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<div class="page" title="Page 5"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> English translation of an <a href="https://www.alislam.org/urdu/khm/KM1-30.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eid sermon</a> delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad<sup>(ra)</sup>, the Promised Reformer and Second Successor of the Promised Messiah<sup>(as)</sup>, on <a href="https://www.alislam.org/urdu/khm/KM1-30.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2 November 1940</a>. </div> </div> </div>
HAZRAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD The Future of Ahmadiyyat
HAZRAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD The Future of Ahmadiyyat
The Future of Ahmadiyyat By Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad Khalifatul-Masih II Present English Edition: UK 2020 ©Islam International Publications Ltd.No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, copying or information storage and retrieval systems without permission of the publisher.Published by: Islam International Publications Ltd.Unit 3, Bourne Mill Business Park, Guildford Road, Farnham, Surrey UK, GU9 9PS United Kingdom Printed and bound by:
To mark the blessed occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr we produced a translation of an Eid sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud- Din Mahmud Ahmad ra , the Promised Reformer and Second Successor of the Promised Messiah as , on 2 November 1940.
‑ 1 ‑ Eid ‑ ul ‑ Fitr 1940— Ramadan has passed and the day which we refer [to in Islam] as Eid has arrived.[Every year] the month of Ramadan which is sent by Allah the Exalted comes to an end, and then God bestows on His servants the fes- tival of Eid.The longest trial that God has determined for His servants is the month of Ramadan.For thirty days the servants of God fast; endure hunger; withstand thirst; exercise refrain and abstinence; wake through the night; offer prayers; increase their recitation of the Holy Qur’an; immerse themselves in the remembrance of Allah; and some even observe the Tarawih prayers.Accordingly, this 30-day month is, from a religious perspective, a time of extraordinary happiness, and yet in
‑ 2 ‑ physical terms it is a trial, as the servants of God must pass through hunger and thirst and refrain from their sexual desires.However, after one month, this tribulation ends and God bestows on His servants the day of Eid as a reward.Moreover, God teaches believers that whenever a hardship comes from Him it is temporary and soon gives way to happiness and ease.But those difficulties which people bring upon themselves sometimes last for so long that they extend across generations, and at times even cast a shadow over people for centuries, and their Eid is not only postponed, it moves further away.Therefore, people should always keep in mind that whenever a trial is prolonged, it is on account of their own failings.Otherwise, Allah the Exalted does not draw out hardships.Whenever Allah the Exalted tries a person it is temporary, and after a short time, such means and provisions are manifested which indicate
‑ 3 ‑ that God wishes for His servant to witness Eid.For example, in the time of the Holy Prophet sa , his companions made every effort to spread Islam and follow his instructions.As a result, their Eid was quick to come.Whereas, the circumstances of the people of Moses as show that God Almighty wished to bring for them a day of Eid in quick order, but they turned it away.God wanted them to reach the Promised Land in the lifetime of Moses as , and from the Holy Qur’an it is clear that God wished for this to happen 40 years earlier [than when it transpired], but the people delayed it.Thus God wanted them to experience Eid as soon as possible, but through their actions they delayed its arrival.Our community ought to reflect over whether it is hastening forward their Eid or setting it back.For there is a good chance that those people who do not have Eid as their goal, may be doubtful of their own success.
‑ 4 ‑ Allah the Exalted has promised to show us an Eid just as He promised the people of Moses as and Jesus of Nazareth as.How, then, can our community doubt its coming? Simi- larly, this promise must be fulfilled just as it was for the earlier prophets because the God Who lived in the time of Noah as , Abraham as , Moses as , Jesus as and Muhammad sa the Messenger of Allah is still alive.However, our community ought to reflect over why, [in our case] the divine help due to us has been postponed.Surely, this delay is a result of our own shortcomings, apathy and heedlessness.If we discard these traits, we will see that the time of our trial and tribulation, which the followers of all prophets are destined to face, will be reduced just as it was in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet sa.The Messenger of God lived until he had established Islam in the Arab Peninsula and his companions remained until they made Islam victorious
‑ 5 ‑ over the whole world.Allah the Exalted treats those prophets who share in the qualities of Moses as differently to those who share in the qualities of the Messiah as.He bestows on the former govern- ance and rule because He wishes to see the sharia implemented in their lifetime.However, since the latter type of prophets do not bring a new law and only teach in accordance with the previous law, therefore, it is not necessary for them to exercise worldly rule.Accordingly, [God instructs] the fol- lowers of these prophets to preach with love, compassion and humility, and to remain steadfast in the face of the enmity of their opponents and, therefore, by comparison He also delays the time of their progress.Since the Promised Messiah as was a messianic prophet, it was necessarily true that the time of his triumph would take longer to come than that of the Holy Prophet sa.However, it need
‑ 6 ‑ not take as long as that of Jesus of Nazareth as.Both Moses as and the Holy Prophet sa shared similarities, however, their triumphs occurred at different times.It took 80 to 90 years for the people of Moses as to reach the Promised Land.Whereas it took the companions of the Holy Prophet sa only 20 years to achieve a similar success; that is in a quarter of the time, a reduction of 75 per cent.Moses as lived for about 40 to 50 years [after he was raised as a prophet] and continued to preach his faith.Thereafter, his people roamed in the desert for another 40 to 50 years until they reached the Promised Land.Meaning to say that it took them 80 to 90 years to attain their goal.In contrast, the Holy Prophet sa spent 13 years in Mecca and 7 years in Medina before he prevailed; a quarter of the time it took the people of Moses as.It took 300 years for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth as to achieve [the pinnacle] of their eminence.
‑ 7 ‑ Today, if we continue to walk the path of the companions [of the Holy Prophet sa ] and follow it with full obedience as they did, and prove ourselves to have travelled in their footsteps, it is likely that God Almighty will also bestow upon us the same sign which He manifested for them.Accordingly, we ought to prevail in 75 years which is exactly one fourth of the time it took the followers of Jesus of Nazareth as to emerge triumphant.The current year is 1940 and just prior to 1890 the Promised Messiah as took the first bai‘at.So out of these 75 years, 50 have already passed and only 25 remain.If we wish to show that we follow the path set out for us by the companions of the Holy Prophet sa and we are the recipients of the same divine blessings the Companions received, then in the next 25 years our tabligh ought to spread to such an extent that even our enemies are forced to admit that Ahmadiyyat has been established
‑ 8 ‑ across the world.However, the next 25 years seem insufficient for this, particularly when looking back at the past 50.Even still, it is true that just 50 years ago there was an individual in Qadian who claimed that God spoke to him and conferred on him a mission to guide the whole world.His neighbours, friends and kin heard his voice and rejected him with arrogance and hate.They called him a liar and vowed to destroy him.Maulawi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi, who was a close friend and acquaintance of the Promised Messiah as during his youth and used to praise his [writings and] essays, said upon hearing his claim that he was the reason the Promised Messiah as achieved his fame and he would be the one to bring him down.Who could have thought that a respectable and powerful figure like Maulawi Muhammad Hussain Batalvi would commit himself to destroying someone and yet fail to do so?
‑ 9 ‑ Furthermore, the relatives of the Promised Messiah as alleged through various announce- ments and newspaper articles that he had made his claim only for his own economic benefit and that people should pay no heed to him.They tried to defame him and turn the world against him.Then I remember that those who used to work at his home and are referred to as kameen [servant] in the language of land holders, refused to perform their chores owing to the hatred spread by our relatives.Thus friends and foes alike tried to destroy him.But instead God prophesied to him: دا خ � خ ی ی ا ےن اےس وبقل ہن كیا.ل خ ىبن آ�یا.رپد� ی ی ا ںىم ا� خ د� ڑے زور آور ولمحں ےس اس ىك � ب اےس وبقل ركے اگ اور � دے اگ.رك ڑ ہ اچسىئ وك اظ� A Prophet came unto the world, but the world accepted him not; yet God shall manifest His favour and demonstrate
‑ 10 ‑ his truth with powerful assaults.1 [And yet despite this] a helpless and vul- nerable man stood up in Qadian, a remote village where the mail was delivered only once a week and which did not even have a primary school.Nor were its residents capable of buying wheat flour worth a single rupee.Moreover, this claimant was neither a cleric nor did he possess immense wealth.(It is true that the Promised Messiah as belonged to noble family but unlike nawabs and rajas they did not own vast amounts of land).Under these circumstances he came for- ward and from the first day claimed before the world that God would spread his name to the corners of the earth.Today who can deny that his name is known throughout the world? His followers, who accept his claim and 1 Tadhkirah , p.128, 2009 Ed.[Publishers]
‑ 11 ‑ invoke peace and blessings on him, reside in London.There are thousands in America who, from the depths of their hearts, believe in him and every week I receive letters of devotion and sincerity from them.He has followers in Java and Sumatra and there are thousands in West Africa who also believe in his claim.In a recent census, his followers numbered 25,000 in just one West African state.Similarly, his adherents have thrived in East Africa, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Italy, Iran, China, Japan, Russia, West America and Argentina.Thus there is no territory or country on earth where his message has not reached, but 50 years before today no one could have guessed that he would achieve such magnificent success.However, this did not come without hardship.He faced severe opposition from friends and foes alike, from the authorities and from the general public.
‑ 12 ‑ [Indeed there was a time that] whenever an Ahmadi would visit Qadian, their name was recorded by the authorities.[There was even] a police constable who was dispatched to the town to record the names of all those who visited it.Qadian was, in the eyes of the authorities, a place of miscreants where visitors were kept under surveillance.This opposition continued for a long time, but one by one the Promised Messiah as drew people towards him, and Ahmadiyyat progressed to such an extent that the total number of Ahmadis residing in Qadian today is more than those who used to gather here for the annual conventions during the lifetime of the Promised Messiah as.In the last Jalsa Salana held in his lifetime, the attendance figure was 700.And this was considered to be such a manifest sign that during one jalsa, Huzoor went for a walk but returned shortly afterwards saying that it was too difficult to
‑ 13 ‑ do so in such a large gathering and indicated that he thought his end was near because the prophets of God are called back when their mission achieves success.Hence, back then a gathering of 700 people was considered a manifest sign of Allah the Exalted, whereas today at a regular gathering in Qadian there are usually 3000 to 4000 people.Again, it used to be that during the Jalsa Salana a gathering of 700 hundred people was considered a great sign and now our circumstances are such that at the Jubilee Jalsa, 42,000 people were in attendance.No doubt this is a miraculous rate of progress, but it is still not such that it makes the world think that it cannot compete with Ahmadiyyat.True progress is that which makes the enemy succumb.Such a victory has not yet been achieved by us even in Qadian and indeed cannot be attained until people from the north, south, east and west
‑ 14 ‑ accept Ahmadiyyat and accept that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad sa is His messenger.This victory will not come from just the acceptance of the people of India or Asia or Africa or America.Rather until people belonging to all continents do not come to- gether under this banner, the spiritual reform which has been decreed [to be undertaken] by Ahmadiyyat cannot be achieved.Therefore, our community should look towards the next 25 years as if their life or death depended on it and all members should commit themselves to spreading the message of Ahmadiyyat.If they are able to preach to their relatives, they should do so.If they are able to preach to strangers, they should do so.If they are able to preach in their own countries, they should do so.And if they are able to preach abroad, they should.All members should fervently commit themselves to this
‑ 15 ‑ undertaking.They should spread the light of God Almighty which has enlightened their own eyes, because as the progeny of Adam as all the people of the world are our brothers and it is our duty to share with them the riches God has blessed us with.They belong not only to us but to all people.Though they do not ask for their share, it goes against decency to withhold something from your kin regardless of whether they ask for it or not.An honourable person is not satisfied until they hand over to their kin what is their right.Thus we have been given a great responsi- bility and been charged with the safekeeping of an incredible trust, which in truth belongs to all the children of Adam as , and until we spread this guidance amongst all people our efforts will not be deemed successful before God.Accordingly, I call on all those members of the community who are present at this
‑ 16 ‑ Eid gathering to direct their focus towards tabligh more than ever before.And wherever our community is established, all of them should immerse themselves in the tabligh of Ahmadiyyat so that in the next 25 years, and in consideration of that which the companions of the Holy Prophet sa had over the people of Moses as and that which the community of the Promised Messiah as has over the community of Jesus of Nazareth as , we are successful in bringing the whole world beneath the banner of Islam and so that only one religion and one prophet prevails over the world, and like the first Adam, the second Adam should unite the world at one hand to ensure that the Kingdom of God is established in the world just as it is in heaven, and that the people of this world extol His glory just as the angels do.I will now lead the silent prayer.All friends should also pray that Allah the Exalted removes our faults and heedlessness and
‑ 17 ‑ provides us with the opportunity to show the entire world His radiant and illuminated countenance and spread Islam across the earth.May He bless our words and make effective the things we say and set a place for truth in our hearts so that not a single one of our steps is tainted with falsehood and injustice, and instead, all our actions are based on truth and fairness and our hearts are awakened with sympathy for our fellow beings.May God protect us from arrogance and inequity and imbue our hearts with feelings of love, compassion and empathy and fill them with His love so that both our worldly and religious lives are set aright and beyond this so that the worldly and religious lives of the entire world are also put to order.( Alfazl , 13 November 1940)
Short Essays Series of HAZRAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD Islam The Future World Religion Khilafat Keeps Prophethood Alive The Call of Heaven The Beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community A Mighty Sign from God The Holy Month of Ramadan and the Significance of Lailatul Qadr Expectations from Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Khuddamul Ahmadiyya and the Spirit of Sacrifice