Foreword

This message was written on the occasion of an International games event in Baku, Azerbaijan to which the Muslim Tigers Ahmadiyya Hockey team had been officially invited by the Azerbaijan Council of the Union­ wide Voluntary Trade Union Sports Federation. This invitation followed a recommendation of Azineftechim team from Baku that had played against the MTA Hockey club when it toured England in April 1990. Then the message was translated into Russian and published.

Originally addressed to the people of Azerbaijan and those of the former USSR, this message, with its universal import, is equally meant for peoples of all countries and religions.

The name of Muhammad (sas), the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol (sas), which is an abbreviation for the salutation ‘may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.’ The names of other prophets and messengers are followed by the symbol (as), an abbreviation for ‘on whom be peace.’ The actual salutations have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case.

In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society.

Please note that in transliterated words the letter ‘e’ is to be pronounced as in ‘prey’ which rhymes with ‘day’; however the pronunciation is flat without the element of English diphthong.1

It should also be noted that we have not transliterated Arabic words which have become part of English language, e.g., Islam, Mahdi, Quran2, Hijra, Ramadan, ulema, umma, sunna, kafir, pukka etc.

Please note that curved commas have been used in the system of transliteration, ‘ for , ’ for . Commas as punctuation marks are used according to the normal usage.

For further information please contact any branch of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama‘at International.

—The Publishers