Before I proceed to describe the teachings and doctrines which distinguish the Ahmadiyya Movement from other religions, I wish to remark, that whatever may be the object of the conveners of the conference, in my opinion the principal object of such conferences should be to provide opportunities for the people to contrast the merits of different religions in order to be able to decide which of them can be of assistance in achieving the object for which men consider it necessary to seek and adopt a religion. Hence, although it may not be necessary, in the papers which are read here, to state and explain every rule and principle inculcated by the religion to which the paper relates, it is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary that a brief but complete outline of the basic principles of each religion should be presented in order to enable the audience to judge whether a particular religion deals with every aspect of a man’s life or is confined only to a few matters of greater or less importance.
Another principle which must be insisted upon is that the representatives of each religion should explain the teachings of their respective religions and not proceed to expound their own personal views. If this principle is not observed, it would be extremely difficult for people to distinguish the true from the false. Ideas and thoughts are not material things which the followers of different religions can keep under lock and key, for as soon as an idea is discovered or a thought is expressed it becomes common property and it is open to everybody to adopt it as his own. Hence if no means are devised to test whether a particular idea belongs to the particular religion to which it is ascribed or has been borrowed from others, it will be impossible to contrast the teachings of different religions in order to arrive at a definite conclusion as to the truth of a religion. On the contrary the result will be very undesirable, for people will run away with the idea that all religions are alike, whereas in fact a particular truth may be the property of a particular religion and others may merely be borrowers from it. The holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement had devised a plan which he used always to follow on such occasions, and the adoption of which would obviate the difficulty indicated above. That plan is that the advocates of each religion should support all that they ascribe to their religion by reference to the scriptures of that religion, that is, the revealed book on which that religion is based, or by reference to the explanations offered by the recipient of the revelation himself.
This would remove all risk of confusion and misunderstanding, and would clearly show which religion is perfect and which has merely borrowed from others. As this is not a condition which has been laid down by the conveners of this conference (although I hope that on all such occasions in future it will not be lost sight of, so that people may be able easily to judge of the merits of different religions) the representatives of other religions will probably not be able to keep it in view, but I shall voluntarily submit to it. Whatever, therefore, I shall present in the name of Islam or the Ahmadiyya Movement will be taken direct from the teachings of Islam itself and will not be borrowed from other sources. I shall endeavour to support every statement made by me by reference to the scriptures of Islam; but if considerations of time and space should compel me to omit such references in any case, it would be the right of every person addressed to demand from me a reference to the particular book or passage on the basis of which I have ascribed any particular statement or doctrine to Islam.