Basics of Religious Education — Page 252
252 252 252 252 252 B ASICS OF R ELIGIOUS E DUCATION - F IFTH E DITION Under divine direction, the Promised Messiah as , established the institution of an Annual Conference (Jalsa Salana) in Qadian. He selected 27th, 28th and 29th of December of every year to be the period in which this Annual Conference will convene each year. The first Jalsa Salana took place in Qadian in the Aqsa Mosque; seventy-five people attended. This famous book of the Promised Messiah was published in February 1893. This book contains the miraculous virtues of Islam and a very convincing description of the beauty of the Holy Qur’an. In addition to the publication of this book, another important booklet called Barakaat-ud-Duaa meaning The Blessings of Prayer was also published on 28th April of the same year 1893. This booklet contained a refutation of the misleading ideas of Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan regarding prayer. This debate took place from May 20 to June 5, 1893, between the Prom- ised Messiah as and the Christian Missionaries, Deputy Abdullah Atham and Dr. Martin Clark. The topic of this debate was the claim of modern Chris- tianity that Jesus Christ as was God. The Promised Messiah as defeated the Christian missionaries in the field of arguments and this clear victory of the Promised Messiah had a very strong impact on those who attended this de- bate. One of the prophecies of the Holy Prophet of Islam saw about the coming of Imam Mahdi was that during the month of Ramadan, Lunar Eclipse will take place on the first night among the three possible nights (13 th , 14 th and 15 th ) of Lunar Eclipse, which is the 13 th ; and Solar Eclipse will take place on the middle day among the three possible days (27 th , 28 th and 29 th ) of Solar Eclipse, which is the 28 th. (Dar-Qutni, p. 100) These grand heavenly signs were fulfilled in the year 1894 in the Eastern hemisphere of the earth and in 1895 the same divine sign was fulfilled in the Western hemisphere of the earth. In this way God displayed his remark- able sign in favour of the Promised Messiah as throughout the world. First Annual Conference— Jalsa Salana (December, 1891) The Book, Aa’ina- Kamalaat-e-Islam (Feb. 1893) The Debate of Holy War — Jang-e- Muqaddas (May-June 1893) The Grand Heavenly Signs of the Eclipse of the moon (March 21,1894) ; and the sun (April 6, 1894) P P P P P ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED M M M M M ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH AS AS AS AS AS A N D A N D A N D A N D A N D S S S S S UCCESSORS UCCESSORS UCCESSORS UCCESSORS UCCESSORS — P — P — P — P — P ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED ROMISED M M M M M ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH ESSIAH AS AS AS AS AS 7. 1 7. 1 7. 1 7. 1 7. 1