Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 9
9 of Moses is, therefore, open to the same objection, viz. , that it was not needed when the doctrine of Unity was revealed and known before it. The same eternal and unchangeable God who revealed Himself to Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, revealed Himself to Moses, and Moses taught the same Unity which the earlier prophets had taught. * The truth is that the doctrine of the unity and existence of God was not originally taught by the law of Moses but is of ancient origin. We must therefore, seek the principle which governs its repeated revelation in the world. A cursory glance at the world's history will show that there have been periods in it when the teaching of Unity has been in its wane and men having left to act upon it, the principle has been held in con- tempt and disregard. Almightly God has on such occasions raised the prophets and vouchsafed fresh revelations to the world in order to deliver people from the evil and shirk, into which they have fallen and to bring them back to righteousness and the Unity of God which they have lost. Thousands of times has the doctrine grown rusty and as many times has it been polished and restored to its original purity. With its rustinesa its true worth is hidden from the human eye and accordingly for a time it appears to be quite forgotten. A prophet of God, therefore, again appears to manifest its beauty and light and to dispel the darkness from its face. Thus have light and darkness been gaining the supremacy alternately in the world. The most unfailing test that can be applied to judge the claims 'of a pro- phet is to see the time when he appears and the transformation which he works. This is the safest method which a seeker after truth should adopt. He should consider with an unprejudiced mind the conditions, both as to principles and actions, of the people araong\whorn a prophet appears, before his appearance