The Need for the Imam — Page vii
vii Foreword Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), the holy founder of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Jam a ‘at, born in Qadian, a village in rural Punjab, India, was the Divinely ap- pointed Reformer of the latter days and the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. He was sent by God in fulfilment of the prophecies contained in the Holy Bible, the Holy Quran and Hadith, with the express task of rediscovering Islam in its pristine purity and beauty, and bringing mankind back to the Creator. D ar u rat-ul-Imam , or , spells out in depth the urgency and need for the Imam of the age, and his qualities and hallmarks as the Divinely appointed guide, the voice articulate of the age, and the constant recipient of Divine revelations, and how all these qualities are fully present in the person of the holy author. The earlier English translation from Urdu was done by Qadi Abdul Hamid Sahib, of blessed memory. The present edition has been revised by Wakalat Tasnif, Rabwah. I am grateful to Sahibzada Mirza Anas Ahmad Sahib, Wak i lul Ish a ‘at, Ta h r i k-e-Jad i d, Rabwah, and Maulana Mu- niruddin Shams Sahib, Additional Wak i lut Ta s n i f, London, for their valuable suggestions and their help in bringing out this book. I am also indebted to the following who assisted me in the various stages of this project: Dhulqarnain, Azizur Rahman Hafiz-Zada, Raja Ata-ul- Mannan, Syed Tanwir Mujtaba, Usman Ahmad Ghumman, Kashif Imran Khalid, Tahir Mahmood Mubashar Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Wak i lut Ta s n i f, Ta h r i k-e-Jad i d, Rabwah January 14 th 2007