First Grain of Sand — Page 13
Introduction My grandfather, Maulawi Zahoor Hussain, was a dedicated Missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community where he became world renowned for his perilous journey and captivity as the first Ahmadi missionary sent to the Soviet Union. While the 1917 Russian revolution formed the Soviet Republic as a state, it wasn't until December 1922 that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formally established as a new super-nation. Wasting no time, the very next year in 1923, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IIra announced his intention to send a missionary to the Soviet Union to preach the message of True Islam. But this mission originated with the Community's Founder, the Promised Messiahas, who received Divine revelations about Russia. In 1903, he saw in a vision that the Community's message would one day have great influence over Russia and be responsible for its reformation. In another vision, he saw the Community as a great population in Russia, saying: 'I see my Community in the area of Russia like the grains of sand in numbers. ' In early 1924, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IIra took the first step towards fulfilling these prophecies by selecting Maulawi Zahoor Hussain for this honour to plant the seed of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Russia. At that time, the Community was meager in resources yet zealous in its mission to spread the teachings of True Islam worldwide. Unique dangers in Russia made this mission extremely chal- lenging. The World War already ravaged the nation, followed by millions of deaths during the Russian Civil War from combat,