After having been elected as Khalifatul Masih III (the third successor of the Promised Messiah (as)), Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rta), in the capacity of Khalifatul Masih, on his first visit to some countries of Europe and Africa delivered a public lecture on 28 July 1967 at the Wandsworth Town Hall, London, SW. It was later published under the title A Message of Peace and a Word of Warning by the Oriental and Religious Publishing Corporation Ltd Rabwah (Pakistan). No date of publication is given. However, I believe it was published immediately after Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rta) returned to Pakistan. It was widely published all over the world, specially England. Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rta), after making some preliminary remarks drew the attention of his audience by declaring, “My message is of peace and harmony and of hope for mankind.”
In this lecture he first introduces the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama‘at and the Movement itself. The lecture is a message of peace and hope for those who believe in the Holy Prophet (sas) and the Promised Messiah (as), and who by believing in them believe in Islam in its pure and pristine form. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, was sent to the world by Allah in the fulfillment of the prophecies made about him by his master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas). The Promised Messiah (as) was, according to the prophecies of the Holy Prophet (sas), to bring about the renaissance of Islam, unite the world in one umma (which would be achieved when Islam gains supremacy over all other faiths and ideologies) and to issue the last and final warning to the world that unless and until it mends its ways and turns to its Creator it would be destroyed and annihilated. But if it makes peace with its Creator by embracing true Islam, Allah will have mercy on it and will save it from the apocalyptic catastrophe which looms large over the world. Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rta), in the later part of the lecture, elaborates on this theme and concludes his lecture with the wording of the Promised Messiah (as):
“O Europe, you are not safe and O Asia, you too, are not immune. And O dwellers of Islands, no false gods shall come to your rescue. I see cities fall and settlements laid waste. The One and the Only God kept silent for long. Heinous deeds were done before His eyes and He said nothing. But now He shall reveal His face in majesty and awe. Let him who has ears hear that the time is not far. I have done my best to bring all under the protection of God, but it was destined that what was written should come to pass. Truly do I say, that the turn of this land, too, is approaching fast. The times of Noah shall reappear before your eyes and your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook the cities of Lot. But God is slow in His wrath. Repent that you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead not alive.”
Mirza Anas Ahmad
M.A. M. Litt. (OXON)
Wakilul Isha‘at
Rabwah
May 15, 2006