Fazl-e-Umar — Page 172
Fazle Umar 172 really did was to call forth the spirit of Englishmen in a stronger and a more abiding shape, and to enable us to bring back under new forms the substance of the institutions which seemed for a moment to have passed away. ” 106 This appraisal of the Conquest of England by William of Normandy is one on which all historians agree, and its keynote is that changes which came in its wake came silently and “of themselves”, so as to say, and they were thorough, deep, and far-reaching in effect. The wonderful vision of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih recounted above gives us, thus, a clue as to the manner in which Islam would spread in Great Britain and seem to “root up” its “ancient institutions” and to “break down the spirit of Englishmen”, while in actual fact it would only call forth that spirit in a stronger and more abiding shape and bring back, in new forms, “the substance of the institutions which seemed for a moment to have passed away. ” And the movement towards this silent revolution would be initiated through a personal survey of the field by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra]. jOU R n E y TO dA M AS C U S This then was the primary object of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra] in his jour- ney to England, the occasion for which was provided by the Conference on Religions. Another consideration that had weight with him was to fulfil a prophecy of the Holy Prophet Mohammad [saw] with regard to the Promised Messiah [as] , which the Promised Messiah [as] had interpreted to signify that some successor of his would journey to Damascus. The prophecy in the Hadith states that the Messiah in his second advent would appear in Damascus “by the white Minaret”. On his journey to London he had it mind to make a detour en route and pay a visit to that ancient city. A third point he had in view was the publicity resulting from the journey and participation in the Conference would make the Movement known to a much wider circle. 107