Understanding Islam — Page 47
47 signs for the appearance of the Messiah. A great example is that of the sign of the eclipses, as Prophet Muhammad sa declared: There are two signs for the truthfulness of our Mahd ī , which have not manifested for anyone since the creation of the heavens and the earth, that is, during Ramadhan the moon will be eclipsed on the first night (among the possible nights for lunar eclipse) and the sun will be eclipsed on the middle day (among the possible days for the eclipse of the sun). 4 His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as claimed to be the Messiah in 1890 and only four years had passed that the sign prophesied above manifested. During the month of Ramadhan in 1894, the moon eclipsed on the first of its three possible nights, that is, the 13 th of Ramadhan, and the sun eclipsed on the second of its three possible days, that is, the 28 th of Ramadhan. Fast forward to today, the A ḥ madiyya Muslim community has completed 129 years since inception, during which time it has spread to more than 200 countries around the globe with tens of millions of followers. It is now acknowledged as the