Message of Peace - Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

A Message of PeacebyHadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad asThe Promised Messiah and MahdiFounder of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at

A Message Of Peace(Originally published in Urdu as Paigham-e-Sulh)An English rendering of “Paigham-e-Sulh”, the last written work ofHadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , The Promised Messiah & Mahdi—Founder of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at.Translated into English by: Team of Lajna Ima’illah, UKRevised by: Munawar A. Saeed and Fouzan M. PalFirst edition published in Pakistan in 1968 [Message of Peace].Second edition (completely new translation) published in UK in 1996[A Message of Peace, ISBN: 1 85372 566 8].Present edition (revised translation) published in UK in 2007.© Islam International Publications Ltd.Published by:Islam International Publications Ltd.“Islamabad”Sheephatch LaneTilford, Surrey GU10 2AQUnited KingdomPrinted in the UK at:Raqeem PressTilford, Surrey, GU10 2AQCover Design by: Salman SajidFor more information, please visit www.alislam.orgISBN: 1 85372 958 2

publisher’s notePaigham-e-Sulh (A Message of Peace) is the last written workof Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah as , theFounder of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at. It wascompleted on May 25, 1908—just a day before his demise.The citizens of Lahore were the primary audience for thisaddress; however its subject matter is in no way confined tothem alone but is of vital importance to the entire populationof the Indian subcontinent. The general principles laid downin the work are applicable to all countries which host multiplereligions.The Promised Messiah as passed away on May 26, 1908.The address was read out on his behalf at a conference held onJune 21, 1908 at the Punjab University, Lahore for which itwas intended. The English rendering of the address was doneby a board of translators under the supervision and auspices ofHadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad rta , the Fourth Head of the worldwideAhmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at. The board consisted of:Sheila Ahmad Malik, Farina Qureshi, Sofia Safi, FarzanaJaved, Farhana Sadiq, Fauzia Bajwa, Nawida Shahid andFauzia Shah. The present revision done by Munawar AhmedSaeed and Fouzan Pal is published with the approval of Hadrat

ivMESSAGE OF PEACEMirza Masroor Ahmad aba , the present Head of theAhmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at. Other members of the USAtranslation team who made valuable contributions to this revisioninclude Ahmad Tariq and ‘Abdul Wahab Mirza. MayAllah bestow them the best reward for this. Amin.This book uses the following system of transliteration adoptedby the Royal Asiatic Society.at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, upreceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in theEnglish word honour.th, pronounced like th in the English word thing.h, a guttural aspirate, stronger than h.kh, pronounced like the Scotch ch in loch.dh, pronounced like the English th in that.s, strongly articulated s.d, similar to the English th in this.t, strongly articulated palatal t.z, strongly articulated z.‘, a strong guttural sound, the pronunciation ofwhich must be learnt by the ear.gh, a sound approached very nearly by r in theFrench grasseye and also the German r. It requires

vthe muscles of the throat to be in the garglingposition whilst pronouncing it.q, a deep guttural k sound.’ , a sort of catch in the voice.Short vowels are represented by ‘a’ for (like ‘u’ in ‘bud’);‘i’ for (like ‘i’ in ‘bid’); ‘u’ for (like ‘oo’ in ‘wood’); thelong vowels by ‘a’ for or (like ‘a’ in ‘father’); ‘i’ foror (like ‘ee’ in ‘deep’); ‘ai’ for (like ‘i’ in ‘site’);‘u’ for (like ‘oo’ in ‘root’): ‘au’ for, (resembling ‘ou’in ‘sound’).Please note that in transliterated words the letter ‘e’ is to bepronounced as in ‘prey’ which rhymes with ‘day’; however thepronunciation is flat without the element of English diphthong.If in Urdu and Persian words, letter ‘e’ is lengthened abit more it is transliterated as ‘ei’, to be pronounced as ‘ei’ in‘feign’ without the element of diphthong; thus is transliteratedas ‘Kei’.The consonants not included in the above list have thesame phonetic value as in the principal languages of Europe.The following abbreviations have been used. Readers areurged to recite the full salutations:saassal-lallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘may thepeace and blessings of Allah be upon him’ iswritten after the name of the Holy ProphetMuhammad sa .‘alaihis salam, meaning ‘peace be upon him’ iswritten after the names of Prophets other thanthe Holy Prophet Muhammad sa .

virartaabaMESSAGE OF PEACEradi-Allahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum, meaning ‘mayAllah be pleased with him/her/them’ is writtenafter the names of the Companions of the HolyProphet Muhammad sa or of the PromisedMessiah as .rahmatullah ‘alaih, meaning ‘may Allah showerHis mercy upon him’ is written after the namesof deceased pious Muslims who are notCompanions of the Holy ProphetMuhammad sa or of the Promised Messiah as .ayyadahullahu ta‘ala bi nasrihil ‘aziz, meaning‘may Allah support him with His Mighty Help’is written after the name of the current Khalifahof the Promised Messiah as .Please note that in referencing the Holy Qur’an, we havecounted ‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’ asthe first verse of the Chapter in which it appears.We pray to God that this message may reach all peoplewho have a genuine desire to study these issues. May Allahmake this a source of guidance for them. Amin.Munir-ud-Din ShamsAdditional Vakil-ut-TasnifMarch 2007

about the authorThe worldwide Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at was founded in1889. Its founder, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as of Qadian,India, claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Reformerwhose advent was awaited under different names and titles bythe adherents of various religions. Under Divine guidance,Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as revealed that only one suchreformer was to appear and that his mission was to bringmankind into the fold of a single universal religion, Islam. Healso maintained that the Promised Reformer was to appear asa subordinate and follower of the Holy Prophet of Islam,Muhammad [may peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim]—in accordance with the prophecies by him about thesecond coming of Messiah and the appearance of al-Imam, al-Mahdi from among the Muslims. He claimed to be the personin whom these prophecies were fulfilled.

Image ofTitle Page of the First Edition(Written & Printed in1908)

A Message of Peacewritten byHadrat Mirza Ghulam AhmadThe Promised Messiah (peace be upon him)

12O my Almighty God, my Beloved Guide! Show us the pathwhich leads the righteous and the sincere to Thee. And saveus from treading the path which leads to carnal desires,malice, spite and worldly pursuits.Having done that, I now draw your attention to thefollowing: notwithstanding the hundreds of differencesbetween us, Muslims and Hindus alike share one thing incommon, i.e., we all believe in God, the Creator and Masterof the Universe. Also, we belong to the same denomination ofGod’s species and are referred to as humans. Furthermore, asinhabitants of the same country, we are mutual neighbours.This requires that we become friends to each other, withpurity of heart and sincerity of intentions. We should disposekindly to each other and be mutually helpful. In the1. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[Publisher]2. We praise Him and send blessings on His exalted Prophet sa .[Publisher]

6MESSAGE OF PEACEdifficulties pertaining to religious and worldly matters, weshould exercise such sympathy towards each other as if wehave become limbs of the same body.My countrymen, a religion which does not inculcateuniversal compassion is no religion at all. Similarly, a humanbeing without the faculty of compassion is no human at all.Our God has never discriminated between one people andanother. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentialsand capabilities which have been granted to the Aryans havealso been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria,China, Japan, Europe and America. The earth created by Godprovides a common floor for all people alike, and His sun andmoon and many stars are a source of radiance and providemany other benefits to all alike. Likewise, all peoples benefitfrom the elements created by Him, such as air, water, fire andearth, and similarly from other products created by Him likegrain, fruit, and healing agents, etc. These attributes of Godteach us the lesson that we, too, should behave magnanimouslyand kindly towards our fellow human beings andshould not be petty of heart and illiberal.Friends! Take it as certain that if either of our two nationswould not treat God’s attributes with respect and will notshape its conduct in accordance with the conduct of God,then, that nation will soon be wiped out from the face of theearth. Not only will it destroy itself but it will also jeopardisethe future of its generations to come. The righteous of all ageshave testified that following God’s ways works like an elixirfor the people. Moreover the survival, both physical and spiritual,of human beings depends on the same eternal truth that

MESSAGE OF PEACE 7man should follow the virtuous attributes of God Who is theFountainhead of all that is essential for survival.God commences the Holy Qur’an with the followingverse which is contained in surah al-Fatihah: 3That is, all perfect and holy attributes belong exclusively toAllah, Who is the Lord of all the worlds.The word ‘alam comprises all different peoples, all differentages and all the different countries. The commencement of theHoly Qur’an with this verse was designed to counter the viewsof such people as attempted to monopolise God’s unlimitedprovidence for their own nation and imagined that the othernations did not belong to God or that having created theseother people, God discarded them as being of no consequence,or else perhaps they were shelved to oblivion by Him, or (Godforbid) they were not even created by Him.To illustrate this further, we refer to the view of the Jewsand the Christians, still commonly held by them, that all theProphets and Messengers of God belonged only to the Houseof Israel, and that God completely ignored the religious andspiritual requirements of other people, as though He weredispleased with them and that, despite finding them in manifesterror and ignorance, He showed least concern for theirspiritual welfare. As is also written in the Gospels that JesusChrist (peace be on him) observed that he had been sent onlyfor the lost sheep of Israel. 43. (al-Fatihah, 1:2) [Publisher]4. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lostsheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew, 15:24) [Publisher]

8MESSAGE OF PEACEImpossible as it is, yet by way of argument let us assumethat Jesus as did claim to be God. In that case, for him toconfine his beneficence to such a small circle as the House ofIsrael does not behove the magnanimity of God. Had he beenGod, was he God only for the House of Israel to the exclusionof all other nations? He is known to have suggested thathe had no concern for those who did not belong to theHouse of Israel.In short, the Jews and the Christians do believe that allProphets and Messengers have been appearing from amongthem, and that Divine scriptures were revealed to them alone.Thereafter, according to the beliefs of the Christians, theinstitution of revelation and communion with God endedwith Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as though a seal hadbeen set on the institution of revelation from God.Unfortunately the Hindus of the Arya sect also entertain asimilar belief. Like the Jews and Christians, who restrict theinstitution of Prophethood and Divine revelation exclusivelyto their people and deny the honour of Divine revelation toothers, the Aryas also, unfortunately for the human race, haveadopted the same doctrine. They too believe that the blessingof Divine communication was never bestowed to any peopleoutside the domain of the Aryan race. Again it is India alonewhich, according to them, is exclusively blessed by God forthe selection of the four ‘Rishis’ from its soil; it is Sanskritalone, the language of the Vedas, which has always been themedium of instruction chosen by God. One can safelyconclude from this, that both these nations do not considerGod to be the Lord [Provident] of all the worlds. Notwithstandingthis, He is still proclaimed to be Lord of the Universe

MESSAGE OF PEACE 9and not that of the Israelites or the Aryans alone. Moreoverthis strange behaviour of God, as presented by them, draws animage of God which is so partial that He appears unmindfulof the rest of His creation. Thus, it is for the refutation of sucherroneous views, that God commences the Holy Qur’an withthe verse: 5God also made it clear in several places in the Holy Qur’anthat His Messengers have been appearing in different lands allover the world. In fact He did not neglect any people or anycountry. The Holy Qur’an explains through various examplesthat just as God has been looking after the physical developmentof the people of every country, in accordance with theirrequirements, so has He blessed every country and everypeople with spiritual upbringing. Allah says in the HolyQur’an: 6Meaning that there is no people to whom a Warner has notbeen sent.Therefore there is no question that the True and PerfectGod, to believe in Whom is essential for every person, is theLord of all the worlds. Furthermore, His providence is notconfined to any particular people, age or country. In fact, Heis the Lord of all peoples, the Lord of time and space, and Heis the Sovereign of all the countries. He alone is the...5. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.(al-Fatihah, 1:2) [Publisher]6. (Fatir, 35:25)

10MESSAGE OF PEACEFountainhead of all beneficence and the Source of everyphysical and spiritual strength. All that exists is sustained byHim. He is the Support for every creature.It is the universal beneficence of God which encompassesall peoples, all countries and all ages. It so happened lestanyone should have cause to complain that: ‘God hasbestowed His favour upon such and such people, but notupon us.’ Or that: ‘So and so received the Book in order to beguided while we did not.’ Or that: ‘In such and such an age,He revealed Himself through His revelations, communicationsand miracles but in our time He remained hidden.’ Thus, bydemonstrating His universal beneficence, He left no justificationfor such possible accusations. He displayed His virtuesboundlessly so that no people remain bereft of physical andspiritual bounties from Him. He also did not treat any age asdoomed.So, when such are the attributes of our Lord, it is butbefitting for us to acquire them ourselves. So, O compatriots!This short epistle entitled A Message of Peace is being presentedto you with all due respects and with a sincere heartfelt prayerthat Almighty God may Himself inspire you and fill yourhearts with trust in my sincerity, lest you misread this friendlygesture and consider it to be an attempt to gain some ulteriormotive. Dear Countrymen! The matter of the Hereafter isvery often obscured to ordinary people. Its secrets are knownonly to a few of the enlightened, who embrace a kind ofdeath [for the sake of their Lord] before they actually die. Thegoodness of this world, on the other hand, is easily recognisedby any man with vision and wisdom.

MESSAGE OF PEACE 11It is a common experience that calamities which cannot beaverted by ordinary measures, and the difficulties which seeminsurmountable, very often respond to the power ofunanimity. Hence it would be against the dictates of wisdomfor one to not benefit from the blessings of unanimity. TheHindus and the Muslims are two great nations inhabiting thiscountry. It is hard to believe that either of the two, forinstance the Hindus, would one day gain total dominationover the Muslims, and turn them out of this country altogether.Likewise, it is not possible for Muslims to expel theHindus from their homeland. It should always be borne inmind that Hindus and Muslims are indispensable to eachother in this country. If one is beset with a calamity, the otherwill inescapably share it. If either one intends to humiliate theother, out of egoistic pride or vanity, then it will not escapethe consequent disgrace itself. And if anyone among themfalls short of showing concern for his neighbour, then he toowill suffer the ill effect of his callousness. Anyone whocontemplates annihilation of the other is like one who sawsoff the branch on which he is sitting. With the Grace ofAllah, you have also got a measure of education; it behovesyou now to eschew grudge and promote mutual love. Similarly,the dictates of your wisdom require that you abandonthe course of callousness and adopt an attitude of compassionand sympathy. The hardship of this life is like unto a journeyin a desert in the midst of summer on a hot sunny day. Itwould be futile to take this arduous journey without coolwater. It is the cool water of mutual love which you so direlyneed to extinguish this burning fire and to save you fromdying of thirst.

12MESSAGE OF PEACEIn precarious times such as these I invite you to truce, asreconciliation is urgently required by both nations. Many acalamity is befalling the world; there are earthquakes andthere are famines. Over and above the earthquakes andfamines we continue to be plagued by the bubonic pestilence.Moreover the Divine revelations which God has conveyed tome further confirm that if people do not mend their evil waysand practices and do not repent their sins, the world will befurther visited by other severe calamities. One misery will notend before another follows. Eventually people will reach theend of their tether and will wonder what is happening tothem and what next is in store for them. They will be pushedto the edge of their senses by calamity upon calamity. So takeheed my countrymen, before such evil days confront you. It ishighly essential that Hindus and the Muslims should come toterms with each other and if either of the two parties is guiltyof such excesses as obstruct the path of peace, they are betteradvised to desist from pursuing that course. Otherwise, theentire blame for the sin of mutual enmity will be borne by thefaulting party.If someone questions the possibility of reachingreconciliation while religious differences are playing such anegative role, throwing hearts further apart, then my answerwould be to say that difference in matters of religion can onlyplay a negative role when it disregards the dictates of justice,wisdom and the well-tested human values. It is to avoid thisdanger that man has been fully fortified with a clear sense ofjudgement and common sense. He should thus always carve apath for himself which never deviates from the path of justiceand good sense. Again it should not violate the commonly

MESSAGE OF PEACE 13experienced human sensibilities. Also it should beremembered that day to day petty differences cannot obstructthe course of reconciliation. Only those differences candestroy the process of reconciliation which result in insultingand blasphemous attitudes by one towards the reveredMessengers and revealed holy books of the other.The good news in all this for those who seek reconciliationis that all of the Islamic teachings are also found in thedifferent parts of Vedic teaching. For instance, although thenewborn branch of Vedic faith entitled Arya Samaj teachesthat after the revelation of the Vedas, communication fromGod to man was sealed, the great avatars born in the Hindufaith from time to time, who have millions upon millions offollowers in this country, have doubtlessly broken that seal byclaiming to be recipients of Divine revelation. One such electDivine representative, who is greatly revered in this countryand Bengal, is known as Sri Krishna. He claimed to be therecipient of God’s Word and his followers not only believehim to be a Messenger but some consider him to be Godpersonified. There is no doubt, however, that Sri Krishna wasa Messenger and a representative of God in his time, and Godconversed with him.Likewise, from among the Hindu people of the LatterDays was one named Baba Nanak, whose saintliness hasbecome a byword in this country. His followers, the Sikhs,number no less than two million. Baba Sahib openly claims tobe the recipient of revelation in the Janam Sakhis 7 and theGranth 8 . In one Janam Sakhi he states that he had received7. Autobiographies of Baba Nanak. [Publisher]8. The Holy Book of the Sikhs. [Publisher]

14MESSAGE OF PEACErevelation from God testifying to the truth of Islam. Based onthis he performed Hajj 9 and followed the Islamic injunctionsmeticulously. It is established without doubt that great signsand miracles were manifested by him. It goes without questionthat Baba Nanak was a holy and pious man. He was oneof those whom God, the Mighty, the Glorious, made drinkout of His goblet of love. He was born among Hindus only tobear witness that Islam is from God. Anyone who sees forhimself his relics preserved at Dera Nanak, in which he hastestified to the kalimah 10 :and witnesses relics that lie enshrined at Guru Hersahai,District Ferozepur, among which is also a copy of the HolyQur’an 11 , how can he ever doubt the fact that because of hispure heart, nature and effort, Baba Nanak had come to knowof the secret that lay hidden from the so-called Pundits. GuruBaba Nanak also claimed to be a recipient of revelation fromGod and he enjoyed the Divine blessing of showing manymiracles. Thus he roundly debunked the erroneous claimsthat there was no revelation after the Vedas or that no signswere manifested thereafter. No doubt Baba Nanak was a greatblessing from God for the adherents of Hinduism. You may9. The pilgrimage to Ka‘bah, the house of Allah in Mecca,Saudi Arabia. [Publisher]10. There is none worthy of worship except Allah; Muhammadis the messenger of Allah. [Publisher]11. Baba Nanak carried a copy of the Holy Qur’an in a small bagthroughout his journeys. This small sized copy is termedHamayal which means ‘pendant’ because many Godly peoplecarried it suspended from their shoulders. [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 15deem him, if you please, the last avatar for Hinduism whoendeavoured to eradicate the hatred which Hindus had forIslam. But it is tragic for this country that Hindu faith did notderive any benefit from this Divine blessing which came inthe person of Baba Nanak. On the contrary, the Punditsinflicted much pain upon him for praising Islam wherever hewent. It was his mission in fact to bring Hinduism and Islamto a state of mutual peace. Unfortunately for this country, thefollowers of the Hindu faith paid no due attention to histeaching. If he and his pious teachings had been shown anyrespect, the Hindus and the Muslims would have becomeunited by now. O grief that such a righteous man came intothis world, remained with us and passed away, but the imprudentdid not gain any benefit from his light!In any case, he proved that the institution of revelation andcommunion never terminates and that the Divine signs ofAllah always appear through the agency of His chosen onesand he stood witness to the fact that harbouring enmitytowards Islam is tantamount to harbouring enmity towards theDivine light.Similarly, I can also, from personal experience, give testimonythat the present age has certainly not been deprived ofcommunication and revelation from God. On the contrary,God still speaks as He used to speak and still hears as He usedto hear. It is not that His eternal attributes have become inoperative.I have been blessed with communication from Godfor nearly thirty years, and He has shown at my handhundreds of signs which have been observed by thousands ofwitnesses and have also been widely published in books and

16MESSAGE OF PEACEnewspapers. Without exception, people from all denominationshave witnessed one or another of the signs.In the face of such repeated evidence, the teaching of theArya Samaj, which is wrongfully attributed to Vedas, cannotbe accepted, for it alleges that all Divine revelation andcommunication has come to an end with the Vedas. ThisArya position is tantamount to believing that nothing is left ofman’s belief but tales and legends. Consequent upon thisdogma, they dismiss all the Divine scriptures that came afterthe Vedas as mere man-made fabrications. They do thisnotwithstanding the fact that the Divine scriptures in questionpossess a greater and more potent proof of the Divine originthan the Vedas. The hand of God’s support and assistance isbehind them and extraordinary signs from God bear witnessto their truth. By what logic, then, are the Vedas termed the‘Word of God’, while these other books are not? Theattributes of God are limitlessly profound and He lies hiddenbehind innumerable covers. Hence, dictates of wisdomrequire that He should not rely on one book alone for Hismanifestation. Rather, it is befitting for Him to choose HisMessengers from all over the world in different countries,reflecting His glory through them by blessing them with Hisrevelation and gift of communion. This is so that man, weakand credulous by nature, should not be deprived of the goodfortune of responding to His call.Pure common sense cannot accept the proposition thatGod, the Lord of the Universe, Who illuminates the East andWest alike with His radiant sun and quenches the thirst ofevery land with the universal bounty of His rain, should be somiserly (God forbid!) with regards to the spiritual needs of

MESSAGE OF PEACE 17man as to become partial only to one country, one people andone language. I fail to understand what logic and rationale it isthat God the Omniscient listens to man’s prayers and supplicationsand understands him in every language, and He is notdispleased with it, yet He abhors to make His word descendupon hearts in any language other than Sanskrit, the languageof the Vedas. This philosophy is found only in the Vedas like awell concealed enigma which no one, as yet, has been able toresolve.Personally, I consider the Vedas to be absolved of everhaving displayed such a philosophy upon any of its pages,which not only goes against common sense, but also blemishesGod with the allegation of miserliness and niggardlyconduct. The reality is that once a long time elapses after therevelation of a Divine Book, the followers of that Book,either out of sheer ignorance, or as a result of some ulteriormotives—by mistake or by intent—feel free to annotate theDivine teachings. Because these annotators are of divergentviews, so, with the passage of time, hundreds of denominationsare born out of one.It is also strange that just as the Aryas believe that revelationhas only been confined to the Arya kith and kin and Aryafaith, and that Sanskrit has been specifically employed by Godas His own language, so too the Jews have similar viewsregarding the chosen Children of Israel and their Books. Theybelieve that the only language of God is Hebrew and theinstitution of revelation has been confined to the House ofIsrael and its land. According to them, anyone who claims tobe a prophet of God while he does not belong to this House

18MESSAGE OF PEACEand does not speak their language is (God forbid) definitely aliar.Is it not then a strange coincidence, that both thesepeoples have followed the same path in their dogmatic assertions?Likewise, the followers of many other religions entertainsimilar views, as for example, the Zoroastrians, who claimthat their religion originated billions of years before the Vedicrevelation. From this it transpires that the tendency (toconfine the revelation of God to one's own language or theBook) is based merely on prejudice and ignorance. This isfurther abetted by the fact that in the dark ages of the past,people had no access to the information concerning peopleand countries beyond the boundaries of their homelands. Thislack of knowledge on their part led them to draw the wrongconclusions. They had witnessed that God had bestowedupon them a Divine teaching in the form of a Book, and theyknew that Messengers of God had been selected from amongthemselves; hence their erroneous impression that they hadbeen the only people so favourably treated by God, while therest of the world was unfortunate in being deprived of thisblessing.This erroneous view has done a lot of damage to theworld, and it has worked as a seed of mutual enmity andmalice which continues to grow. For a long time, it sohappened that a people remained hidden from others and onecountry remained concealed and veiled from the other to theextent that the scholars of the Arya faith used to believe thatthere was no inhabitation beyond the Himalayas.When God lifted the veil, it was already too late for themto mend. By this time they were already fixed in their

MESSAGE OF PEACE 19prejudices. All the false distinctive features which people hadattributed to their own revealed books, divines, andmessengers, had become deeply rooted in their hearts and hadbecome permanently fixed like the etching on stones. Eachpeople had the same misconception that God’s capital wassituated in their country. Savage behaviour was predominantamong most people of that age. Hence, to them the swordseemed a natural instrument for settling accounts with thosepeople who dared to oppose the old order. Who then woulddare to cool down their self-aggrandisement to create anatmosphere conducive to mutual peace?Gautum Buddha was one brave enough who stood up toachieve this goal. He did not agree with the erroneous viewthat the Vedas are everything and that there is nothing beyondthem. Nor did he believe in any people, country or tribe asbeing exceptional. In other words, he did not agree that theVedas enjoyed a monopoly and it was only this faith, thislanguage, this country, and the Brahmans which had beenpermanently and exclusively registered in the court records ofGod to become the recipients of His revelation. He sufferedgreatly because of expressing these different views and he wasaccused of being an atheist or an agnostic. Similarly scholars andresearchers of Europe and America, who do not accept thegodhead of Jesus as , and whose hearts refuse to believe that Godcan be crucified, are atheists according to the Christian priests.This is how Buddha was branded an atheist. As is theroutine of the mischievous antagonists who incite the hatredof common people, he was made a target of many a falseaccusation. Consequently, he was turned out of the soil onwhich he was born and bred, the country that was his

20MESSAGE OF PEACEhomeland. Even now, the Hindus view Buddhism withdisdain and they begrudge its success. According to JesusChrist (peace be on him) ‘A Prophet is not withouthonour save in his own country.’ 12 Buddha migrated toanother country and gained tremendous success there. It isreported that one third of the world is populated by thefollowers of Buddha. As far as the large majority of adherentsis concerned, the real centre lies in China and Japan, but hismessage has reached as far as Southern Russia and America.Now we return to the original subject of discussion: theage when one religion was unaware of the existence of theother. In that general state of ignorance, it was but natural thatevery people should have considered their own religion andtheir own book to be the only one. Eventually when countriesbecame linked to each other through the spread ofknowledge, this trend of monopolising God resulted in thecreation of another obstacle in the path of mutual understanding.People began to expect the religions in every othercountry to agree with theirs, or else they stood rejected. Itwas no easy task to rid such religions of the poetical exaggerationsbuilt around them over the ages. So the followers ofevery religion braced themselves to vehemently oppose theother. So, also, the religion of Zend-Avesta raised the flagwith the claim that, ‘No one else is like us’ and they monopolisedthe institution of prophethood to their own family.They related such a long history of their religion, that thosewho used to pride the longevity of Vedic history were put toshame.12. See (Mathew, 13:57) and (Mark, 6:4). [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 21In their turn, the faith of the Hebrews crossed every limitwhen they asserted that Syria was declared to be the eternal seatof God’s sovereignty and that only the pious among themwould be considered worthy of being sent for the reformationof the world. But in effect, the work of reformation remainedlimited to the House of Israel, and the revelation of God becamethe prerogative of only their House under the seal of God. Allothers who rose with a claim were considered liars and imposters.Likewise, among the Aryas, similar views to those whichwere widespread among the Israelites gained favour.According to their belief, God is the King of the Aryas alone;a king of the type who is totally unaware of the existence ofothers. And without rhyme or reason, it is believed that Godhad forever set His heart on the Arya climate. Little does Hecare to visit other countries once in a while, to inquire aboutthe state of the miserable people living there whom He hadonce created only to forget them forever.Dear friends! I appeal to you, in the name of God, toconsider whether such views can really be entertained byhuman nature. Or if any conscience could find room for themwithin its bounds! I fail to understand what kind of logic it isthat on the one hand God is conceived to be the Lord of thewhole universe and, on the other, He is claimed to have withdrawnHis hand of providence from a large part of the world,and that His gaze remains fixed on a particular people and onesection of a particular country. O those who possess wisdom!Please decide with justice if, in the entire realm of physicallaws created by God, there is a single piece of evidence infavour of this. Why then should His spiritual laws be based onsuch biased attitudes?

22MESSAGE OF PEACEIf the faculty of reasoning is employed, the good or evil ofanything becomes manifest from the fruit it bears. Needlessfor me to discuss the consequences of abusing and reviling theholy Prophets of God, who have been seen and accepted byhundreds and millions of people; there is hardly a people whohave not themselves witnessed the outcome of the bitter fruitof such practices.O Dear Ones! Age-old experience and repeated trials haveestablished, without question, that to insult and abuse theProphets and Messengers of different countries and peoples issuch a deadly poison which not only destroys the body butalso kills the soul, thereby ruining the worldly prospects aswell as the spiritual. A country whose inhabitants are alwaysafter finding faults in the leaders of others, and constantlyassassinate their characters, can never rest in peace themselves.Such people can never achieve true unity who, individually ormutually, refer to each other’s Prophets or saints or divineswith malice or foul language. Who would not be outraged atthe insults hurled at their Prophet or leader? In particular,Muslims are such people who, although they do not believetheir Prophet to be God or the son of God, do regard him sa tobe the most revered of all the holy men born of a humanmother. To make peace with a sincere Muslim is not possibleunless during discussion, their Holy Prophet sa is mentionedwith respect and refined language.As for us 13 , we never use indecent language with regard tothe Prophets of other peoples. In fact, we believe that for allthe Prophets who have come to different peoples of the world13. The Muslims [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 23and have been accepted by millions of people in all parts ofthe world, and love for them and their greatness has beenfirmly established in any one part of the world, and furtherthat this state of devotion and love for them has endured thetest of time, is evidence enough of their truthfulness. Hadthey not been from God, they could not have been acceptedon such a wide scale by millions upon millions of hearts. Goddoes not bestow such honour upon those whom He favoursnot. If an imposter aspires to occupy their position, he is soonbrought to ruin.By virtue of the same logic, we believe the Vedas to bedivine in origin and we consider their saints to be venerableand holy. We do so despite our observation that Vedicteaching has not succeeded, nor could it ever succeed, inturning any section of its followers into true worshippers ofGod. The people in this country who worship idols, fire, thesun, the Ganges, or thousands of deities, or who are adherentsof Jainism or the Shakat faith, all claim their religion to originatefrom the Vedas. The Vedas are so vague that they permitall sects to deduce from them whatsoever they wish.However, in accordance with what we are taught by God, webelieve that the original Vedas were not man’s fabrication. Ahuman fabrication lacks the power to establish a lasting order.Although we do not find any mention of stone worship in theVedas, without a doubt, Vedic teaching is full of the mentionof the worship of fire, air, water, the moon, the sun, and soon. There is no verse which prohibits the worship of theseobjects. Who is to say that the older sects of Hindus are falseand only the new sect of Aryas is the true one? People who,by referring to the Vedas, worship these objects, are armed

24MESSAGE OF PEACEwith the powerful argument that there is clear mention ofsuch worship and nowhere is there any prohibition. To saythat these are the names of God, is a claim which has not asyet been clearly settled. Had it been settled, what reason couldthere have been for the scholarly pundits in Banares and othercities to have rejected the beliefs of the Aryas? Despite effortsover the past thirty to thirty-five years, very few Hindus haveaccepted the Arya faith and in comparison with the Sanatanfaith and other Hindu sects, the followers of the Arya faithnumber so few that they are insignificant, nor do they haveany influence on the remaining Hindu sects. Similarly, theteachings of nyog, which is attributed to the Vedas, is abhorrentto human dignity and the human sense of honour. As Ihave already stated, we cannot accept that it is a genuine Vedicteaching. In fact, our well-meaning intentions make usstrongly inclined to believe that such teachings must havebeen introduced later from sensual motives. Since thousandsof years have passed since the original compilation of Vedas itis possible that in different times some scribes added to orsubtracted from it. For us it is proof enough that the Aryafaith has had millions upon millions of followers for thousandsof years who have held it to be the word of God. It is notpossible that the work of an imposter could enjoy suchhonour.So when we, despite all these obstacles, purely out of fearof God, accept the Vedas to be divine revelation in its originand assume all the false teachings to be the work of scribes,what justification can there be for the Holy Qur’an to bemade the target of such brutal attacks? It is full of injunctionsfrom cover to cover speaking only of the worship of

MESSAGE OF PEACE 25one God. Nowhere does it require man to worship the sun,the moon etc. In fact there are clear statements to thecontrary: 14......In other words, do not worship the sun, the moon, or anywork of creation, but worship only Him, Who has createdyou. Apart from this, the Holy Qur’an is itself a testimony toGod through its old and new signs. It is a mirror which showsGod’s existence. Why should it be made the target of suchferocious attacks? Why are we not treated in the same spirit aswe treat the Aryas? And why is the seed of enmity and hatredsown in the soil of this country? Do they really expect thatthe outcome of such behaviour will be good? Is it decent tohurl stones at one who offers flowers or to splash urine onone who offers milk?If Hindus and those belonging to the Arya faith wereprepared to make a complete truce whereby they accept ourProphet, (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) tobe a true Prophet of God and in future agree to refrain fromcontempt and slander, then I am ready to be the first to signthe following treaty:We, the members of the Ahmadiyyah Jama‘at, will testify tothe truth of the origin of the Vedas, and will speak of theVedas and their Rishis with respect and love, and if we do nothonour our part of the contract, we will be liable to pay a fineof not less than three hundred thousand rupees to the Hinducommunity.14. (Ha Mim al-Sajdah, 41:38)

26MESSAGE OF PEACEIf the Hindus genuinely desire to effect a compromise withus, then they should also write it as a declaration and sign it;its subject matter being as follows:We believe in the divine message and Prophethood of HadratMuhammad Mustafa Rasulullah [the chosen one, theMessenger of Allah] may peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim, and deem him to be a true Prophet and Messenger. Fromnow on we will remember him with reverence and respect asbefits a believer. If this is not adhered to, a large fine of not lessthan three hundred thousand rupees will be paid to leader ofthe Ahmadiyyah Jama‘at.It should be remembered that at present, the AhmadiyyahJama‘at numbers not less than four hundred thousand 15 .Hence, the collection of three hundred thousand rupeesshould not be considered too great a task for such an importantcause. The majority of people who are outside the fold ofour Jama‘at are disunited in their views and are diverse in theirnature. They do not follow a leader, obedience to whom theywould consider incumbent. This is why I cannot undertakeanything on their behalf; as yet they consider me to be a kafir[imposter] and dajjal [Antichrist]. But I trust that when theHindus enter into an agreement with me, they 16 will also notbe so daring as to abuse the Book and the Rishis of such acivilized people and thereby invite the abuse of the HolyProphet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) inretaliation. Such abuses will then be rightly blamed on thosewho act irresponsibly. As such action is contrary to modest15. This number represents the membership as of the writing ofthis book in 1908. [Publisher]16. The other Muslims [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 27and virtuous behaviour, I do not expect that after this treatythey would permit their tongues to wag. It should be mandatorythat to make the contract binding, ten thousand adultrepresentatives from both parties should sign it.My dear ones, there is nothing like peace and compromise.Let us unite with the blessing of this treaty and be one nation.You know full well that denial 17 on both sides has thrown usapart and that our country is suffering greatly. Visualise howblessed it could prove to testify to each other’s truth. Come,give this a try now. This is the best course for achieving peace.Pursuing any other course would be like ignoring a dangerousabscess merely because it looks clear and shiny, while, inreality, it contains rotten and putrid matter.I need not elaborate on the ever-increasing, mutuallyhypocritical, attitude and discord between the Hindus andMuslims. This is rooted not in religious differences alone, buthas also secondary causes which pertain to worldly ambitions.For instance, the Hindus have always shown their desire tohave more say in the affairs of government and country. Theyhave been demanding that they should, at the very least,always be consulted in such affairs and that the governmentshould always pay special attention to their demands. Theyalso desire that they be posted at the higher ranking offices asthe British are. The Muslims made the blunder of not joiningthis campaign of Hindus out of fear that they were small innumbers. They were afraid that whatever benefit was to behad from such campaigns would be drawn by the majorityHindu community and not the Muslims. So they not only17. i.e. denial of each other’s holy personages. [Publisher]

28MESSAGE OF PEACEabstained from joining this cause, but they also obstructed thepassage of Hindu efforts by openly opposing it. Thus mutualenmity increased.I admit that such factors contributed to furthering theenmity which had already existed. But I cannot accept themto be the real reason. I beg to differ with those who believethat religious disputes are not at the root of Hindu-Muslimenmity and discord, and that the disputes are in fact politicalin nature.Everyone can easily understand why Muslims are reluctantto join forces with Hindus in demanding their due rights andwhy they have been refusing to join Congress and why again,having perceived the soundness of the Hindu strategy, theybegan to follow the same path step after step while maintaininga distinct and separate entity, taking great care not tobe identified with them. They did not join the Hindus, butcreated a similar but separate Muslim organisation. 18Dear Friends! I reassert that the underlying factor responsiblefor this behaviour is religion, and nothing else. If todaythe same Hindus embrace the Muslims while pronouncingthe kalimah Tayyibah: 19then Muslims would cease to oppose them forthwith.Conversely, if Muslims renounce Islam and embraceHinduism and start worshipping fire, air, etc., in accordance18. The organisation was called Muslim League and was establishedin 1906. [Publisher]19. There is none worthy of worship except Allah; Muhammadis the messenger of Allah. [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 29with the Vedic injunctions 20 , then those differences which arelabelled as political will suddenly vanish as if they had neverexisted.It is thus evident that the underlying factors in all enmitiesand grudges are the religious differences. It is such religiousdifferences which, since times immemorial, reach a climaxand then invariably give way to extensive bloodshed.O Muslims, I say: If Hindus treat you as a different nationmerely because of religious differences and you respond tothem in the same manner, the matter will not end here. Howcan you achieve a sound, healthy relationship unless you takeappropriate remedial measures against this root cause? It ispossible that you may temporarily enjoy a friendship, but onlysuperficially. The ultimate sincerity of heart, worthy of beingcalled sincerity, can only be achieved if you genuinely changeyour attitude towards the Vedas and the Vedic Rishis byaccepting them to be from God. Likewise, the Hindus shouldalso change their niggardly attitude by testifying to the truthof our beloved Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him). Remember, and remember it well, thatthis is the only principle which can establish a genuine trucebetween you and the Hindus and this is the only water whichcan wash away all malice embittering your relationship. If thehour has finally come when these two nations, who have forso long fallen apart, are destined to be reunited, then God willopen up their hearts to this purpose as He has already openedup our hearts to the same.20. The reference is to today’s distorted Vedic injunctions thathave been modified over time by the followers. [Publisher]

30MESSAGE OF PEACEIt is essential however that you treat Hindus with sincerityand kindness and let decent behaviour be your second nature.Refrain from all such measures as would cause them pain,except those that are essential or obligatory according to ourfaith. Consequently if the Hindus sincerely accept the propositionof testifying to the truth of our Holy Prophet (maypeace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and of having faithin his truth, then what remains regarding the split on the issueof cows can be done away with. Remember if we arepermitted to eat something, it does not follow that we have toeat it. Everything permissible is not obligatory. There aremany things which we know to be lawful yet we do notnecessarily practice them. To treat Hindus with decency andkindness is one of the important Islamic injunctions—. If forthe sake of achieving a higher goal one forgoes a right, it willnot be against the spirit of the Divine law. To consider somethingto be lawful is one thing, to utilise it is another. Thespirit of piety requires that you abstain from whatever God hasforbidden. To actually pursue the path of gaining His favourand to have the welfare of His creation at heart and to treatothers with goodness and sympathy and to respect all the holyProphets and Messengers from God, and to accept them asreformers and to not discriminate between them and to serveall mankind irrespective of denominations. This is the essentialrequirement of our faith. How can we ever be at peacewith such people who—without justification and withoutregard for the fear of Allah—speak of our Holy Prophet,Hadrat Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah beupon him) with disrespect, and abuse him and refrain notfrom the use of foul language? In truth, I declare that it is

MESSAGE OF PEACE 31possible for us to make peace with the serpents fed onbrackish soil and the wolves of the wilderness, but not withthose who make wanton attacks on our Holy Prophet (maypeace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who is dearer to usthan our lives, our mothers and our fathers. May Allah causeus to die as Muslims. We are not willing to do anything at thecost of our faith.Here, I do not wish to censure any particular people nordo I intend to hurt anyone’s feelings. But, with a deep sense ofmortification, I observe that Islam, being a religion of peace,never attacked the founder of any religion. The Qur’an is thatrevered book which laid the foundation of peace betweennations and acknowledged the truth of all Prophets belongingto all the different nations. It is the Holy Qur’an which enjoysthe unique distinction of teaching us with regards to theProphets of the entire world that: 21...Therefore, O Muslims, you should declare: We believe in all theProphets of God belonging to this world and we do not discriminatebetween them as to reject one and accept the others.Name one book like the Holy Qur’an which is so dedicatedfor the cause of peace. The universal beneficence ofGod has not been confined by the Qur’an to any specificHouse. It acknowledges the Prophets of the House of Israel,one and all, be they Jacob as , Isaac as , Moses as , David as or Jesus as .And it acknowledges the Prophets of other nations regardlessof whether they dwelt in India or Persia. None of them have21. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Himwe submit. (Al-e-‘Imran, 3:85) [Publisher]

32MESSAGE OF PEACEbeen labeled as deceitful or imposters. On the contrary, itclearly proclaims that Prophets appeared in every nation andin every township and laid the foundation of peace betweenall the peoples. Alas, this Messenger of Peace is abused andtreated with contempt by all peoples alike.O my dear countrymen, I have not expressed this view tooffend you or to hurt your sensibilities in any way. But I dodesire to submit, in all sincerity, that those who have made ittheir second nature to vilify the Prophets of other faiths andconsider this unjustified behaviour to be a part of their faithcommit an act of unwarranted interference in others’ affairs.They not only sin against God, but they are also guilty ofsowing the seed of discord and enmity among mankind. Nowanswer me with hand on heart: if someone abuses another’sfather or accuses another’s mother of unchaste conduct, willthis not be tantamount to assailing the honour of his fatherhimself? If anyone retaliates with similar abuses, will it not beappropriate to say that in reality the blame lies with the personwho initiated it? In that case he himself would be the offenderof his parents’ honour.God, through the Holy Qur’an, has cultivated refined andrespectful etiquettes. He admonishes: 22 In other words, do not even abuse the idols of the nonbelieverslest they abuse your God out of ignorance. (surah al-An‘am, al-juzw, 7) 22. (al-An‘am, 6:109)

MESSAGE OF PEACE 33Now consider that this is the Qur’anic teaching despite thefact that it treats idols as of no significance. Yet God teachesthe Muslims to abstain from insulting even the idols andadmonishes them instead to adopt a course of gentle persuasionlest they [the idolaters] should be provoked, in turn, toabuse God. The Muslims would then be responsible for suchabuses. What manner of people are they who revile the nameof this great Prophet of Islam and speak of him with utterdisrespect, brutally assailing his honour and tarnishing hisspotless character. He is the highly revered Prophet whosename is held in such awe as when uttered the great Muslimkings vacate their thrones and bow their heads to hiscommands. They consider it an honour to be counted amongthe humblest of his servants. Is this respect not a bounty ofGod? Those who dare insult the recipient of such honour do,in fact, quarrel with God Himself. The Holy ProphetMuhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)holds such a high station with God that to prove his truth Hehas shown the world great miracles. Is this not the work ofHis Mighty hand, which has bowed the heads of 200 millionpeople before Muhammad’s threshold? Granted that everyProphet had many a heavenly signs in his support, but thepeerless signs shown in Muhammad’s support outnumberthem all. They continue to appear even today as they weremanifested in the past.Alas, you cannot understand an argument as plain as this:When the earth is filled with sin and becomes uncouth andwhen wickedness, debauchery, and impertinence weighheavier on the scale of God than acts of righteousness, it isthen that God’s mercy requires of Him to send one of His

34MESSAGE OF PEACEservants who would set the disorder right. Sickness anddisease call for a healer. You of all people should be able tounderstand this better than others. You hold the view that theVedas were not revealed at a time when the ocean of sin wasin spate, but that they were revealed, instead when the calm ofsinlessness prevailed over land and sea. Do you then considerit inconceivable that a Prophet should appear when the floodof sin rages high and rapidly inundates every country of theworld?I do hope that you are not so ignorant of the facts ofhistory. When our Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him) honoured the office of prophethood withhis advent, the age had plunged into utter darkness and noaspect of human conduct was free from the blemish of sin andfalse beliefs. Pundit Dyanand writes in his book SatyarathParkash, that even in the land of Aryawart [which takes pridein its monotheistic beliefs] idolatry had replaced the worshipof God, and the Vedic faith had become extensivelycorrupted.Reverend Pfander, a white European priest and a staunchdefender of Christian faith, also endorses these views in hisbook, Mizan-ul-Haq. He observes that at the time of theinception of Islam, the Christians had become the mostcorrupt among all the religious denominations. The lewd andwanton conduct of the Christians of the time was a source ofshame and dishonour for Christianity. The Holy Qur’an, justifyingits revelation, speaks of the same in the following verse 23 :...23. (al-Rum, 30:42)

MESSAGE OF PEACE 35That is: Corruption has appeared on the land and the sea.This verse implies that every nation, whether in a state ofignorance or whether it presumed itself to be wise, was notfree from corruption.Thus it is established on the authority of all testimoniesthat the entire mankind, during the age of ProphetMuhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)were they oriental or occidental, those belonging to the landof Aryas or those who were dwellers of the Arabian desert, soalso those who inhabited islands, had all become moral destitutes.There was not one among them whose relation withGod was without blemish. Evil practices contaminated theentire earth. Why then cannot a man of sound mind understandthis simple matter of commonsense that it was the righttime and the right age, with reference to which human reasoncan accept, that an exceptionally eminent Prophet must beraised.As to the question concerning the reformation which thisProphet brought about with his advent, none can answer likea Muslim with reference to the overwhelming evidence of thegreat reformation brought about by the Holy Prophet ofIslam (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It isbeyond the scope of a Christian, Jew or Aryan to answer thisquestion with such clarity and with the support of such irrefutableevidence.The first phase of the Holy Prophet’s (may peace andblessings of Allah be upon him) reformation began with thatof the Arabs. The Arabian peninsula was in such a haplessstate that it was hard to refer to its dwellers as humans. Namean evil which they did not exhibit; name a form of idolatry

36MESSAGE OF PEACEwhich they did not practise. To steal and rob was the order ofthe day, and committing pointless murder was like tramplingan insignificant ant under their feet. They murdered innocentchildren and usurped all that belonged to them. It was notrare for them to bury their daughters alive. They took pride infornication and boasted of it in their songs. Drinking was socommon among them that there was no house without cellarsof wine. They led the whole world in gambling. Beasts wouldfeel ashamed at being likened to them and snakes and wolveswould be disgraced if called Arabs.When our Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah beupon him) stood up with a resolve to reform them anddecided to cleanse their hearts with all his spiritual intent,within a matter of a short time they displayed such rapidchanges as transformed them from beasts into humans andthen from ordinary humans into a cultured people and from acultured people they became Godly and became totallyimmersed in the love of God. For the sake of that love theysuffered every torture as though their sense of pain had beenparalyzed. They were subjected to extreme suffering bydifferent modes of torture and were ruthlessly flogged. Theywere made to lie on burning sand and imprisoned. They weredeprived of food and water until they reached the verge ofdeath; but at every trial they continued to march forward.There were so many among them whose children were slainbefore their very eyes and there were many among them whowere themselves crucified in front of their children.The singular devotion with which they laid down theirlives is such that even to think of it agitates one to tears. If it isnot the command of God and the power of spiritual attention

MESSAGE OF PEACE 37of His Prophet, which worked magic on their hearts, whatelse could it have been which gravitated them so irresistiblytowards Islam? What magic transformed them and made thembow on the threshold of a humble man who had once treadedthe streets of Mecca without any kind of friendship, wealth,or power? There had to be a spiritual hand which lifted themfrom such lowly depths to such dazzling heights. Even moreamazing is the fact that many among them were those who, intheir earlier stages of rejection, were sworn enemies of theHoly Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)and thirsty after his blood. I see no greater miracle than thisthat one so helpless, poor and penniless as he, could washtheir hearts of all the stains of enmity and hatred and drawthem so powerfully towards himself. So much so that they castaway their royal garments willingly for the sake of God andaccepted the humility of being clothed in sackcloth.Some, in their ignorance, blame Islam of Jihad [wagingwars] to spread its message and of gaining converts at thepoint of sword. They claim that these converts were forced tochange their religion under the threat of the sword. Woe tothem a thousand times! They have exceeded all limits in theirinjustice and in their efforts to conceal the truth. O pity!What is wrong with them, that they wilfully turn away fromrealities? Our Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him) did not appear in the land of Arabia in thecapacity of a monarch. It therefore cannot be suspected thathe had royal majesty and power with him, such that thepeople gathered under his banner for fear of their lives.Now the question one faces is simply this: When hewaged his lone spiritual battle for the pronouncement of

38MESSAGE OF PEACEGod’s Unity and for the establishment of the truth of hisministry in a state of utter helplessness and poverty, thenwhere was that sword which struck terror in their hearts, andcoerced the meek into submission? And had they refused tobelieve or had they persisted in their rejection of him, fromwhich king did he beg for a contingent army to be sent to hisaid so that they may be forced to yield?O seekers of truth! Rest assured that all these allegationsare fabrications by those who are sworn enemies of Islam.Cast a glance at history. Muhammad (may peace and blessingsof Allah be upon him) was that same orphan whose fatherdied shortly after his birth and whose mother passed awayleaving him behind as a child of only a few months. Thatchild on whom God had extended His hand of support wasnurtured in His care without any other patronage. Duringthose hard times of orphanhood, he tended goats belongingto others. None was his mentor except God. And even up tothe age of twenty-five, none of his uncles were willing to offertheir daughter’s hand in marriage to him as it appeared that hewould be unable to meet even the basic household expenses.Moreover, he was unlettered and was not trained in any skillor profession. As he approached the age of forty, lo, there hewas with his heart powerfully drawn towards his Lord, Allah,the Gracious. There was a cave, a few miles from Mecca bythe name of Hira. It was here that he would retire by himselfand, concealed from the eyes of men, become lost in theremembrance of God. One day, in that very cave, while hewas praying in seclusion, God revealed Himself to him, andhe was told: The people have turned their backs on the pathof Allah and the earth is befouled with sin. So I [God

MESSAGE OF PEACE 39Almighty] appoint you as My Messenger and send you to theworld, so that you may warn the people that they should turnback to their Lord before His punishment befalls them.Being unlettered, he was frightened by this command andbeseeched God: I know not how to read and write. ThenGod filled his bosom with all faculties of spiritual knowledgeand enlightened his heart. With the blessing of his quwwat-equdsiyyah[power of purification], the humble and meekstarted entering the circle of obedience to him. But thepowerful leaders mustered all their forces to oppose him toothand nail. They went even to the length of plotting to kill himand many men and many women were put to agonisingdeath. As a last measure they surrounded the house of theHoly Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)with intent to murder him. But who can touch him whomGod protects. God revealed to him: Leave this town forthwithand I will remain with you at every step.Accordingly he left Mecca and took Abu Bakr (may Allahbe pleased with him) along and remained in hiding for threenights in the cave of Thaur. The enemy gave chase, and withthe aid of a tracker were led to the cave. That tracker tracedtheir footsteps right up to the entrance of the cave, tellingthem: Here the track ends, so search for him in this cave. If heis not to be found here then the sky must have swallowedhim. Who can limit the boundless wonders of God’s creation?In a single night, God so manifested His will that a spiderspun its web across the mouth of the cave from end to endand a pigeon built its nest at the entrance of the cave and evenlaid its eggs therein. When the tracker urged the Meccans toenter the cave, an old man thus retorted: This tracker must be

40MESSAGE OF PEACEmad. I have been seeing this web across the mouth of the cavesince the time when Muhammad (may peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him) was not even born. At this, people beganto disperse and gave up the idea of searching the cave.After this, the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him) travelled to Medina secretly. The majorityof the inhabitants of Medina accepted him, causing the peopleof Mecca to seeth in rage, lamenting: Our prey has slippedout of our hands. They then became occupied in plots tomurder the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him). A small party from among the Meccans whohad accepted Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him) also left Mecca and migrated to different countries.Some took shelter under the Emperor of Abyssinia 24 .Some however were left behind in Mecca as they lackedadequate provisions for such journeys; they were tormentedto the extreme. The Holy Qur’an mentions how they wailedand bemoaned day and night to God.The cruelties of the infidels from among the Qureishexceeded all bounds. They started to murder the helpless,poor women and orphaned children. They went to the extentof killing some women with such ruthlessness as to havetightly bound their legs each to different camels and drivingthem in opposite directions. Thus they died as they split intwo.When the transgression of these merciless infidels reachedthis stage, God, who turns to His servants with mercyrevealed to his Messenger: The supplications of the afflicted24. Current day Ethiopia [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 41have reached me. Thus this day, I permit them to stand up totheir persecutors and remember that a people who raise theirsword against the innocent will themselves perish by thesword. Yet, transgress not, because God does not befriendthose who transgress.This is the spirit and essence of Islamic Jihad which hasbeen maliciously portrayed in the wrong light. God isforbearing, indeed, but when the mischief of a people crossesall limits, then He does not let the transgressors go unpunished.Then He Himself creates conditions which result intheir destruction. I know not how and from where our opponentsheard that Islam was spread by the might of the sword.God in the Holy Qur’an pronounced that there is no compulsionin Islam: 25...That is: The religion of Islam does not permit any compulsionin matters of faith. Who commanded the application offorce and what were the means of coercion available to them?And again, such people as are coerced into changing theirfaith do not display such dedication and such quality of belief,that without any financial returns and despite being a merefew hundred they dare to confront the army of thousands.When the same reached the number of one thousand, theysomehow acquired the strength to defeat enemies runninginto hundreds of thousands. They readily offered their lives indefence of their faith, to be slaughtered like sheep and goats.They stamped the testimony to the truth of Islam with theirown blood. Moreover, they became so enamoured with the25. (al-Baqarah, 2:257)

42MESSAGE OF PEACEtask of spreading the Unity of God that, willingly accepting allkinds of hardships like ascetics, they crossed the deserts ofAfrica to disseminate the message of Islam so that their blessedteachings should bear the fruit of truth. Thus they succeededin converting tens of millions of Chinese people to Islam.Then they entered India in the style of dervishes wearingsackcloth and succeeded in converting many to Islam from theArya faith. They even reached the frontiers of Europe andraised loud and clear the message: 26Can you claim in honesty that such as these are really thefruits of the sword of Islam, whose hearts remain infidel whilethe tongues alone profess the faith. Nay! It is the work ofthose whose hearts were filled with the light of faith. Nothingbut God dwelled in their hearts.Now we turn our attention to the study of Islamic teachingsand its true nature. It should be clearly borne in mind that thepredominant purpose of Islamic teachings is to establish theUnity and Majesty of God on earth, to completely eradicateidolatry and to gather all scattered religious denominationsaround a single article of faith and turn them into one people.The religions which appeared before Islam and theProphets and Messengers that came were confined to thereformation of their own respective nation and country;whatever they did for their moral uplift was all aimed for thebenefit of their own people. This is why Jesus as unambiguouslyadmitted that his teachings were for the House of Israelalone. It is reported that when a woman who did not belong26. There is none worthy of worship except Allah. [Publisher]

MESSAGE OF PEACE 43to Israelites beseeched him with humility for him to show her‘the way’, he rejected her plea. The poor woman even wentto the extent of likening herself to a dog to evoke pity, andimplored guidance. He again rejected her plea on the groundthat he was sent only for the sheep of the House of Israel.Finally, she was silenced. But Our Prophet (may peace andblessings of Allah be upon him) nowhere pronounced that hehad been sent only for the Arabs. On the contrary, the HolyQur’an commands him to say: 27...That is, tell the people that I am a Messenger to you all fromAllah. It should be remembered that it was no fault of Jesus asthat he gave such a curt answer to the woman. The time hadnot yet come for a universal teaching. This was the teachingvouchsafed to Jesus as by God: You are specifically sent for theHouse of Israel. You have no concern with others.As I mentioned above, the moral teachings of Jesus wereconfined to the Jews. The Torah taught “a tooth for a tooth,an eye for an eye, and an ear for the ear” 28 . The purport ofthe teaching was to provide a commandment to the Jews toestablish justice and prevent them from committing transgressionsand excesses. This was necessary because having spentfour hundred years in slavery, cruelty and meanness hadbecome their second nature. Hence the profound Wisdom ofGod so planned that to counter the overemphasis of crueltyand revenge in their natures, the teachings of forgiveness and27. (al-A‘raf, 7:159)28. See (Exodus, 21:24), (Leviticus, 24:20), and (Deuteronomy,19:21). [Publisher]

44MESSAGE OF PEACElove was highly stressed to the same degree. Hence the moralteaching found in the Gospels is specifically for the Jews andnot for the whole world as Jesus as had no concern with otherpeople.The teaching which Jesus as brought did not only have thedrawback of not being addressed to all mankind, but it alsohad another shortcoming. As Torah overemphasises revengeto one extreme, the Gospels, turn to the other extreme asregards the teaching of forgiveness. Both these scriptures failto bring into focus all the possible branches of human nature.As for Torah, it remains concerned with only one branch,while the Gospels hold fast to the other exclusively. Bothteachings lack balance. As it is evident that to punish on everyoccasion is not appropriate nor is it in accordance with thedictates of justice, likewise to forgive and to overlook faultsindiscriminately is contrary to the spirit of human reform. Inview of this the Holy Qur’an does not entirely agree witheither, but instead proposes the following: 29...So an injury can only be avenged to the extent of the injuryreceived, as is taught by the Torah. But whoever prefers toforgive, as is taught by the Gospels, then such forgiveness isonly permitted when the person forgiven is likely to respondwith reform and the final outcome is positive and healthy andthe whole episode ends up well. Otherwise, the routineteaching remains the same as that of the Torah.29. The recompense of an injury is an injury the like thereof; butwhoso forgives and his act brings about reformation, hisreward is with Allah. (al-Shura, 42:41) [Publisher]

glossaryAbu Bakr—A close friend and companion of the Holy Prophet saand the first caliph in Islam. He was the first among men to confirmthe truth of the claim of the Holy Prophet sa .Allah—Allah is the personal name of God in Islam. To showproper reverence to Him, Muslims often add Ta‘ala, ‘the MostHigh’, when saying His Holy name.Ahmadi Muslim or Ahmadi—A member of theAhmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at.Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at—The Community ofMuslims who accept the claims of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad asof Qadian as being the Promised Messiah and Mahdi; the Jama‘atwas established by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as in 1889, and isnow under the leadership of his fifth Khalifah, Hadrat MirzaMasroor Ahmad aba .Al-Imam al-Mahdi—The title given to the Promised Reformerof the latter days; it means guided leader.Arya or Arya Samaj—A movement founded in 1875 bySwami Dayananda in India with the objective of promoting theteachings of the Vedas.Aryan—A member of the Arya group.Aryawart—Land of the Aryas—India.

46MESSAGE OF PEACEBaba Nanak—Believed by the Sikhs to be the founder of theirreligion, Baba Nanak (1469-1539) was actually a Muslim. He performedHajj, married into a Muslim family, and lived a pious life.Ganges—A river in the northern part of India revered by Hindusand believed to facilitate salvation for those who bathe in it.Hadrat—A term of respect used for a person of established righteousnessand piety.Hajj—Pilgrimage to the House of Allah in Mecca, Arabia; alsoknown as the fifth pillar of Islam.Holy Prophet sa —A term used exclusively for HadratMuhammad sa , the Prophet of Islam.Holy Qur’an—The Book sent by Allah for the guidance ofmankind. It was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa over aperiod of twenty-three years.Jainism—A religion and philosophy originating in India around500 BC by Prince Vardhamana (known by his followers asMahavira) who was born into a Hindu family but later tookexception to some of the common teachings of the Hindu religion,including the caste system.Jama‘at—Jama‘at means community. Although the word Jama‘atitself may refer to any community, in this book, Jama‘at specificallyrefers to the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at.Jihad—The literal translation of this word is ‘striving’. The term isused to mean self-purification as well as religious wars in someinstances.Kalimah—The declaration of the Islamic faith: ‘There is noneworthy of worship except Allah; Muhammad sa is the Messenger ofAllah.’ It is also known as the first pillar of Islam.Mahdi—See al-Imam al-Mahdi.

Glossary 47Nyog—A practice allowing a woman who has not been able to getan issue from her husband to co-habit with some other person andproduce children for her husband.(The) Promised Messiah—This term refers to the Founderof the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at, Hadrat Mirza GhulamAhmad as of Qadian. He claimed that he had been sent by Allah inaccordance with the prophecies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad saconcerning the coming of al-Imam al-Mahdi and Messiah fromamong the Muslims.Pundit—A term used to denote respect or status in the Hindu religion.Pundits are traditionally known to have memorized a substantialportion of the Vedas and conduct religious services forHindus.Rishis—A Hindu term for religious divines who sever all ties withthe material world and submit completely to acts of devotion.Sahib—A term of respect for a man, similar to the diversity of Englishterms like mister or sir.Samaj—A Hindu term for society.Shakat Faith—A sect in Hinduism.Sri Krishna—A prophet of God in Hinduism known to havebeen born around 1458 BC.Surah—A term in Arabic referring to a chapter of the HolyQur’an.Vedas—Religious texts of Hinduism.Zend-Avesta—means commentaries on Avesta, the sacred textsof the Zoroastrian religion. In the context of this book, it refers tothe Zoroastrian religion.Zoroastrians—Followers of a religion based on the teachings ofProphet Zoroaster as .

subject indexAAllah the Almightyall religions originated from, 23attributes of, teach kindnessand magnanimity 6belief in, unites humanity 5, 7,42communion with, 8, 13, 15, 38divine decree, 15humanity needs to cultivate attributesof, 6, 10Jewish beliefs about, 17treats all people equally, 6, 10,16universal concept in Islam, 7,10, 43universal concept missingin other religions 7, 16, 20,42BBaba Nanakignored by Hindus, 15mission of, 15relics of, printed with Islamicteachings 14testifies to Islam’s truth 14Buddha, Gautumbranded as an atheist 19mission of, 19CChristianitybeliefs about communion withAllah the Almighty 8beliefs about Prophets andMessengers 7HHindus of Indiabeliefs about communion withAllah the Almighty amongAryah sect 8common ground with Jews andChristians 8proposal of truce for, 12, 25religious differences at root ofhostility with Muslims ofIndia 28unity needed with Muslims ofIndia 5, 11, 27Holy Prophet Muhammad sadifficult life of, 38high status of, 33reformation brought by, 35time for sending, 34Humanityequal treatment from Allah theAlmighty to all, 6need to cultivate attributes ofAllah the Almighty 6, 10, 12

united through belief in Allahthe Almighty 5, 7, 42unity acquired through respectand mutual sympathy 6, 11,12, 22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32IIslamabuse and horrific torture offollowers of, 36, 40beliefs about Prophets andMessengers 9common ground with Vedicteachings 13compulsion not acceptablein, 41effects of the message 36misconceptions about, 37, 41permission granted to fight foroppressed 40respect for all Prophets andMessengers, 22, 25, 31teaches peace among religions32universal concept of Allah theAlmighty 7, 9, 22, 43JJesus ascritique of the godheadattributed to, 8mission of, 42Judaismbeliefs about Allah Almighty, 17beliefs about Prophets andMessengers 7MMuslims of Indiaproposal of truce for, 12, 25religious differences root of hostilitywith Hindus of India 28unity needed with Hindus ofIndia 5, 11, 27PPromised Messiah asprayer for guidance by, 5truce proposed to India’sMuslims and Hindus 12, 25warning to nations 6Prophets and Messengersappeared worldwide 9, 16criterion for true, 23Gautum Buddha 19Islam respects all, 22, 25, 31Islamic beliefs about, 9Jewish and Christian beliefsabout, 7Sri Krishna 13RReligion(s)beliefs about communion withAllah the Almighty 8compulsion not acceptable inIslam 41criterion for true, 6Islam teaches peace among, 32originated from Allah theAlmighty 23unaware of other existing, 20universal concept of Allah theAlmighty missing in, otherthan Islam 7, 16, 20, 42SSympathyhumanity needs to cultivate, 6required in religion 6