Three Questions by a Christian and their Answers — Page v
v About the Author Born in 1835 in Qadian (India), Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi as , devoted himself to the study of the Holy Quran and to a life of prayer and devotion. Finding Islam the target of foul attacks from all directions and the for- tunes of Muslims at a low ebb, he undertook vindication and exposition of Islam. In his vast corpus of writings (including the epoch-making Br a h i n-e-Ahmadiyya ), his lectures, discourses, religious debates etc. , he argued that Islam was the living faith and the only faith by following which man could establish con- tact with his Creator and enter into communion with Him. The teachings contained in the Holy Quran and the Law promulgated by Islam were designed to raise man to moral, intellectual and spiritual perfection. He announced that God had appointed him the Messiah and Mahdi as mentioned in the prophecies of the Bible, the Holy Quran and A ha d i th. In 1889 he began to accept initiation into his Community, which is now established in one hundred and seventy-six countries. His eighty books are written mostly in Urdu, but some are in Arabic and Persian. After his demise in 1908, the Promised Messiah as was succeeded by Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra , Khalifatul Masih I. On the death of Hadrat Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra in 1914, Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad ra , who was also the Promised Messiah’s as Promised Son, was elected as Khal i fa. Hadrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad ra remained in office for nearly fifty-two years. He died in 1965 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hadrat Ha fi z Mirza N a sir Ahmad rh , the Promised grandson of the Promised Messiah as. After seventeen years of meritorious