Brothers! You are well aware that almost 50 years ago today, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, undertook to reform the world after receiving revelation from Allah the Exalted. It is also not hidden from you that when this fearless servant of God Almighty came forward to champion the cause of Islam, he met with opposition from all quarters— from both friends and strangers alike. Even his close relatives sought his ruin and end because they saw this as an avenue to divine pleasure and reward. Those who know of these events will recall that his contemporaries surmised that unless Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) recanted from his claim, he would as a certainty soon meet with ruin. Many went so far as to specify from themselves the time of his destruction. They brashly declared that within two or three years all trace of him would disappear and his claim would be remembered as a tale. It would have been one thing if these were simple boasts; instead his opponents actively sought the fulfilment of their goals and were relentless in their hostility. Those who once considered it hateful to sit in each other’s company united in opposition as though they were more than brothers. And people of different faiths who were once at each other’s throats became collaborators from a desire to inflict him harm.
The earth filled with inequity and injustice, and the heavens were shrouded by darkness at seeing such episodes of transgression committed by the people. The deliverers of this darkness presumed they would soon succeed in extinguishing the light of God Almighty which He Himself had lit. However, despite the collective efforts of the adherents of all religions and the unfavourable circumstances faced by the Promised Messiah(as) he was protected from harm and Allah the Exalted kept him firm in his footing.
When his people, his co-religionists, his kith and kin abandoned the Promised Messiah(as), God Almighty, Who is the most loyal and the best of friends, turned to him with greater love and affection. Purifying revelation began to descend on him like rain and through it God strengthened his heart and said to him:
Just as you suffer for the sake of My name; just as you are defamed; just as people turn against you as enemies and your near ones abandon you, not for the sake of a crime, but merely because you seek to establish the supremacy of Islam on the earth; just as your honour is attacked and all manner of reprehensible means are deployed to find fault in you; so will I exalt your name and give to you a large community dedicated to the cause of Islam; My angels will come to you with peace and blessings; you will give birth to a great community and like Adam(as) you will father a new world; your enemies will be humiliated and disgraced; they will be attacked on those paths from which they sought to assault you and many others besides, the like of which they could not even conceive; thus I will turn their evil designs against them. Like a faithful friend, I will fight alongside you against your opponents and I will strike down those who will strike against you.
All the while, I will honour him who is your friend and companion, and bless him with My light and bestow much on him from My bounties; I will give him knowledge of My religion and raise him as a soldier of Islam; your name will shine in the world as brightly as the sun and moon; and day by day you and your community will scale the heights of prosperity and success.
Whenever the Promised Messiah(as) published these revelations, opposition to him grew and his enemies strove more ferociously than ever to prove him false. But who can hinder the work of God? Despite the many hostile devices deployed by his opponents, the truth of the Promised Messiah(as) soon began to dawn on people and the spiritually dead were raised to life at his hands. Those who were once deaf began to hear; those who were once blind began to see; and the bodies of those who were once spiritual lepers were illumined like the moon. From far and wide and many more great lengths, people rushed towards the sound of the trumpet of God. And as was the case with all the prophets since the remotest ages, slowly but surely a community of people gathered around this fearless champion of God. This general of Islam and loyal devotee of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad(sa), appeared among the company of his followers as though a young and resplendent prince and went forth for the protection of Islam.
Both you and all the world are witness that he who was once derided as a disbeliever and a heretic proved to be the standard bearer of Islam; and he who was declared an enemy of Islam was shown to be its only saviour. As supposed scholars and mystics pursued their livelihoods, rest and ease, the Promised Messiah(as) and his followers fretted over the plight of Islam and faced down its enemies. One can only imagine how he captivated the hearts of those who believed in him so that they took delight in nothing except the service of the religion and in exalting the honour of the Holy Prophet(sa). And at last, when the day came wherein he restored Islam to its full glory and established a community of faithful devotees, this loved one of God joined his Beloved. His enemies who had constantly dreamt of his destruction were thereby left confounded by the affair.
Still they took solace in the hope his mission would end with his passing and the community of people who had gathered around him on account of his oratory and eloquence would soon disappear. But time has shown these expectations to be little more than a delusion. Just as the roots of a sturdy tree grow firmer by the day, so does his community continue to gather strength, and the signs are it will become ever stronger. Those hearts that love Islam and those souls who look out for its best interests will open their doors in loyalty to the Promised One of this age in order to hasten the hour of Islam’s victory. Then will disbelief be cast away from the world like an impurity.
Blessed are they who come forth to bring about this day and be among the first to accept the call of God. So my brothers, through this announcement, I urge you to accept the truth in haste. Do not neglect the voice of God, for no one knows when death will come and close this window of opportunity to perform good deeds. And if, God forbid, you delay in assuming this great undertaking and the time for accepting the faith is overtaken by the hour of your death, then tell what will become of you? Neither regret nor your cries for help will avail you anything. What proof do you await and what sign do you desire?
The tasks which were to be entrusted to the Promised Messiah are being fulfilled at the hands of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) and Islam has been given a new life. Be quick to accept him, so that you too may become heirs to the blessings of Allah the Exalted.
But if you are among those who have not already pondered over this matter, I call on you to conduct your inquiries with all possible haste and adopt one of the following methods:
If you have any questions which need to be answered, raise them with nearby Ahmadis and have them resolved.
If there is no Ahmadi organisation in your vicinity you can write to me about any questions you may have.
Hold gatherings in your particular localities and invite Ahmadi missionaries to speak on the truth of the Ahmadiyya Community, so that you and others may have the opportunity to listen to them.
May Allah the Exalted be with you and enable you to accept His light.
With Humility,
Mirza Mahmud Ahmad
Khalifatul-Masih II
Imam of the Ahmadiyya Community
Qadian, District Gurdaspur, Punjab
15 January 1930
1 I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed. [Publishers]
2 In the name of Allah, the Gracious the Merciful. We praise Allah, the Exalted, the Greatest, and we invoke His blessings on His Holy Messenger(sa). [Publishers]
3 By the grace and mercy of God Almighty—He alone is the Helper. [Publishers]