First Grain of Sand — Page 14
xiv FIRST GRAIN OF SAND starvation, famine, and disease. The economy was left in ruins, with factories and infrastructure destroyed and an estimated seven million orphaned street children. Furthermore, Soviet President Vladimir Lenin cultivated rampant hostility towards religion. As author Glenn E Curtis said: 'In the first five years of the Soviet Union (1922-26), twen- ty-eight Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were executed, and many others were persecuted. Most seminaries were closed, and publication of most religious material was pro- hibited. . . Antireligious campaigns were directed at all faiths. In the early 1960s, Maulawi Zahoor Hussain published mem- oirs in Urdu detailing his journey and two years of imprisonment and torture. Now, some sixty years later and nearly one hundred years after his incredible journey, the Fifth and current Khalifah of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba instructed me, as a direct descendent, to translate my late grandfather's original book into English. Going through each page with careful deliberation, I felt deeply immersed and instinctively present with my grandfather, shedding tears from the excruciating torture he endured. His level of strength, humility, courage, and faith is something I can only dream to attain. His experience as the first grain of sand for this Community in Russia is testament to the truth that God does exist. At a time when humankind is losing faith in religion and God, his story reminds us there is a living God who hears prayers and, despite all odds, delivers His servants from the clutches of despair when all worldly hope has failed. Harris Rahman Zafar, USA