Islami Usul KI Philosophy

The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam

Background

It was in 1892 that Swami Sadhu Shogan Chander interested in reformation of Hindu Dharam conceived the idea of bringing other faiths to a conference. The first conference was held in Ajmer in 1894. On December 29, 1895, the Promised Messiah(as) presented a better and improved concept to hold a conference designed to make a comparative study of religions. This conference was intended to give an occasion to the representatives of all creeds—Jews, Christians, Aryas, Parsis, Brahmuns, Jainies, Bhuddists, Sanatan Dharam, and the Hindus and Atheists to represent the good points of their religions out of their own scriptures in a conference. The Promised Messiah(as) wanted this conference to be held in Qadian where all those representatives would be entertained at his own expense. He was also ready to pay for the return fare of the guests and to make proper lodging arrangements for them during the length of the conference.

This proposal was not accepted. Towards the end of 1896, a number of people belonging to different faiths, however, decided to hold a conference on these lines in Lahore. The conference was eventually held on December 26, 27, 28, 1896, and it was extended to December 29, on unanimous demand of the audience to hear full speech of the Promised Messiah(as).

The Book

The Promised Messiah(as) was invited to present the views of Islam on the following five subjects, on which the representative of each religion was to give the views of his faith. The subjects were:

• The physical, moral and spiritual conditions of man.

• The state of man after death.

• The object of man’s life on earth and the means for attaining the same.

• The effect of action in this life and the next.

• What are the means for the attainment of spiritual knowledge?

When the Promised Messiah(as) began writing this essay, he was divinely informed that his essay would come out on top, meaning that his paper would excel all others at the conference. Accordingly, he issued a handbill announcing the Divine Will that his essay would carry the day at the conference.

His paper was to be read on December 27, between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. As he could not personally attend the conference, he appointed one of his disciples Maulavi ‘Abdul Karim to read the paper on his behalf. When Maulavi Sahib began to read the paper, within a short time, such a spell fell upon the assembly that they sat like statues and none realized that the appointed time had come to an end. The audience, however, was greatly agitated to find the time was over, and by that time, not even the answer to the first question was complete. There was, therefore, no limit to their joy, when Maulavi Mubarak ‘Ali of Sialkot, whose address was to follow next, announced that the time allotted to him might be given to the Promised Messiah’s essay. Maulavi ‘Abdul Karim accordingly continued the reading of the paper till 4.30 p.m., which was the time for the rising of the conference, but even then the answer to first question was not complete. The audience desired that, that part might be concluded before the sitting broke up. The directors accordingly ordered that the reading might be continued and it accordingly went on till 5:30 p.m.

As soon as the reading was over, the audience unanimously requested that the sitting of the conference be extended by another day in order to allow the paper to be finished. Accordingly, arrangements were made so that the sittings next day could be held an hour earlier, at 9:30 a.m., and that the first paper to be read would be that of the Promised Messiah(as). On the third day, it had not yet struck nine, when people of all creeds and sects began to pour into the Hall in large numbers and the proceedings commenced punctually at the appointed time. On this day, also the period of two hours and a half assigned for the finishing of the paper proved inadequate and since the audience with one voice desired that the reading should continue, the directors had no option but to extend the sitting to the next day. In short, it took two days, seven hours and a half to finish the reading. There was a stir in the city of Lahore and everyone agreed that the essay had carried the day at the conference, and the followers of all creeds and sects were unanimous in its praise. Those who wrote the reports of the conference estimated that during the time the paper was being read, the audience gradually swelled between 7000 and 8000, while on earlier days the gathering was small.

Following are some of the comments on this lecture from the Introduction to Islami Usul Ki Philosophy, by Hazrat Jalal-ud-Din Shams(ra), Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 10, pp. 12-16:

A surprising factor of this Conference was that the Promised Messiah(as) issued a leaflet before the holding of this conference on December 21, 1896 with this heading: A GREAT GOOD NEWS FOR THE SEEKERS OF THE TRUTH.

In the religious Conference beginning on December 26, 27 and 28 in the Lahore Town Hall, an essay of this humble self would be read on the topic of the beauties and miracles of the Holy Quran. This will be an essay which would be superior to human intellect and will be one of the Divine Signs. The writing of this was prompted by His Command. It will list so many truths and realities and these will brighten Islam like the Sun … and it will be adjudged as superior to all.

… The Civil and Military Gazette (of Lahore) wrote: “Particular interest centered on the lecture of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, a master in the apologetics of Islam. An immense gathering of all sects from far and near assembled to hear the lecture, which as Mirza Ghulam Ahmad himself was unable to attend in person, was read by one of his able scholars Munshi Abdul Karim of Sialkot. The lecture on December 27, which lasted for about three and a half hours, was listened to with rapt attention, though so far it dealt only with the first question. The President and the Executive Committee resolved to extend their sitting to December 29 to enable the completion of the essay.”

Newspaper, Chaudhvin Sadi (Rawalpindi): “The best of these lectures was that of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani … The audience was so fascinated by this lecture that sometime each and every sentence was applauded, and on occasions, there was a demand for reading the sentence again and again. Some people left with the visible impression that they had not heard a lecture like this before … We are not followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib, but we cannot do injustice to him. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib described the Divine philosophy in such a convincing way that people were spell-bound by the beauty of the teachings of Islam … ”

… The Bristol Times and Mirror writes: “Clearly it is no ordinary person who thus addresses himself to the West.”

… The Indian Review writes: “A very entertaining and pleasant reading, lucid, comprehensive and philosophical ... evokes admiration. The book deserves to be in the hands of every Muhammadan student and also in the libraries of those who wish to know something about Muhammadan religion.”

… The Spiritual Journal, Boston: “Pure Gospel.”

This remarkable epoch-making essay, “The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam,” has now been translated into over sixty languages including Arabic, English (under the title of The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam), Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Indonesian, Persian, Spanish, Swahili and many more.

Specimen of Writing

Physical injuries disclose that there is a mysterious relationship between the soul and the body which is beyond the ken of man. Reflection shows that the body is the mother of the soul. The soul does not fall into the womb of a pregnant woman from above. It is a light that is inherent in the sperm which begins to shine forth with the development of the embryo. The Holy Words of God Almighty sets forth that the soul is generated by the framework which is prepared in the womb from the sperm, as it is said: Then We invest the embryo with a new creation which is the soul; so blessed is Allah the Best of Creators (23:15). This process is a deep mystery which points to the real nature of the soul and indicates the strong relationship that subsists between the soul and the body.1