Lahore Town Hall on 26, 27, 28 December 1896, ipcludes in its programme a paper by this humble one, the subject of which is the excellences and miracles of the Holy Quran. This paper does not represent the result of ordinary human effort but is one of the Signs of God written with His special grace and help. It sets forth the beauties and truths of the Holy Quran and proves like the noon-day sun that the Holy Quran is in truth God's own word, a book revealed by the Lord of all creation. Anyone who listens to this paper from beginning to end, paying attention to my treatment of the five themes set down for discussion, will receive, I am sure, a new faith and a new light. He will come upon a commentary on the whole of the Holy Book. The paper is free from human weaknesses, empty boasts and vain assertions. I fcel moved on this occasion by sympathy for my fellow human beings to issue this notice. I invite one and all to come and witness the beauties of the Holy Quran, to come and see how unjust are our critics who love darkness and hate light. God, the All-Knowing,