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An Invitation to Truth

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Tell them, if there had been a son to God, I would have been the first to worship him.

I address this announcement to the Christian clergy with great humility, respect, and meekness. I submit that if Hadrat ‘Isa Masih [Jesus, the Messiah], on whom be peace, was actually the son of God, or God himself, I would have been the first to worship him and I would have propagated his divinity throughout the country and would never have given up this propagation even if I had been persecuted or killed or slaughtered or cut to pieces in his cause.

But, my dear people, may God have mercy on you and open your eyes, Hadrat ‘Isa [Jesus], on whom be peace, is not God, but only a Prophet and nothing more than that. I call God to witness that I bear such love for him as you cannot. You can never recognize him with the enlightenment with which I recognize him. There is no doubt that he was a beloved and exalted Prophet of God and was one of those who are particularly blessed by Him and purified by His hand. However, he was neither God nor the son of God. I do not say this on my own. Indeed, God, who is the Creator of heaven and earth, appeared to me and has made me the Promised Messiah for this latter age. He has revealed to me that Yasu ‘Isa Ibn-e-Maryam(as) [Jesus, ‘Isa, son of Mary] was not God or the son of God.

God has informed me by addressing me that the Prophet who brought the Quran and called people to Islam is a true Prophet(sa)and that he is the one under whose feet lies salvation, and no one can ever achieve any light without following him. When my God disclosed to me the high status and greatness of this Prophet(sa), I trembled and my body was shaken. People have exaggerated their praise of Hadrat ‘Isa the Messiah so much as to deify him, but they have not recognized the true status of the Holy Prophet(sa)in the manner worthy of his recognition and they do not realize his greatness as he deserves. He is the one Prophet who sowed the seed of Tauhid [the Oneness of God] in such a way that it has not withered to waste even to this very day.

He is the one Prophet(sa)who appeared during the time when the whole world had been corrupted and he departed at a time when he had spread the Oneness of God all over the world like an ocean. And he is the one Prophet for whom God has been exhibiting His jealousy throughout ll ages and manifesting thousands of miracles in his support and affirmation. The Holy Prophet(sa) was immensely slandered in this age as well. Therefore, God’s jealousy was stirred more than it had been in any past age and He sent me as the Promised Messiah so that I may bear witness to his Prophethood before the entire world.

If I put forward this claim without any evidence to support it, I am false. But if God bears witness to my truth with such Signs that have no parallel from east to west, north to south, then justice and fear of God demand that I should be accepted with all my teaching. God has exhibited such Signs in my support that if they had been displayed to the [earlier] peoples who were chastised by water or fire or wind, they would have been spared destruction; but how shall I describe the people of this age? They are like an unfortunate person who possesses eyes but cannot see, who possesses ears but cannot hear, and who possesses understanding but cannot comprehend. I cry for them but they laugh at me; I offer them the water of life but they heap fire upon me. God has appeared to me not only through His words but has also manifested Himself to me through His works and has shown—and will continue to show— such works in my support that are not shown in support of anyone unless he is the recipient of God’s special grace. People abandoned me, but God has accepted me.

Who can compete with me in showing these Signs? I have appeared so that God may appear through me. He was like a hidden treasure, but now, by sending me, He has designed to silence all atheists and all faithless people who say that there is no God. My dear people! To you who seek God, I convey the good news that the True God is He who has revealed the Quran. It is He who has manifested Himself to me and who is ever with me.

O Christian Priests!

I enjoin you in the name of God, who sent the Messiah, and remind you under oath of the ostensible love you have for Masih Ibn-e-Maryam to study my book Haqiqatul-Wahi at least once from beginning to end, word for word. If any scholar asks for my book Haqiqatul-Wahi with genuine interest, with this condition, and will swear to it that he would study it closely from beginning to end, I will send a free copy to him. In case this fails to satisfy him, I hope and expect that God will demonstrate some other Sign, for He has promised that He shall make His arguments manifest upon this age. With this I end my words and pray that may God be with the seeker after truth. Amin.

Humbly
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
The Promised Messiah
Qadian, District Gurdaspur
20 March 1907

PRINTED AT THE MAGAZINE PRESS QADIAN