review of religions · mr mirza fakhar ahmad mr. abdul baqi arshad by mahmood hanif uk..... 2 the...

Special contributors:Amatul-Hadi AhmadFarina Qureshi

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Basit Ahmad

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Fareed Ahmad

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Mansoor Saqi

Mahmood Hanif.

Mansoora Hyder-Muneeb

Navida Shahid

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Saleem Ahmad Malik

Tanveer Khokhar

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

All correspondence shouldbe forwarded directly to theeditor at:

The Review of ReligionsThe London Mosque16 Gressenhall RoadLondon, SW18 5QLUnited Kingdom

© Islamic Publications, 2004ISSN No: 0034-6721

Contents December 2004, Vol.99, No.12

1

Chief Editor and Manager: Mansoor Ahmed Shah

Management Board:Mr Munir-ud-din Shams (Chairman)

Mr Mansoor Shah (Secretary)

Mr Naseer Ahmad Qamar

Mr Mubarak Ahmad Zafar

Mr Mirza Fakhar Ahmad

Mr. Abdul Baqi Arshad

By Mahmood Hanif UK .................................................................................. 2

The introduction to this masterpiece is as relevant today

as it was at the time of its writing over 100 years ago. The misconceptions of both Muslims and

Christians concerning the life and death of Jesus( a s ) and his bodily ascension has caused much

confusion. However, the expectation of a bloody Messiah is a false belief of shortsighted scholars.

By Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as).. ................................................................................. 4

A short speech delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the current Supreme Head of the

Ahmadiyya Community in Islam, on the inauguration of a new mosque in Birmingham. A fresh

look at ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’.

By Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad – Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Community ......... 18

The authors discuss four

basic questions on learning in the light of the teachings of the Holy Qur’an.

By Abdul Majid and Shahab Ahmad ........................................................................................ 24

The author discusses the different means by which one can prove the

existence of God and reject the conclusion of atheists.

By Dr Tariq Anwar Bajwa ..................................................................................................... 42

The list of articles published in 2004 ................. 58

Front Cover Picture: Darul Barakat Mosque, Birmingham (see page18)

The Review of Religions 2004 Index

Is there a God?

The Holy Qur’an Answers Four Questions on Education

Inaugural Address at the Opening of Darul Barakat Mosque in Birmingham

Introduction from Jesus in India

Editorial

Belief in the existence of Goddefines one of the great dividesin the world today. It is an issuethat divides the secular West andNorth from the religious East andSouth, that in Europe divides theincreasingly atheist nativeEuropeans from the larg e l ydevout recent immigrantcommunities and that in theUnited States is at the heart ofmany current socio-politicalcontroversies such as gaymarriage rights and the teachingof evolution in schools. It is anenormously important questionthat has profound ramificationsfor our view of life, how weconduct ourselves and how wedeal with others.

On examining the variousarguments for and against theexistence of God, it becomesclear that the issue of Creationlies at the heart of the matter. Ifyou take the general principle ofcause and effect to its ultimateconclusion we are left with thequestion: is there an Ultimate

Cause, a Cause that has no priorcause and that we recognise asthe actions of the Creator of theUniverse, or do we only have anoriginal self-existing effect? Islife in the Universe as we know ita result of Divine design or theoutcome of a long line ofrandom, chance occurrences?The article ‘Is there a God?’ byDr. Tariq Anwar Bajwa attemptsto address some of these issuesby drawing from the HolyQ u r’an, the teachings of thePromised Messiah( a s ) and thewritings of the fourth Khalifa ofthe Ahmadiyya MuslimC o m m u n i t y, Hadhrat MirzaTahir Ahmad(ru).

M r. Jonathan Miller recentlypresented a documentary serieson the ‘History of Disbelief’ onBBC television, beginning with‘Shadows of Doubt’ (on Greekmythology: 30 Oct); followed by‘Noughts and Crosses’ (howdisbelief re-emerged in 15-16thcentury Christianity: 1 Nov) and‘The Final Hour’ (on Thomas

2 The Review of Religions – December 2004

Editorial

Paine and Darwin’s theory ofevolution: 2 Nov). It is obviousthat disillusionment at the rigidinterpretations of natural law byChristianity has caused many toabandon their traditional reli-gion. ‘The Review of Religions’shall be examining some of theissues raised by this series in itsfuture editions.

Those who deny the existence ofGod declare that belief in God isat best unnecessary and at worstdetrimental to living as a ‘moral’being. On the other hand, it isclear from the behaviour of manyof those who declare that Godexists, that belief in an abstractconcept of God alone is notsufficient to live a ‘moral’ life.The perception and under-standing of God varies widelyamong ‘theists’ (those whobelieve in God) from those whoregard God as a sort of absenteelandlord Who, having created theUniverse and set things inmotion, makes little interferencein day-to-day human affairs, tothose who see God as beingfiercely attached to theirparticular group of humanity

with little care for the rest ofhumankind. Muslims believe theHoly Qur’an to be the best pathto a true understanding of Godand the key to communion withHim. By delving deep into thetreasures of the Holy Qur’an webecome closer to God and alsogain a richer understanding ofourselves and the Universearound us. In this issue of ‘TheReview of Religions’, Dr AbdulMajid and Dr Shahab Ahmad(authors of ‘The Holy Qur’ananswers four Questions onEducation’) illuminate Qur’anicteachings and wisdom on thetopic of education and learning.

Mahmood Hanif – UK

3

Editorial

The Review of Religions – December 2004


In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent, TheM e rciful We Praise Him And Invoke HisBlessings Upon His Noble Pro p h e t

Lord! Judge between us and ourpeople with truth; Thou art thebest of judges

Introduction I have written this book, so that,by adducing proofs fromestablished facts, fromconclusive historical evidence ofproved value and from ancientdocuments of non-Muslims, Imight remove the serious mis-conceptions which are currentamong Muslims and among mostChristian sects regarding theearlier and the later life ofJ e s u s( a s ) – misconceptions, thedangerous implications of whichhave not only injured anddestroyed the conception of

Divine Unity, but theunwholesome and poisonousinfluence of which has for longbeen noticed in the morals of theMuslims of this country.Spiritual maladies, i.e., want ofgood morals, evil thoughts,callousness, want of sympathy,are spreading among mostIslamic sects, being the result ofbeliefs in unfounded stories andanecdotes of this kind. Humans y m p a t h y, pity and love ofjustice, humility and humble-mindedness - all good qualities –are disappearing day by day, as ifthey will soon bid a last farewellto this community. This callous-ness and this immorality makemany a Muslim appear no betterthan the beasts of the jungle. AJain or a Buddhist is afraid of andavoids killing even a mosquito ora flea, but, alas! there are many

Introduction from Jesus in IndiaBelow is the ‘Introduction’ from the book Jesus in India by Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad. The theme of the book deals with the escape of Jesus(as)

from death on the cross, and his journey to India in search of the lost tribesof Israel. Christian as well as Muslim scriptures and old medical andhistorical books including ancient Buddhist records, provide evidenceabout this journey.

5The Review of Religions – December 2004

among us Muslims who, whilethey kill an innocent man orcommit wanton murder, are notafraid of the powerful God, whorates human life higher than thatof all the animals. What is thiscallousness and cruelty and wantof sympathy due to? It is due tothis – that from their verychildhood, stories and anecdotesand wrong views of the doctrineof Jihad are dinned into their earsand inculcated into their hearts,the result being that graduallythey become morally dead andcease to feel the heinousness oftheir hateful actions; nay, rather,the man who murders anotherman unawares and thus bringsruin to the murdered man'sfamily thinks that he has done ameritorious deed; or rather, thathe has made the most of anopportunity to win favour withhis community. As no lectures orsermons are delivered in ourcountry to stop such evils - and ifthere are any such lectures theyhave an element of hypocrisy inthem – the common people thinkapprovingly of such misdeeds.A c c o r d i n g l y, taking pity uponmy own people, I have compiled

several books in Urdu, Persianand Arabic, in which I havestated that the popular view ofJihad prevalent among Muslims,that is, the expectation of abloody Imam, full of spite and


The founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community was Hadhrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as).

In 1891, he claimed, on the basis ofDivine revelation, that he was thePromised Messiah and Mahdiwhose advent had been foretold byMuhammad, the Holy Prophet ofIslam (peace and blessings of Allahbe upon him) and by the scripturesof other faiths.

His claim constitutes the basis ofthe beliefs of the AhmadiyyaMuslim community.



hostility for other people, is atexture of false beliefs inculcatedby shortsighted Ulema; other-wise, Islam does not allow theuse of the sword for the Faith;except in the case of d e f e n s i v ewars, or in the case of wars wagedto punish a tyrant or to upholdfreedom. The need of a defensivewar arises when the aggression ofan adversary threatens one's ownlife. These are the three kinds ofJihad permitted by the Shariah,and, apart from these three kinds,there is no other kind of warwhich is permitted by Islam forthe propagation of the Faith. Ihave, in short, spent a large sumof money on such books, andhave published them in thiscountry and in Arabia and Syriaand Khurasan, etc. But, by thegrace of God, I have nowdiscovered powerful arg u m e n t swhich are meant to eradicatethese unfounded beliefs from thehearts of the people. I have clearproofs, circumstantial evidence ofa conclusive character, andhistorical evidence the light ofwhose truth holds out the promisethat soon after their publicationthere will be brought about

against such beliefs a wonderfulchange in the hearts of theMuslims. And I hope – I am sure– that after these truths have beencomprehended, there will flowout of the hearts of the righteoussons of Islam the sweet andbeautiful springs of lowliness,humility and mercy, and that therewill come about a spiritualchange which will have awholesome and a blessedinfluence on the country. I amalso sure that Christian investi-gators and all other people whohanker after the truth and thirstfor it, will benefit from my books.And the fact just now stated byme, that the real object of thisbook is to correct the wrongbeliefs which have become partand parcel of the creeds ofMuslims and Christians, requiresa little explanation which I set outb e l o w.

Let it be known that mostMuslims and Christians believethat Jesus(as) went alive to theheavens; both these people havebelieved for a long time thatJ e s u s( a s ) is still alive in theheavens, and will sometime in



the latter days come down to theearth. The difference in theirviews, i.e. the view of thefollowers of Islam and that of theChristians, is only this, that theChristians believe that Jesus( a s )

died on the Cross, wasresurrected, and went to theheavens in his earthly body,seated himself on the right handof his Father, and will come tothe earth in the latter days forjudgment; they also say that theCreator and the Master of theworld is this Jesus the Messiahand no one else; he it is who, inthe latter days of the world, willdescend to the earth with aglorious descent to awardpunishment and reward; then, allwho will not believe in him or hismother as God, will be hauled upand thrown into hell, whereweeping and wailing will be theirlot.

But the aforesaid sects ofMuslims say that Jesus(as) was notcrucified, nor did he die on theCross; on the other hand, whenthe Jews arrested him in order tocrucify him, an angel of Godtook him away to the heavens in

his earthly body, and he is stillalive in the heavens - which, theysay, is the second heaven whereis also the prophet Yahya, i.e.John. Muslims, moreover, alsosay that Jesus(as) is an eminentprophet of God, but not God, northe son of God, and, they believethat he will in the latter daysdescend to the earth, near theMinaret of Damascus or nearsome other place, supported onthe shoulders of two angels, andthat he and Imam Muhammad,the Mahdi, who will be already inthe world, and who will be aFatimite, will kill all the non-Muslims, not leaving anyonealive except those who willforthwith and without any delaybecome Muslims. In short, thereal object of the descent ofJesus(as) to the earth, as stated byMuslim sects known as Ahl-i-Sunnat or Ahl-i-Hadith calledWahabis by the common people– is that, like the Mahadev of theHindus, he should destroy thewhole world; that he should firstthreaten the people to becomeMuslims and then, if they persistin disbelief, massacre them allwith the sword; they, moreover,



say that he is alive in the heavensin his earthly body, so that, whenMuslim powers become weak, hewill come down and kill the non-Muslims or coerce them on painof death to become Muslims.Regarding the Christians espe-cially, the divines of the aforesaidsects, state that when Jesus( a s )

comes down from the heavens hewill break all the Crosses in theworld, do many a cruel deed withthe sword, and inundate theworld with blood. And, just as Ihave stated, these people, i.e. theAhl-i-Hadith etc. from amongthe Muslims, are enthusiasticabout their belief that a shorttime before the coming down ofthe Messiah there will appear anImam from the Bani Fatimawhose name will be Muhammad,the Mahdi. He it is who will beKhalifa and King of the time, andas he will belong to the Koraish,his real object will be to kill allnon-Muslims except those whoreadily recite the Kalima. Jesus(as)

will come down in order to helphim in his work; and althoughJesus(as) himself will be a Mahdi –n a y, a greater Mahdi – yet,because it is essential that the

Khalifa of the time should be aKoraish, Jesus(as) will not be theKhalifa of the time; the Khalifa ofthe time will be that sameMuhammad, the Mahdi. Muslimssay that these two together willf i ll the earth with the blood ofman, and they will shed moreblood than has ever been shedbefore in the history of the world.No sooner will they appear thanthey will start this bloodycampaign; they will neitherpreach nor plead, nor show anysign. And they also say thatalthough Jesus(as) will be like anadviser or a lieutenant of ImamMuhammad, the Mahdi, andalthough the reins of power willbe in the hands of the Mahdio n l y, Jesus ( a s ) will instigateHadhrat Imam Muhammad, theMahdi, to massacre the wholeworld and will advise him toadopt extreme measures, i.e. hewill make amends for thehumane teaching which he hadgiven to the world before,namely, ‘not to resist evil,’ and,being struck on one cheek, ‘toturn the other cheek also.’

This is what Muslims and



Christians believe regardingJesus(as), and while it is a greaterror to call him, as theChristians do – a humble man –God, the beliefs of some of thefollowers of Islam, among whomis the sect called Ahl-i-Hadithalso known as Wa h a b i s ,regarding a bloody Mahdi and abloody Messiah, are aff e c t i n gtheir morals very badly, so muchso, that on account of their badinfluence their dealings withother people are not based onhonesty and goodwill, nor canthey be truly and completely loyalto a non-Muslim Government. Allreasonable men will realise thatsuch a belief, namely, that non-Muslims should be subjected tocoercion, that they should eitherforthwith become Muslims or beput to death, is open to the mostserious objections. Every con-scientious person will readilyadmit that before a manadequately realises the truth of aFaith, and before he hascomprehended its beauties andits wholesome teachings, it isextremely undesirable to coercehim, on pain of death, to adoptthat Faith. Far from contributing

to the growth of that Faith, thiswould furnish the opponents withan opportunity to find fault withit. The ultimate result of aprinciple like this is that heartsbecome devoid of the quality ofhuman sympathy and that mercyand justice, which are greathuman moral qualities, takeleave of men, and instead,spitefulness and enmity tend togrow; there remain behind onlythe animal passions, wiping outall high moral qualities. But itwould be noticed that such ateaching could not haveproceeded from God, Who sendsHis punishment only after He hascompleted His argument.

Let this therefore be ponderedover: that if there is a man whodoes not accept the true Faithbecause he is yet ignorant andunaware of its truth, of itsteachings and its beauties, wouldit be reasonable to kill such aman forthwith? Nay, this mandeserves pity; he deserves to beinstructed gently and politely inthe truth, beauty and the spiritualbenefit of that faith; not that hisdenial should be met by the



sword or the gun. So, thedoctrine of Jihad proposed bythese sects of Islam, as well asthe belief that the time is nearwhen there will arise a bloodyMahdi whose name would beImam Muhammad, that theMessiah will come down fromthe heavens for his help, and thatboth together will kill all non-Muslim people if they denyIslam, is utterly opposed to ourmoral sense. Is not this the beliefwhich puts out of action all goodhuman qualities and morals, andencourages the qualities of life inthe jungle? Those who hold suchbeliefs live a life of hypocrisy inrelation to others, so much sothat they cannot give true loyaltyto state authorities of anotherFaith; they dishonestly profess togive allegiance to them, which iswrong. That is why some of theAhl-i-Hadith sects mentioned byme just now are living a doublelife under the British Governmentin British India. In secret, theyhold out hopes to the commonpeople of the coming of bloodydays of a bloody Mahdi and abloody Messiah, and instructthem accordingly, but when they

go to the authorities they flatterthem and assure them that theydo not approve of such ideas. If,however, they are really opposedto such ideas, why do they notpropagate this in writing, andwhy should they await thecoming of that bloody Mahdi andthe Messiah standing as it were atthe doorsteps, ready to join themin their campaign?

Such beliefs, in short, have verymuch demoralised theseMaulvis: they are incapable ofteaching people decency andpeace. On the other hand, killingothers without rhyme or reason isa great religious duty with them.I would be glad if any sect of theAhl-i-Hadith is opposed to thesebeliefs, but I cannot helpobserving with regret that amongthe sects of the Ahl-i-Hadith 1

there are those who in secretbelieve in a bloody Mahdi and inthe popular notions of Jihad.They are opposed to correctnotions, and they think it an actof great merit to kill when theyhave the opportunity to kill allthe people professing otherfaiths, whereas the beliefs in



killing others in thename of Islam, orbelieving in prophecieslike the prophecy of aBloody Messiah andwishing to advance thecause of Islam bybloodshed or by threats,are absolutely againstthe Holy Qur’an andthe reliable Hadith. OurHoly Prophet( s a ) s u ff e r e dgreat persecution at thehands of the Kafirs atMakkah and thereafter.The thirteen yearswhich he spent atMakkah were years ofgreat affliction andsuffering of many kinds– a thought of thembrings tears to one'seyes. But he did not raisethe sword against hisenemies, nor did he replyto their abuse, until manyof his Companions and dearfriends were mercilessly mur-dered; and until he himself wassubjected to sufferings of variouskinds, such as being poisonedmany a time; and until many anunsuccessful plan to murder him

had been laid. When, however,G o d ’s vengeance came, it sohappened that the elders ofMakkah and the chiefs of thetribes unanimously decided thatthis man should in any case beput to death. At that time, God,

JESUS IN INDIA: ISBN: 1 85372 196 4 Pbk

(Published by Islam International Publications Ltd)

who is the Supporter of His lovedo n es and of the truthful andrighteous, informed him thatthere was now nothing left inthat town except evil, that thetownspeople were bent uponmurdering him and that heshould therefore quit it at once.Then it was that, in accordancewith the divine command, hemigrated to Madinah, but eventhen his enemies did not leavehim alone; they pursued himthere, and tried to destroy Islamin all possible ways. When theirexcesses went to an extreme, andwhen they had renderedthemselves deserving of pun-ishment by the murder of manyan innocent person, permissionto fight with them in self-defence, to fight with a view towarding off their attack, wasgiven. And those people andtheir helpers had renderedthemselves deserving of suchtreatment because of theirhaving killed many an innocentperson whom they had murderednot in any fight or battle butsimply out of wanton mischiefand whom they had robbed oftheir property. But, in spite of all

this, when Makkah was taken,our Holy Prophet( s a ) p a r d o n e dthem all. It is, therefore, utterlywrong and unjust to suppose thatthe Holy Prophet( s a ) or hisCompanions ever fought forspreading the Faith, or that theyever coerced anyone to join thefold of Islam.

It is worth noting also that, as atthat time all the people wereprejudiced against Islam, and asthe opposing people werescheming to destroy Islam,which they thought was a newreligion and the followers ofwhich were only a smallc o m m u n i t y, and as everyone wasanxious to see the Muslimsdestroyed early or disrupted soas not to leave any chance oftheir further growth anddevelopment, the Muslims atthat time were obstructed in thesmallest matters, and anyonefrom any tribe who acceptedIslam and became a Muslim waseither killed at once by his tribeor lived in perpetual danger. At atime like this, God Almighty,taking pity on Muslim converts,had imposed on the bigoted

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rulers a penalty, namely, thatthey should become subservientto Islam, and thus open the doorof freedom for Islam. This wasmeant to remove theobstructions in the way of thosewho wished to accept the Faith;it was God's compassion for theworld, and it harmed no one. It isevident, however, that non-Muslim rulers of today do notinterfere with Islam; they do notban the essential Islamicp r a c t i c e s . They do not kill newMuslims, they do not put theminto prison or torture them; whythen should Islam raise its swordagainst them? It is obvious thatIslam has never advocatedcompulsion: if the Holy Qur’an,the books of Hadith andhistorical records are carefullyexamined and, as far as possible,studied or listened to thought-f u l l y, it will be realised withcertainty that the charge thatIslam wielded the sword topropagate the Faith with force isan utterly unfounded and shame-ful charge against Islam. Such acharge against Islam is made bypeople who have not read theQ u r’an, the Hadith and the

reliable histories of Islam in aspirit of detachment, but havemade free use of falsehood andhave brought wrong charg e sagainst it. I know, however, thatthe time is near when those whoare hungry and thirsty for Truthwill be enlightened as to whatreality there is in these charges.Can we ever describe that Faithas a faith of compulsion, whenthe Holy Book, the Qur’ a n ,clearly directs that there is nocompulsion in religion, that it isnot permissible to use com-pulsion in religion, that it is notpermissible to use compulsion orforce in getting anyone to joinIslam? Can we accuse that greatProphet of using force againstothers, who, day and night forthirteen years, exhorted all hisCompanions in Makkah not toreturn evil for the evil of thee n e m y, but to forbear andf o rgive? When, however, themischief of the enemy went toextremes and when everybodystarted exerting himself forwiping out Islam, the JealousGod thought it fit that the peoplewho had wielded the swordshould be annihilated by the

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sword. Except for this the HolyQ u r’ an has not approved ofcompulsion. If compulsion hadbeen approved of by Islam, theCompanions of our HolyP r o p h e t( s a ), in moments of trial,would not have behaved likepeople of sincere and genuinefaith. Yet, the loyalty andfaithfulness of the Companionsof our Master, the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ), is a matter which Ihardly need to mention. It is nosecret that among them areexamples of loyalty andsteadfastness the parallel ofwhich it is difficult to find in theannals of other nations; this bandof the faithful did not waver intheir loyalty and steadfastnesseven under the shadow of thesword. On the other hand, in thecompany of their Great and HolyP r o p h e t( s a ), they gave proof ofthat steadfastness which no manis ever able to give unless hisheart and his bosom are lit upwith the light of true faith. Thereis, in short, no compulsion inIslam.

Wars in Islam fall under threecategories: (1) defensive wars,

i.e. war by way of self-protection;(2) punitive wars, i.e. blood forblood; (3) war to secure freedom,i.e. with a view to break thepower of those who kill thosewho accept Islam. Therefore,when there is no direction inIslam that anyone should be madeto join it by compulsion or by thethreat to kill, it is absolutelyabsurd to await the appearance ofany bloody Mahdi or a bloodyMessiah. It can never be thatthere should appear in this world,against the Qur’anic teachings, aman who would use the sword tomake people Muslims. This is notat all so very difficult to realise orabove one’s understanding. Onlyfoolish people have been led tothis belief by their selfishness.For most of our Maulvis labourunder the misconception that thewars waged by the Mahdi willbring a large amount of wealth tothem, so much so, that they willbe unable to hold it, and, as mostof the Maulvis today are veryp o o r, they await day and night theappearance of a Mahdi, who, theythink, will provide for theirselfish desires.

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Therefore, these people turnagainst him who does not believein the appearance of such aMahdi; such a one is at oncedeclared a Kafir, and outside thepale of Islam. I too, therefore, ama Kafir in the eyes of thesepeople; and on these verygrounds. For I do not believe inthe appearance of a bloody Mahdiand a bloody Messiah. Nay, I hatesuch absurd ideas and regardthem with contempt. And I havebeen declared a Kafir, not onlybecause of my denial of theappearance of this supposedMahdi and this supposed Messiahin whom they believe, but alsobecause I have publiclyannounced, having beeninformed of it by God throughrevelation, that the real and truePromised Messiah who is also thereal Mahdi, tidings of whoseappearance are to be found in theBible and the Qur’an and whosecoming is promised also in theHadith, is myself; who is,h o w e v e r, not provided with anysword or gun. I have beencommanded by God to invitepeople with humility andgentleness to God, Who is the

true God, Eternal andUnchangeable, Who has perfectHoliness, perfect Knowledge,perfect Mercy, and perfectJustice.

I am the light of this dark age; hewho follows me will be savedfrom falling into the pit preparedby the Devil for those who walkin darkness. I have been sent byGod to lead the people of theworld to the true God throughpeace and humility, and toreassert the reign of morals inIslam. God has provided me withheavenly signs, for thesatisfaction of seekers after truth.He has done wonderful things inmy support; He has disclosed tome secrets of the unseen and ofthe future which, according tothe holy books, is the sign of atrue claimant to divine office,and He has vouchsafed to meholy and pure Knowledge.Therefore, the souls which hatetruth and are pleased withdarkness, have turned againstme. But I have decided to besympathetic towards mankind –as far as I can. So, in this age thegreatest sympathy for the

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Christians is that their attentionshould be called to the true God,Who is free from such defects asbeing born and having to sufferdeath and undergo suffering, theGod who made the earliestheavenly bodies spherical inshape and, in His law of nature,set down this point of spiritualguidance that, like a sphere, thereis in Him Unity and absence ofdirection. That is why the thingswhich occupy space have notbeen made triangular, i.e., thethings which God created firstsuch as the earth, the heaven, thesun and the moon, and all thestars, and elements - all arespherical, the spherical nature ofwhich points towards Unity.Therefore there can be no greatersympathy with the Christiansthan that they should be guidedtowards the God Whosecreations declare Him to be freefrom the idea of trinity.

The greatest sympathy towardsMuslims is that they should bereformed morally and that aneffort should be made to dispelthe false hopes which theyentertain in connection with the

appearance of a bloody Mahdiand Messiah, which are entirelyagainst the Islamic teachings. Ihave just now stated that theideas of some of the Ulema of theday that there will appear abloody Mahdi who will spreadIslam at the point of the sword,are all opposed to the Qur’anicteachings and are the result ofgreed and selfishness. For aright-minded and truth-lovingMuslim to forsake such beliefs orideas, it should be enough tostudy carefully the Qur’an, andto pause, consider and see thatthe Holy Word of God is quiteagainst holding out a threat ofmurder to force anyone into thefold of Islam. This one argument,in short, is sufficient to refutethese false ideas. Nevertheless,out of a feeling of sympathy, Ihave decided to refute theaforesaid ideas by positive andclear proofs from history, etc.Hence, I shall try to prove in thisbook that Jesus(as) did not die onthe Cross: he did not go up toheaven, nor should it besupposed that he will ever againcome down from heaven to earth;that, rather, he died at the age of

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120 years at Srinagar, inKashmir, and that his tomb is tobe found in the Khan Yar Streetof that town.

I hope readers of this book willread it diligently. I expect themnot to throw away out ofprejudice the truth contained init. I should like to remind themthat this is not a cursoryinvestigation; nay, the proofscontained in this book have beenmade available after a deep andsearching inquiry. I pray to Godthat He may help me in thisundertaking and lead me throughHis special revelation andinspiration to the perfect Light oftruth - for all true Knowledge andclear Realisation descend fromHim, and only with Hispermission guide human heartsto Truth. Amen! Amen!

MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD Qadian, 25 April 1899

Footnote to Introduction 1. Some of the Ahl-i-Hadith imper-

tinently and unjustly state in theirbooks that the appearance of theMahdi is imminent: that he will

put into prison the British rulers ofIndia and that the Christian kingwill be arrested and will bebrought before him. Such booksare still to be found in the housesof these Ahl-i-Hadith, one suchbeing Iqtarab-us-Saat by a wellknown Ahl-i-Hadith, on page 64of which such an account is to befound.

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In this journal, for the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘(sa)’ or ‘sa’ afterthe words, ‘Holy Prophet’, or thename ‘Muhammad’, are used.They stand for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihiwa sallam’ meaning ‘Peace andblessings of Allah be upon him’.Likewise, the letters ‘(as)’ or ‘as’after the name of all other prophetsis an abbreviation meaning ‘Peacebe upon him’ derived from ‘Alaihissalatu wassalam’ for the respect aMuslim reader utters.

The abbreviation ‘ra’ or (ra) standsfor ‘Radhiallahu Ta’ala anhu andis used for Companions of aProphet, meaning Allah be pleasedwith him or her (when followed bythe relevant Arabic pronoun).F i n a l l y, ‘ru’ or (ru) forRahmahullahu Ta’ala means theMercy of Allah the Exalted beupon him.


Distinguished GuestsLadies and Gentlemen

God Almighty has enabled theAhmadiyya community today tobuild this new Mosque. Mosquesare the Houses of Allah and arebuilt for the worship of God.They are places for good andpure persons of God to cometogether in one place.

In Islam, the concept of theworship of One God is that whenthey pray for themselves, theworld and the Hereafter bowingdown before their God, they feeland should feel that their prayerswould only be accepted whenthey are also respecting andhonouring the rights of God’s

people, and when they are tryingto create an atmosphere of peaceand reconciliation in theirsociety.

This is because it is one of thebasic commands of God that Hisworshippers should discharge therights of human beings and alsothe rights of kith and kin and theneighbours. You should alsohonour the rights of the society inwhich you live and the rights andduties that you owe to thecountry in which you live.

Inaugural Address byHadhrat KhalifatulMasih V on the Openingof Darul Barakat Mosquein Birmingham, UK onFriday 1st October, 2004


Inaugural address by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V at the Opening of Barakat Mosque

These rights should be discharg e dwith love, kindness and aff e c t i o nand by obeying the laws of theland. You should include themand remember them in yourprayers. Pray for their well-beingalso. Only then can you be calledthe good and pure people of Godand God Almighty will listen toand accept your prayers. If you donot pray like this, then there is noneed to build mosques nor is theirbenefit to be gained from comingto mosques to pray.

God turns the prayers round, thatis to say God does the opposite ofwhat is sought from Him, of thosewho violate or usurp the rights ofG o d ’s creation, or those whoseneighbours are fed up of them, orthe environment cannot bear tohave them amongst it, or of thosewho break the laws and create abad atmosphere in the society.God says to them how dare youcome to My House when youhave caused such misery for Mypeople. This is all a show off. Ifyour prayers were out of fear ofMe, then you would havehonoured the rights of others.

So, this is the teaching of Islamfor its believers and itsworshippers. When a Muslimenters a mosque with this thoughtand this feeling, then when heprays in the mosque and leavesthe mosque, he would have thefear of God out of deep love forthe Creator in his mind andwould honour and respect humanrights and obligations withkindness and out of love anda ffection. There can be noquestion that voices and sloganswould be raised from suchHouses devoted to the worship ofGod. When the hearts of thosecoming to a mosque are joined inthis purpose, their hearts cannever think ill of others or hatethose who believe like them orthose belonging to any otherfaith.

In this connection, the Founderof the Ahmadiyya community,the Promised Messiah, peace beupon him, states:

‘There are only twocomponents of a religion: oneis complete love of God andthe other is to love mankind



so much so that one shouldthink that their difficulty iso n e ’s own and prays forthem.’

Then he says:

‘Islam has divided itsteachings in two parts: one isthe obligation to God and theother is the obligation toGod’s creation. The right dueto God is to consider Himworthy of obedience and therights of the creation are to bekind to God’s creation. It is anevil way to harm othersmerely because of oppositionto their faith.’

So the teaching that our Foundergave to our community was thatthe worship of God and kindnessto the creation cannot beseparated from each other.

Islam is such a tolerant religionthat it permits non-Muslims toenter its Mosques and pray in itin their own way. This is whyGod Almighty has called those,irrespective of their faith, whoprevent others from entering

mosques as cruel and unjustpersons; as God Almighty says:

And who is more unjust thanhe who prohibits the name ofAllah being glorified inAllah’s temples and seeks toruin them? It was not properfor such men to enter thereinexcept in fear. For them isdisgrace in this world; andtheirs shall be a gre a tpunishment in the next.(Ch.2: V.115)

This is such a beautiful teachingthat we can only find it in theHoly Qur’an, the Sacred Book ofIslam. It says that the one whoprohibits others fromworshipping is a most unjustperson. Every one has his ownway of worship and prayers andcan say one’s prayers to one’sCreator in whichever manner onelikes.

Hence, when a delegation ofChristians went to meet the HolyProphet Muhammad( s a ), inMadinah, when their time forprayers approached, they werepermitted by the Holy Prophet(sa)



to observe their prayerservice in the Prophet’sMosque. This open-heartedness and toler-ance that Islam requiresof its believers andwhose practical exam-ple forever was set forus by the HolyProphet(sa) is a sufficientresponse to those whoallege that Islam is astrict religion.

Islam permits that whenrequired others can prayin its mosques so thattheir feelings should notbe hurt. It does this inthe interest of creatingan atmosphere of peace andharmony. So perish the thoughtthat a Muslim should even thinkof destroying a house of worshipof some other believers.

Everyone is of course free tobelieve in whatever one likes andto express it in a peaceablemanner is also a part of thatfreedom. Freedom of conscienceand faith is also one of thefundamental rights of man, to

give expression to its superiorityand to worship in its way. Themost unjust thing is to depriveone the right to respond to one’sheart and believe in that whichone has adopted as one’s faith. Itis also most unjust on the part ofthose who think they have amonopoly on faith and gatheroutside a place devoted to theworship of Allah and shoutslogans of hatred.



So, as the Promised Messiah(as)

required that we shoulddischarge the rights of humanbeings, and as the right of beliefis a basic and major human rightthat the Ahmadiyya Muslimcommunity claims that it conferson others, each Ahmadi should,therefore, never obliterate itshistory from his mind. TheAhmadiyya community has to bein the forefront always inhonouring human rights andcreating an atmosphere of peace.It is for this peaceful purpose thatmosques are built. This aim isperhaps unique to the Ahmadiyyac o m m u n i t y. It means that in thet housands of mosques all overthe world, you will not hear anyslogans being shouted from anyof its mosques urging anyone togo and violate the peace orprohibit the freedom of faith andconscience or usurp any rights ofother human beings.

If there is any slogan it would bethe service of humanity and theGreatness of God and Hisworship. If there is any slogan, itis of ‘Love for all, hatred fornone.’ Every Ahmadi is fully

aware that the slogan of love forall can only be said when there istruly no rancour or hatred foranyone in one’s heart.

So each Ahmadi should try that ifthere is any envy or hatred in anypart of the heart it begins tochange into affection, liking andthen love. Love and hatred arei n t e r-related to each other. Itmeans that not only do I loveeveryone but that I love everyonefor the sake of winning God’spleasure. As a result, hatredcannot dwell in such a person. Soevery Ahmadi should set anexample of this wherever helives.

May Allah enable that after thebuilding of this mosque, loveshould be fostered and the rightsof others honoured more thanbefore. Amin

I also wish to thank all the guestswho took part in thisinauguration reception andexpressed their feelings franklyand who responded to our lovewith love.



These thanks are not just lipservice but I express thisgratitude in compliance with thecommand of the Holy Prophet(sa)

that he who is not thankful toothers is not grateful to God. Sobecause the work undertaken byeach Ahmadi is for the sake ofGod Almighty and indeed shouldbe, so I thank those who cametoday out of affection for us fromthe core of my heart.

I pray that Allah makes thisDarul Barakat Mosque a trueSign of peace and love. Theworld is apparently rapidly

advancing towards destructionbecause of the envy and hatredthat its people have in theirhearts. This is because they havef o rgotten their God. It is aterrible end that you cannot evenimagine. My prayer is that manshould turn away from theseenvies and hatred and shouldtruly repent and recognising GodAlmighty should become Hisworshippers. May they be theones to spread the sweet smell oflove. May Allah cause this to beso.

Amin.

Acquired for £200 as a listed building,covered area 30,000 sq.ft., the mosque can

accommodate 1000 worshippers with afurther 1000 in adjoining halls

When we talk about educating,whether our thinking is basedupon a spiritual or a materialisticpoint of view, our focal point isalways the individual who has aninnate urge to know himself aswell as his environment and wholives in a society and who alsohas a way or philosophy of life.That is why the main deter-minants of the theory andpractice of education areP s y c h o l o g y, Philosophy andSociology.

The Holy Qur’an, the Book fullof wisdom, which addresses theentire humanity and is a perfectguide for man in all walks of hislife in all the stages ofcivilisation also emphasisedthese determinants of educational

theories and practices and dealswith the basic educationalproblems in terms of thefollowing four questions:

1. Why should we learn?

2. When should we learn?

3. What should we learn?

4. How should we learn?

In the discussion of thesequestions in the light of the HolyQur’an and other teachings ofIslam (Ahadith), we cannotignore the postulations of theexponents of the educationaltheories and practices. Thesequestions are directly related tothe existence of man and the


The HolyQur’an FourQuestions onEducation

By Abdul Majid, M.A., M.Ed., Ph.D. and Shahab Ahmad M.A., Ph.D.

development of his personality;therefore, the starting point ofthis discussion is the clarificationof the purpose of the creation ofMan and the Universe.

According to the Holy Qur’aneverything has been created witha certain purpose as impressed bythe order that pervades in theUniverse. Men of understandingadmit:

Our Lord, Thou hast notcreated this in vain.(Ch.3:V.192)

The Universe and its parts werenot created in vain and Man, theacme of creation, could not becreated without a purpose. Nay,the purpose of his creation ishigher than that of othercreatures, which is:

And I have not created theJinn and the men but that theymay worship Me. (Ch.51:V.57)

You worship nothing besideAllah.(Ch.12:V.41)

It means that the purpose of thecreation of human beings andjinn is nothing else but to devotethemselves to the worship ofAllah.

1. Why Should We Learn?The purpose of worshipping Godcan only be fulfilled when manknows Him and the mani-festations of His attributes in theUniverse and may also acquirethe skill of expression. For thisreason the Gracious God startedteaching man from the verybeginning of human civilisation,i.e. since the time of ProphetAdam(as):

And He taught Adam all thenames. (Ch2:V.32)

The teaching continued till theadvent of the Holy Prophet(sa) ofIslam in the form of revelation ofthe Holy Qur’an:

Taught man what he knewnot. (Ch.96:V.6)

Its teachings continued and willcontinue forever. It is a fact that

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The Holy Qur’anAnswers Four Questions onEducation


for proper worship we must haveknowledge of God and properskills of expression. For thesereasons God has not onlybestowed knowledge on us buttaught us the skill of expressionas well:

He has created man. Hetaught him the skill ofexpression. (Ch.55:Vs4-5)

He created man from dryringing clay which is likebaked pottery.(Ch.55:V.15)

In accordance with verseC h . 5 5 : V.15, God created manfrom matter in which the facultyand attribute of speech lie latentand in accordance with versesCh.55:Vs.4-5, He Himself taughtman the skill of expression, i.e.language. The Qur’anic claimthat God Himself taughtlanguage to man is not hollowbut supported by research. Wequote only one study:

‘The onomatopoeic and inter-jectional theories, based upon

the fact that languagedeveloped out of theimitation of sounds producedby inanimate (the falling ofwater, blowing winds, etc.)and animates are outdated.The argument that becauseman can imitate sounds,therefore, he must haveinvented language on thebasis of sounds is a merefallacy. The faculty of speechcoexists with the ability toimitate sounds and one doesnot exclude the other. In fact,the ability to imitate sounds isonly a minor part of thefaculty of speech. Words fullof wisdom, reason and logic,words describing the wholeuniverse, human nature - itspassions and thoughts, and allthat man lives and works forcannot be reasonablysupposed to be the outcomeof mere accidental sounds.’1

The Gracious God did not stophere. In order to accomplish thepurpose of man’s creation, Hetaught us to supplicate:

Guide us in the right path-the

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path of those on whom Thouhast bestowed Thy blessings,those who have not incurredd i s p l e a s u re and those whohave not gone astray.(Ch.1:Vs.6-7)

Say, ‘O my Lord, increase mein knowledge’.(Ch.20:V.115)

It is repeated that in these prayerswe supplicate for an increase inknowledge, in addition tospiritual and moral progress.

The scholars say that educatedpersons are much superior to theuneducated. The Holy Qur’ a nagrees with its import:

Only those of His servantswho possess knowledge fearAllah. (Ch.35:V.29)

The verse defines knowledgeitself as fear of God, i.e. to havetrue knowledge about Him andbehave accordingly. God is theHighest; therefore, the highest,the best and the most com-prehensive knowledge, is toknow Him:

Say, ‘Can those who knowand those who do not know beequal?’(Ch.39:V.10)

It is not a question but a form ofexpression to say that those whoknow are superior to those whodo not know.

Allah will raise those whobelieve from among you, andthose to whom knowledge isgiven, to degrees of rank. (Ch.58:V.12)

Mark the high rank promised tothe educated by God. This is alsosupported by the followingAhadith:

‘A learned one is superior to aworshipper as the moon issuperior to all the planets’ (Abu Daud and Tirmidhi)

‘The ink of the scholar ismore holy than the blood ofthe martyr.’

Throughout the ages, philo-sophers and thinkers recognisedthe supremacy of knowledge and

27



the scholars. Socrates (470-399BC) believed that knowledge isvirtue. Knowledge guidesconduct and by obtainingknowledge man lives a virtuouslife. According to Plato (428/27-348/47 BC), education is the firstand the fairest thing that the bestof men can ever have. ToSocrates and Plato attainment ofknowledge was necessary bothfor the interest of the individualand the society, hence it was avirtue by itself. To Aristotle(384-322 BC), the attainment of‘happiness or goodness’ in life isthe aim of education, and,therefore, virtue lies in theattainment of goodness orhappiness. Aristotle declared thateducated men are as superior tothe uneducated as the living areto the dead.

It is because of the importance ofeducation that the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ) asks Muslims to seekknowledge even if it be in China.Think of the distance betweenArabia and China and thed i fficulties involved in journeyin those days. Even then theHoly Prophet( s a ) asked Muslims

to tolerate these hardships for thesake of knowledge.

When fifteen months afterHijrah, the Battle of Badr waswon, the ransom fixed by theP r o p h e t( s a ) for a literate captivewas that he should teach readingand writing to ten Muslimchildren of Madinah (Zurqani,Vol. 2). The appeal of theP r o p h e t( s a ) may be summed up inthese words:

A c q u i re knowledge. It enablesthe possessor to distinguish rightfrom wrong, it lightens the wayto the Heaven, it is our friend inthe desert, our society insolitude, our companion infriendliness, it guides us tohappiness, it sustains us inm i s e r y, it is an ornament amongfriends and armour against thee n e m y.

It needs to be remembered thatthe Holy Prophet( s a ) was anunlettered person himself andyet he placed great emphasis onthe acquisition of knowledge.

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2. When Should We Learn?It is an accepted fact that theimpact of the environment startsfrom the time of conception, butinformal learning starts just afterbirth. In other words, theenvironment is divided into: (a)prenatal and (b) postnatal stagesof development. When the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ) advised expectingmothers to consume wholesomefoods, avoid the harmful, andalso to avoid any and everysituation that may upset them, hewas pointing to the good or bade ffects of the prenatalenvironment on the expectedbabies. This wonderful doctrineis supported by three 20thcentury psychologists, AlisonGopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff andPatricia K. Kuhl, who say:

‘It looks as if they recognisetheir mother’s voice at birthbased on the muted but stillaudible sounds they hear inthe womb’2

At birth the baby starts a new andd i fferent life. Therefore, theIslamic Tradition is that beforegiving mother’s milk to thenewly born child, Muslims sayAdhan (call to Prayers) in itsright ear and Aqamat (call to lineup in prayers) in the left. This isnothing but to convey a goodmessage to the newly born,before it is exposed to any otherstimulus.

Educational thinkers havedifferent views about the age ofstarting informal learning. Plato

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IT IS BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION THAT

T H E HO LY PR O P H E T(S A) A S K S MU S L I M S TO S E E K

KNOWLEDGE EVEN IF IT BE IN CHINA. THINK OF THE

D I S TA N C E B E T W E E N AR A B I A A N D CH I N A A N D T H E

DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN JOURNEY IN THOSE DAYS.EVEN THEN THE HOLY PROPHET(SA) ASKED MUSLIMS TO

TO L E R AT E T H E S E H A R D S H I P S F O R T H E S A K E O F

KNOWLEDGE.

is of the view that education andadmonition commence in thefirst year of the child and last tothe very end of life. J.J. Rousseaubelieves that it cannot begin tooearly and says that the first andthe most important part ofeducation, precisely that whichall the world neglects, is that ofpreparing a child to receiveeducation. But Islam recognisedthe importance of this period.The Holy Qur’an and Ahadithstrongly advise Muslim parentsto take proper care of theirchildren immediately after birthand to continue it till they reachthe age of maturity.

Here, we would like to refer totwo studies, not because thesehave added something entirelynew, but because these are based

upon direct observations andexperiments. The first scholar tobe quoted is the great biologist,naturalist and psychologist, JeanPiaget (1896-1980), whothought:

‘Learning was just as rootedin biology as any innate ideain the genetic code. He oftenused the metaphor ofdigestion: babies’ mindsassimilated information theway babies’ bodiesassimilated milk. For Piaget,learning was as natural aseating.’3

The second study is again fromAlison Gopnik, Andrew N.Meltzoff and Patricia N. Kuhlwho thoroughly researchedinfants, some as young as 42

30



STARTING FROM ARISTOTLE TILL THE END OF THE 20TH

C E N T U RY, A P E R I O D O F A B O U T 2,500 Y E A R S, T H E

IMPORTANT CONCLUSION OF ALL RESEARCH HAS BEEN:LEARNING STARTS WITH THE START OF LIFE, I.E. RIGHT

F R O M T H E T I M E O F C O N C E P T I O N, C O N T I N U E S

THROUGHOUT THE HUMAN LIFE, AND ENDS ONLY WITH

DEATH, AND IT IS IMPORTANT, NATURAL, AND PART AND

PARCEL OF HUMAN LIFE.

minutes, and babies, for thirtyyears. Some important conclu-sions of this study are:

A. What we apparently see inthe crib is an innocent andhelpless creature. But, in fact,what we see is the greatestmind that has ever existed,the most powerful learningmachine in the universe.

B . We human beings, nomore than a few pounds ofprotein and water, have cometo understand the origins ofthe universe, the nature oflife, and even a few thingsabout ourselves.

C . Trying to understandhuman nature is part ofhuman nature.

D. For human beings, nurtureis our nature. The capacityfor culture is part of ourbiology, and the drive to learnis our most important andcentral instinct.4

Starting from Aristotle till theend of the 20th century, a period

of about 2,500 years, theimportant conclusion of allresearch has been: learning startswith the start of life, i.e. rightfrom the time of conception,continues throughout the humanlife, and ends only with death,and it is important, natural, andpart and parcel of human life.

The Holy Qur’an, revealed in theseventh century, says the same:

Your wives are a tilth for you;so approach your tilth whenand how you like and sendahead some good foryourselves. (Ch.2:V.224)

He it is Who fashions you inthe wombs as He wills. (Ch.3:V.7)

The likening of women to tilth(Ch.2:V.224) is very explicit thatlife, and therefore, learning startsat the time of conception. Forthis very reason the Holy Prophetof Islam(sa) has advised Muslimsto select their wives, who arephysically healthy, well-behavedand possess good moral and

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spiritual qualities, and theyshould treat them well. Only thenwill the husbands and wives beable to train their children in aproper way.

As the development of the childtakes place in the womb ofmother (Ch.3:V.7), the offspringis naturally affected by herphysical and moral conditions.For this very reason Islamadvises expectant mothers to usewholesome foods and avoid theharmful. In addition, they shouldavoid any and every situation,that may upset them, physically,morally or in any other way.

Educational thinkers andscholars agree on this point thatlearning is a continuous andn e v e r-ending process. TheQur’anic verses related to thissubject are:

Guide us in the right path –the path of those on whomThou hast bestowed Thyblessings.(Ch.1:Vs.6-7).

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam

Ahmad, the PromisedM e s s i a h( a s ), has written inB a r a h e e n - e - A h m a d i y y a ( Vo l .IV) that in this supplication,in addition to other blessings,the supplicant, begs God foran increase in his knowledge.5

The other supplication is:

Say, ‘O my Lord, increase mein knowledge.(Ch.20: V.115).

In this verse, God Himself asksthe Holy Prophet of Islam(sa) andall Muslims to pray for anincrease in their knowledge.

All good Muslims supplicate theabove mentioned prayersthroughout their lives. Even theHoly Prophet( s a ), the greatestscholar the world has everproduced or will produce, did thesame till overtaken by death,which points to the fact that hebelieved that learning was anever-ending process. We shouldseek knowledge from cradle tograve. The following Hadithfurther supports this view:

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‘A believer never has his fillof knowledge till he ends upin Paradise’ (Tirmidhi)

3. What Should We Learn?In our discussion about thequestions, ‘Why should we learnand when should we learn,’ wehave reached the conclusion thatthe purpose of the creation ofman is to devote himself toworshipping God. But forworshipping God he should learnhow to comprehend the attributesof God and how to expresshimself. This learning processcontinues from the cradle to thegrave. In search of the answer tothe question, ‘What should welearn?’ educational thinkers and

scholars have been outliningd i fferent plans of teachinglearning process or curriculumwhich include all the learningexperiences whether in theboundaries of school or outsideof school that may be conduciveto the mental, emotional, socialand economic adjustment of thelearner. But the Qur’anic conceptof curriculum, in spite of itsprecision, is all-inclusive.According to Islam, life is a unitwhich cannot be divided intocells; therefore, Islam wants tosee a curriculum rich in know-ledge of the wisdom of the Eastand the West. It takes the worldlyand religious knowledge side byside. Basically, the major portionof the Islamic curriculum is theHoly Qur’an, Sunnah andAhadith, but all subjects that areuseful for human life can beincluded in the Islamiccurriculum. God Himself startedthe Qur’anic curriculum in theform of His attributes or names:

And He taught Adam all thenames.(Ch.2:V.32)

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BA S I C A L LY, T H E M A J O R

PORTION OF THE ISLAMIC

CURRICULUM IS THE HOLY

QU R’A N, SU N N A H A N D

AH A D I T H, B U T A L L

S U B J E C T S T H AT A R E

USEFUL FOR HUMAN LIFE

CAN BE INCLUDED IN THE

ISLAMIC CURRICULUM.

Hadhrat Adam(as) was the firstvicegerent and the first Prophetof God on earth. Through himstarted the great economic,religious and social revolution –therefore, God Himself taughthim His names. The Arabic wordused in this verse is ‘Asma’a’,which has the followingmeanings.

A. God’s names or attributesB. Qualities of different things

in nature or the laws ofnature

C. Language

A. God’s names or attributesAs mentioned earlier the chiefpurpose of man’s creation is toworship God, which is notconfined only to rituals butincludes introjecting Godlyqualities within ourselves. Forexample, God is Merciful; weshould also show mercy toothers; as He is Forgiving, so wemust also be ready to forgive ourfellow beings, etc. Thisinterpretation of the word,‘Asma’a’ is supported by thefollowing Hadith:

‘The best morals in man arethose which are in conformitywith the great attributes ofGod.’

Man also must be familiar withthese attributes, so that he maypray to Him, invoking attributesmost suited to the prayer. Forexample, if one prays forf o rgiveness and mercy, oneshould invoke the attributes offorgiveness and mercy; and if theprayer be for the attainment ofrighteousness, God should beinvoked by names which pertainto that quality, etc.

B. The Law of NatureAs man was to make use of theforces of nature, God gaveAdam(as) the capacity of knowingtheir qualities and propertiesupon which is based the wholeworking of the Universe, inwhich everything is governed bycertain fixed and immutablelaws. For example, fire burns andwater assuages thirst. The earthis circling around its axis andrevolving around the sun at thesame speeds for the last billionsof years. Upon this constancy

34



depends the alternation of daysand nights and the solar years arecompleted. The same constancyprinciple is working for otherplanets in the Solar System, andeven outside the System. Thegrowth and decay of plants andanimals, including man, aregoverned by some laws.Societies and nations beingcomposed of individuals are alsogoverned by some principles. Itis, therefore, on the unchange-ability of the laws of nature thatall educational progress depends.Even if there is some change, thechange itself is governed by somel a w. Had it not been so,astronomers, cosmologists,botanists, chemists, physicians,physicists, physiologists, psychol-ogists, zoologists, etc. could notdiscover what they havediscovered. For this scientificreason, God bestowed on Adam( a s )

some knowledge about Nature.

C. LanguageCommunication in any societywithout language is impossible.Without it there could be nocommunication between parentsand their children, and between

teachers and students. Humansociety would be a society of thedeaf and dumb. Transfer ofknowledge from one generationto the next is possible onlythrough language. Psychologistsand other educators agree thatman is the only animal bestowedwith language. For this veryreason, man is called a ‘socialanimal.’ It is because of theblessings of language that manhas continuously advanced inaccumulation of knowledgespread over thousands of years ofhuman civilisation, and animalsare there where they alwayswere. Not only this, according tosome psychologists even to thinkis not possible without alanguage. For example, theAmerican psychologist, J.B.Watson, emphatically says:thinking is a sub-vocal talk(C o n t e m p o r a ry Schools ofPsychology).

And the Russian psychologist,Lev Vygotsky says:

‘Language is not only themedium by which we transferour cultural inventions but it

35



is a natural, biological andunique feature of humanbeings’.6

In short, one simple word,‘Asma’a’ includes almost allbranches of education: religionand morality, science and secularlearning, and language.

The Holy Prophet(sa) has dividedall types of learning only in twobranches (a) Ilmul-Adyan and (b)Ilmul-Abdan, that is religiousand secular knowledge.

When we have a look at theeducational institutions any-where in the world, they aremainly divided into religiousinstitutions (e.g. Madrasas) andsecular institutions (schools andcolleges). But the Holy Qur’ a n ,by using one simple word,‘Asma’a’, has included allbranches of learning, no matterwhat type of institution they are. Itis the only pivotal point to decideor formulate the curriculum orwhat we should learn.

A natural question that ariseshere is: Does the word ‘Asma’a’

include undesirable learning e.g.phobic learning, to learn the artof cheating and stealing etc? Theanswer is, ‘no’. Implicit is thisnovel idea in all the Qur’anicverses related to learning. A saneperson cannot supplicate God toteach him undesirable learning,and if he does so, God will neveraccept such supplication. Tw oAhadith further clarify this point:

‘Allah, His angels, and allthose in the heavens and theearth even the ants in theirheaps and the fish in the watercall down blessings on thosewho instruct people inbeneficent knowledge’.(Tirmidhi)

‘The knowledge from whichno benefit is derived is like atreasure from which nocharity is bestowed in theway of Lord.’

Secular educators also speak andadvocate conducive and usefullearning.

4. How Should We Learn?In the light of the Holy Qur’an

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and Ahadith we have answeredthe questions of ‘Why should welearn?’, ‘When should welearn?’, and ‘What should welearn’. Now we need the answerto the question of ‘How shouldwe learn?’ This question may bediscussed in terms of themethods of teaching. As far asthe methods of education areconcerned , not only the HolyQur’an and Ahadith but also themodern education discards allthose methods of teaching inwhich the learner becomes thepassive recipient of knowledge.It strongly recommends theactive participation of the learnerin the process of education at allstages of learning.

According to Plato, the know-ledge which is acquired undercompulsion obtains no hold onthe minds of the learners. He is ofthe opinion that there should beno compulsion in teaching; ratherit should be a sort of amusement:You will then be better able tofind out the natural bent. In the‘Laws’, the significance of playin education has been positivelyemphasised.

In the modern age, we talk aboutframe-by-frame or programmedlearning. But, it is not new; onecan observe that the verses of theHoly Qur’an are arranged in alogical order. Any question thatarises in the mind of the readerby reading one verse is answeredin the next, and any question thatarises in the next is answered inthe succeeding verse. Bymaintaining this logical orderthroughout the Book, it keeps thereader fully alert and his brainworks at the highest possiblelevel. This wonderful Book hascovered the two main methods oflearning, (a) learning by rewardand punishment (Ch.1:V.7), and(b) learning by following amodel (Ch.1:V.7, Ch.33:V. 2 2 ,C h . 6 2 : V.3 and Ch.68:V.5). Itteaches us to learn by the straightand the shortest method(Ch.1:V.6). It asks its readers tothink and reason – the HolyQur’an is full of verses in whichthe words ‘think’, ‘why you donot think’, etc. are emphasised.Blind following is condemnedand it is mentioned as the way ofdisbelievers (Ch.2:V.171). Itestablishes freedom of con-

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science and asks humans todecide on the basis of unbiased,free and individual thinking( C h . 3 4 : V.47). It gives greatimportance to ‘wisdom’ which isdescribed as ‘abundant good’(Ch.2:V.270). In spite of givingimportance to the individuals, ithas not ignored the role ofsociety (Ch.9:V.119) and the roleplayed by great personages inshaping the behaviour ofcommon people and furtheringtheir learning (Ch.1:V. 7 ;C h . 3 : V.50; Ch.28:Vs.32-33;C h . 3 3 : V.22; Ch.60:V.5; Ch.62:V. 3and Ch.68:V. 5 ) .

The German educator FriedrichForbel introduced ‘theK i n d e rgarten’ educational sys-tem in 1826, and, based upon this‘System’, started the first schoolin Blankenberg, Germany. Godtaught this ‘System’ to HadhratHadhrat Adam ( a s ), the firstProphet, six thousand years ago(Al-Baqarah, 2:32), i.e. evenlong before Plato.

Though not an educator or apsychologist in strict terms, onthe basis of his personal

experience, Albert Einstein(1879-1955), perhaps the greatscientist of this age, realised thateducation should not be basedupon fear or force (1936).

‘ To me the worst thing seemsto be for a school principallyto work with methods of fear,force, and artificial authority.Such treatment destroys thesound sentiments, the sin-cerity and the self –confidence of the pupil. Itproduces the submissives u b j e c t ’ .7

It is obvious that if studentsattend school because of fear ofauthorities, not because of theirinner genuine interest, they willaccomplish very little.

When educators, philosophers,psychologists, etc. say that thereshould be no compulsion inlearning, it should be a sort of‘amusement’, they emphasisethe role of ‘motivation’ inlearning. In the last two centuriesthe Russian physiologist, IanPetrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)and the American educational

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psychologist, Edward LeeThorndike (1874-1949), haveemphasised the role of moti-vation in learning very strongly.They taught a variety of tasks toanimals and humans. No matterwhat task they taught to theirsubjects, they motivated themfirst, and then they continuedthese tasks throughout thelearning period. (ContemporarySchools of Psychology).

Albert Einstein also realised thisfact:

‘But behind every achieve-ment exists the motivationwhich is at the foundation ofit and which in turn isstrengthened and nourishedby the accomplishment of theundertaking…. The mostimportant motive for work inthe school and in life is thepleasure in work, pleasure inits result.’8

Animals and young children canbe motivated by awarding themfood or simple praise, but it doesnot work in case of grown upchildren and adults. To keep

these learners fully alert andstrongly motivated, they must beconvinced that they have joinedan institute of a very highstandard; the teachers are truescholars of their subjects and usethe most advanced teachingmethods. They should also beconvinced that the purpose forwhich they have joined theinstitute will be accomplished. Ifthey are not satisfied on theseaspects, their interest in learningautomatically drops.

Now let us examine whether ornot the Qur’an has thrown anylight upon the role of motivationin learning. The answer is, it hasdefinitely done so. It is becauseof the role of motivation inlearning that God, throughM o s e s( a s ), has taught us tosupplicate. ‘My Lord, open upfor me my heart’ (Ch.20:V.26).Opening of the heart stands foran increase in motivation. It isfor this very reason that God, theFirst and the Real Teacher, hasbeen described as the All-Knowing (Ch.2:V.2), the HolyP r o p h e t( s a ) as a teacher whoteaches with wisdom (‘He it is

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Who has raised among theUnlettered people a Messengerf rom among themselves whorecites unto them His Signs, andpurifies them, and teaches themthe Book and wisdom, althoughthey had been, before, inmanifest error’) (Ch.62:V.3), andthe Holy Qur’an as a PerfectBook, free from any doubt ordefect, and a Book which guidesthe learner to his ultimate goal(Ch.2:V.3). These verses suggestthat planners of education shouldplan and run educationalinstitutes on these lines, i.e. theinstitutes should be free fromdefects and the teacher should betrue scholars and efficient inlearning.

Islam recognises the role ofmothers in upbringing andeducating their children, becausethey are the closest and the mosta ffectionate persons to them. Allgood teachers keep their studentsclose and teach thema ff e c t i o n a t e l y. The Holy Qur’ a nhas not left this aspect. Asdirected by God, the PatriarchProphet Abraham( a s ) ( C h . 2 : V. 2 6 1 ) ,Prophet Moses( a s ) ( C h . 2 0 : V s . 1 8 -

25; Ch.27:Vs.8-13; Ch.28:Vs.32-33), Prophet Jesus( a s ) ( C h . 3 : V. 5 0 )and Holy Prophet Muhammad( s a )

( C h . 9 : V.128 and Ch.15:V. 8 9 )taught and trained their followersa ffectionately and by keepingthem close.

In addition to the methods oflearning mentioned above, theHoly Qur’an has mentionedsome more novel techniques fore fficient learning e.g. studentsshould obey the teachers, showpatience and not question duringthe lecture (Ch.18: Vs.66-71).Doing so is against discipline,interrupts the teacher, and thestudents themselves are deprivedof using their intelligence,thinking, reasoning, etc,necessary for efficient andeffective learning.

Being complete in every respect,the Holy Qur’an has not onlymotivated learners or students,but parents and teachers as well.Man has been described as madeof dust (Ch.3:V.60 andC h . 1 8 : V.38), of clay (Ch.7:V. 1 3 )and of dry ringing clay( C h . 1 5 : V.29 and Ch.55:V. 1 5 ) .

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The reason for comparing manwith dust and clay is that thesecan be easily molded intod i fferent shapes; similarly humanbeings can be educated andtrained for different professions.The sooner the training starts, thegreater will be success, becausebabies start learning soon afterconception. The claim of theAmerican psychologist, J.B.Watson that if he is given anormal infant with full control intraining him, he can make him ad o c t o r, a lawyer, and even a thief,supports the Qur’anic versesquoted above.

In short, whatever learningtheory or method of teachingman can formulate or evenimagine, you can find the roots ofall wisdom in this Book ofWisdom, the Holy Qur’an.

BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Mazhar, Muhammad Ahmad: Arabic the

Source of all the Language, The Reviewof Religion Publication, Rabwah,Pakistan, 1963, Vol. 1, pp. 2-3

2. Gopnik, Alison, Meltzoff, Andrew N.and Kuhl, Patricia K: The Scientist in theCrib, William Marrow & Co. Inc., New

York, N.Y., U.S.A. pp. 27-28

3. Ibid, p. 17

4. Ibid, pp. 1-8

5. Mirza, Ghulam Ahmad, R o o h a n iKhazain, The London Mosque, London,United Kingdom, 1984, Vol. 1, pp. 502-505

6. Vygotsky, Lev: The Scientist in the Crib,William Marrow & Co. Inc. New York,N. W., U.S.A. p. 19

7. Einstein, Albert: Out of my Later Years,Wings Books, New York, N.Y. U.S.A.,1956, p. 31

8. Ibid, pp. 31-33.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr Abdul Majid started hiseducational career in 1963 as theHeadmaster of Talimul Islam HighSchool Qadian, when he was just 23years old and served in India,Kashmir, and various places in theMiddle East as a lecturer,h e a d m a s t e r, principal etc. DrShahab Ahmad who did his Phdfrom Aligarh and Dr Abdul Majidnow reside in Canada.

I quote an interesting incidentabout a 25-year-old gentleman ofIndia. This was in the year 1866and after having achieved hisDiploma of Education from theNormal School in Rawalpindi,this young man had beenappointed as Head Teacher of aschool in a town called PindDadan Khan. He was four yearsinto this job when one day anInspector of Schools arrived forinspection. The young mandescribes the incidence himself:‘On one occasion, the Inspectorof Schools arrived while I was atmy meal. I invited him to joinme. Instead of accepting myinvitation, he retorted, “I amafraid that you have notrecognised me. My name isKhuda Bukhsh and I am theInspector of Schools.”’

“‘Oh! Indeed. That is well. Youare a man of integrity. You do not

partake of food offered by ateacher. How good that is!”’

‘I continued my meal, and, whileholding his horse, he waited forme to tell some student to go andhold his horse. When he saw thatI made no move, he asked me,“Kindly tell a student to hold myhorse.’”

‘I answered: “Sir you are sopunctilious that you do notpartake of food offered by ateacher deeming it to be a bribe.Then how can I ask a student tohold your horse.They come toschool to study and not to serveas stable boys. Besides, youmight ask for it to be tethered andfed: but how could the horse befed when you yourself are notwilling to accept the hospitalityof a teacher?”’

‘The horse was getting impatient.


Is There a God?Based on an address at the Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslimcommunity in Ireland

Dr. Tariq Anwar Bajwa - UK

In the meantime the Inspector’sstaff arrived and began to lookafter everything. Then hesignified that he would proceedwith the examination of thestudents, whereupon I put thestudents in order and myselfwithdrew and sat apart. TheInspector held the examinationand then said to me: “I haveheard that you are very capable,and hold a distinguishedDiploma from the NormalSchool. Perhaps that explainsyour imperious attitude.”

‘I replied: “Sir, I do not regard afew square inches of paper asGod.” Then I sent for thediploma and tore it into piecesbefore his eyes and demonstratedthat I did not associate anythingwith God.’

His name was Hadhrat HakeemMaulvi Nooruddin( r a ) and hebecame the first successor of thePromised Messiah(as). Such washis firm faith in God that nothingcould ever shake it.

But ‘is there a God?’ is aquestion whose response varies

considerably when asked tod i fferent people. There arepeople, who would say, ‘No I donot believe in God.’ There areothers who would say, ‘theremay be a God, but I am notinterested.’ There are manyothers who would say, ‘yes, thereis a God.’ In both these groupsof people answering inaffirmative or in negative, thedegree of certainty with whichthey say so varies quitec o n s i d e r a b l y. There are thosewho believe in God because theyacquired that belief in Him. In asimilar way there are people whowere born in a society which wasdrifting away from God andhence were told to go away fromthe concept of God. Of thesepeople there is also a group ofpeople who say God has notcreated us. Perhaps we havecreated god through our imagi-nation. There are also scholarsand philosophers who havethought deeply and concludedthat there should be a God. Ofcourse the certainty with whichthey say so comes throughinference and because their beliefin a God is weak, they are unable

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to convince somebody withsurety about the existence of aGod.

The Holy Qur’an, whichaccording to Islam is the Word ofGod Himself, divides knowledgeinto three types: knowledge byway of certainty of inference,knowledge by way of certainty ofsight and knowledge by way ofcertainty of experience.

The knowledge by certainty ofinference is that a thing is knownnot directly, but throughsomething else through which itsexistence can be inferred: anexample being that of inferenceof the existence of fire byobserving smoke from adistance. We do not see the fire,but we see the smoke and webelieve in the existence of fire.Then when we can see the fire,this would give us certainty bysight. Now if we were to enterthis fire, our knowledge wouldhave the quality of certainty byexperience. The variation in thecertainty while answering to thequestion about the existence ofGod is thus explained.

There are people who haveinferred that there has to be aGod. There are others who haveexperienced God themselves andthen there are people who haveseen these holy men and seenGod through them and they say itthat certainly there is a God.Nobody can change their mindsbecause of the degree of certaintythey have in this belief.

The source of the first type ofknowledge, that is to sayknowledge by the certainty ofinference, is reason andinformation.

God Almighty does not requirehuman beings to accept anythingbeyond their intellectualc a p a b i l i t y, and only sets forthsuch doctrines as are com-prehensible by men, so that hisdirectives should not imposeupon man that which he is unableto bear. (Ch.2:V.287)

The certainty of knowledge byinference can be obtained byvarious faculties given to humanbeings, one of them being ears.For instance, many of us have

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not visited Tokyo or Sydney, butwe have heard of them fromthose who have visited theseplaces. We do not doubt theexistence of these cities becausewe do not believe all thesepeople might have told a lie.

In fact all the religions on thisearth claim to be from God.Muhammad(sa), Moses(as), Jesus(as),K r i s h n a( a s ), Buddha( a s ), BabaNanak and every religious leadertaught people to believe andworship God. Although all thereligions have slight differencesin the attributes they ascribe toGod, yet all the religions hold thecommon view that there is a GodWho created this universe. Infact, the creation of man goeshand in hand with religion and itis not the work of philosophers orsociologists whether or not theconcept of God exists. It is auniversal concept that existedindependent of any knowledge ofwhat people believed in otherparts of the world. It was thisuniversal presence of belief inthe whole world that convincedmany an atheist, at least to adegree, that this is a very strong

and potent reason why we mustrespect the possibility of theexistence of God. History tells usthat even those ancient religionsthat no longer exist in the world,also held the view of God,whether they were in ancientAmerica, or in the jungles ofAfrica or Australia. So the booksof history are also a source ofknowledge provided they do notcontradict themselves. Even thebooks of the prophets lose theirreliability if there is contradictionin them about a certain point.However, the point at which theyagree is likely to be believed andis certainly a source ofknowledge by inference.

The Holy Qur’an is not confinedmerely to knowledge gainedthrough continuity of hearing; itcontains well-reasoned arg u -ments that carry strongconviction. Not one of the doc-trines and principles andcommandments that the HolyQ u r’an sets forth is imposedmerely by authority. How can theword of God impose belief inHimself without giving rea-sonable arguments?

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Let us look at the evidence Godhas given Himself about Hisexistence in the Holy Qur’an.

The Holy Qur’an has adopted twomethods for an understanding ofGod. First, there is the methodwhereby human reason isstrengthened and illumined for thepurpose of setting forth reasons insupport of the existence of God.Through this, one may reach thefirst degree of certainty about theexistence of God i.e., there shouldbe a God or there has to be a God.The second method is the spiritualmethod through which youachieve the second and thirddegree of certainty through sightand through experience.

As regards the first method, oneof the foremost arguments Godgives is to study nature, how Hehas created this universe? In theHoly Qur’an, God says:

Do you doubt in the existenceof Allah, Who has created theheavens and the earth (fromnothingness).(Ch.14:V.11)

The second argument given bythe Holy Qur’an is that every-thing that has been created hasbeen given appropriate facultiesas it says:

Our Lord is He Who hasbestowed upon everything itsappropriate faculties, and hasthen guided it to (theachievement of) its appro -priate purpose.(Ch. 20:V.51)

The third argument of the HolyQur’an is the order that you seein this universe.

No incongruity canst thou seein the creation of theGracious God. Then lookagain: Seest thou any flaw?Aye, look again, and yetagain, thy sight will onlyreturn to thee frustrated andfatigued.(Ch.67:Vs.4-5)

And then Allah says :

It is not for the sun toovertake the moon, nor canthe night outstrip the day. All

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of them float in an orbit.(Ch.36:V.41)

The fourth argument given by theHoly Qur’an is that God says Heis the ultimate cause of allcauses:

And that to thy Lord do allthings ultimately go.(Ch.53: V.43)

And in another verse reminds us:

All that is on earth will perishand only the Person of thyLord, Master of Glory andHonour, will survive.(Ch.55:V.27-28)

The fifth logical arg u m e n tpresented by the Holy Qur’an isthat God says that He has put inthe inherent nature of a humanbeing that he believes in God. AsAllah says that when the souls ofhuman beings are asked by Him:

Am I not your Lord? And theyanswer: Indeed, we do bearwitness. (Ch.7:V.173)

There are many other verses

giving the logic of the existenceof God but let us stop here andlook at these claims in somemore detail.

There is a host of evidenceavailable to us if we look aroundourselves. If one keeps in mindand then reflects upon the shapeand form of man and all theanimals on land and in the sea,and the birds, one is impressedwith the power of God Who hascreated them and then bestowedits appropriate form on everything.

The Holy Founder ofAhmadiyyat, the PromisedMessiah(as), has well said:

‘O my Beloved! Howwonderful is Thy creativepower manifested every-where:Whichever way I look, I findevery road leading to ThyPresence.

In the fountain of the sun,the tides of Thy Power arewitnessed:

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Every star is twinkling withThy GloryThe mellow intoxicatingeyes of all, who are endowedwith beautyRemind one of Thee everymomentTo Thy direction is turned,the pointing finger of everycurly lock.’

Just imagine what an infiniteUniverse has been created for thesatisfaction of our physicalneeds. There is a sky withinnumerable stars and planets,including a sun and a moon,which give us light and warmth –so essential for our well-being.Think of the vast expanse ofatmosphere around us, full of airto make us breathe and space toallow us to build, rise and flywherever we please. Take theearth itself and, look at the seriesof rivers, mines and mountainsso wonderfully distributed overits surface. Just see the differentstrata suited for the production ofvarious vegetable growths. Thinkof the animal and vegetablekingdoms, what a wonderful andexquisite scale of creation we

notice in this universe, howb e a u t i f u l l y, efficiently andmysteriously it works to acommon end! There is amagnificent system of org a n -isation.

There are only two optionsavailable to us – either there is aGod Who created human beingsand the universe around us orthere is no God and it is humanbeings who have created their so-called creator.

The issue of Creation can beexamined from this perspective,beginning with the origins of life,ending our journey with theconsummation of life into humanbeings. Each step that wasadvanced in the direction of theevolvement of human beings wasan organised step. Life is noteternal – the possibility of lifebegan with the ‘Big Bang’ thatoccurred around twenty billionyears ago and ever since then lifehas emerged out of nothing. Eventhe firmest believers in blindevolution have to admit that forthis to happen they cannot findan answer.

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Is there a God?


Upon contemplation of thewonders of evolution created orpacked in a small space of onebillion years, even those atheistsbegin to calculate throughmathematics of large numbersthe time it should have requiredfor evolution to take place and toreach its consummation, by blindchance. The figure they havereached is ten raised to the powerof 249 which means that oneneeds to place 249 zeros to theright of number one. That is howmany years would be needed, notfor the completion of the wholeevolution, but just for thecreation of the first brick of life,the proteins that are needed forbuilding DNA’s. The rest is stillto be calculated. Based on thisevidence, one can alwaysquestion the scientists as to howman could have been created,how could the very firsto rganism of life have beencreated without the existence of apreceding Conscious Being, anAll-Knowledgeable Being Whowas Eternal.

For those who do not believe inGod, there are a few terms that

are commonly used to try toexplain the creation, organisationand evolution. These terms are‘Chance’, ‘Evolution by naturalselection or Survival of theFittest’, or ‘Evolution by changebit by bit’. For a moment, justvisualise the drama of life anddeath as staged, act-by-act, fromthe beginning of evolution to thepresent time. As the curtain lifts,does it lift from the vision of amindless universe endlesslyengaged in the casting of a dice,or does it lift from a completelyd i fferent scenario? The dramaremains the same, as also theactors who play their part.

The vision alters only in relationto the viewer. If the viewer sees itthrough the coloured glasses ofdeep seated, pre-conceivedatheistic prejudices, then ofcourse he would view nothingbut chaos wedded to chaos,giving birth to a brood ofmeticulously-shaped and well-disciplined offspring. This hap-pens generation after generationafter generation. Each generationinvariably recedes yet again intoa world of chaos, continuously

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giving birth to order anddiscipline, without exception andwithout fail. So the drama ofevolution moves on from chaosto order without an orderlydisciplined mind to command it.

Despite this, order alwayse m e rges out of disorder, untilman the masterpiece of evolutionis created – the ultimate child ofcompound chaos and confusion.If on the other hand the viewer isan unbiased observer of what hesees and permits his vision to beled to whichever direction thescheme of creation leads him,then of course the same dramawill take on a completelyd i fferent complexion. At eachreplication of life into morecomplex and more org a n i s e dentities of a higher order and ateach step forward on theevolutionary journey, he wouldperceive the guiding hand of theSupreme Creator.

Many a competent scientist hashad to confess that the onlysolution to the problem ofcreation lies in the admission thatthere does exist a Supreme

Creator. Frank Allan, Professorof Biophysics, University ofManitoba, Canada, recipient ofthe Tory Gold Medal, RoyalSociety of Canada writes:

‘The adjustments of the earthfor life are far too numerousto be accounted for bychance.’

What he evidently means is thatin the long journey of evolutionwe find design, order andh a r m o n y, which cannot beascribed to chance. Commentingon the complexity of proteins andthe manner in which they playthe essential role of building,supporting and advancing life,Allan categorically rejects theidea of attributing it to chance.

For a single protein molecule tobe formed out of chance wouldrequire 10 raised to the power 98years. To accommodate thisfigure in the span of evolution isimpossible because it only took4.5 billion years for all theamazing steps of creation.

To be very simple, if I claim that

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all the things have beenorganised after an earthquake ora blast, you would have doubtsabout my mental health and someof my colleagues may be kindenough to refer me to apsychiatrist. Strange it is, though,that people have sympathy withthose who think this universe hasoriginated out of chance oraccident, without design andwithout a Creator. The proba-bility of life originating from anaccident is comparable to theprobability of an unabridgeddictionary resulting from anexplosion in a print factory.

Sir Fred Hoyle, author of theBlack Cloud says: ‘thespontaneous formation by“chance” of a working enzyme islike a hurricane blowing througha junkyard and spontaneouslyputting together a Boeing 747.’

The theory of ‘survival of thefittest’ is easily rejected by asimple example. In a famine ordrought, when water can befound very deep, only the treeswith very deep roots should beable to survive whereas all the

shrubbery with small rootsshould vanish. Similarly animalswith long necks like giraffes andcamels, which can reach thesetrees to graze on, should be ableto survive such a drought.However, if we look at the facts,they are very different and afteryears of famine, the smallshrubbery and small animalssurvive these droughts in a betterway. This rejects the survival ofthe fittest or blind naturalselection theory.

Now looking at the appropriatefaculties given to the creation,we can look at a few examples,which reject either the ‘bit-by-bit’ change theory or the ‘blindevolution’ theory.

In the world of birds, if we lookat the woodpecker, the force withwhich it hits the trees to make theinsects come out is such that if itdid not have a protective cushionbetween its beak and its brain, itcould not have survived at all. Itcould not have developed over along period because it has to bepart of its creation right from thebeginning. There are so many

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similar examples, like spiders,electric fish etc. The complexsystem of making honey in ahoneybee is still astonishment tothe human being. Special sensesin the animal world are a discreteexample, which reject evolutionby a ‘bit-by-bit’ change becausethey cannot be functional if anypart of them is removed. Forexample consider the functioningof the eye. Even in the mostrudimentary form, which was ina deep-sea fish, eyes have beenfound to be fully functional.They have to have been madewith a purpose and design. Weknow that for an eye to function,it has a cornea with a definedcurvature, an iris to control thelight and the ciliary muscles tocontrol curvature of the lens.Then there is the aqueoush u m o u r, the lens vitreoushumour and the Retina with its10 layers of cells. From theretina, the image has to reach theoccipital cortex where it isinterpreted. Then there is acomplex system of lachrymalfluid to keep cleaning the eye.The protection for the eye hasbeen provided by eyelids, orbit

and the eyebrows. Thousands ofbooks have been written aboutthe beauty as well as thefunctioning of the eye. The fact isthat it only points towards itsCreator and no theory ofevolution can explain it.

In 1859, in his great work, TheOrigin of Species during hisdiscussion on the intricacies ofan ‘eye’ as an organ, Darwinconfessed.

‘To suppose that the eye,with all its inimitablecontrivances for adjustingthe focus to differe n tdistances, for admittingd i f f e rent amounts of light,and for the correction ofspherical and chro m a t i caberration could have beenformed by natural selection,seems, I freely confess,a b s u rd in the highestpossible degree’.

Having said that he carves a pathof retreat by building his ‘bit-by-bit’ theory, which has nowbecome the mainstay of Prof.Dawkin’s arguments in favour of

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natural selection being the onlycreator.

However this ‘bit-by-bit’ theoryis rejected by the fact that themost ancient specimens of eyesas found in the earliest species ofmarine life are fascinatinglypurpose-built masterpieces ofsuch visionary systems asperplex the most modernmanufacturer of optical instru-ments.

The Holy Qur’an says:

And He it is Who has createdfor you ears, and eyes, andhearts, but little thanks doyou give.(Ch.23:V.79)

There are many examples whichhave been given in detail in thebook R a t i o n a l i t y, Revelation,Knowledge and Truth by HadhratMirza Tahir Ahmed(ru) the fourthsuccessor of the PromisedM e s s i a h( a s ) to which one canrefer.

Then we observe that the entireuniverse is bound together in a

system of cause and effect. Thissystem is at the root of allknowledge. No part of creation isoutside this system. It is notpossible that in this finite worldthis pattern of cause and effectshould have no limit. We arecompelled to acknowledge that itmust terminate with someultimate cause. The ultimatecause is God.

Up to now we have spoken oflogic, which only makes us reacha conclusion that there should bea God. However, a human beingdoes not get contented just withthis type of certainty and wantsto reach the surest degree, whichis the certainty by sight andexperience. All the prophets ofGod have provided this certaintyby their own example. Theywere weak people who had noapparent powers with them. Atthe very time they claimed thatGod had appointed them, theircontemporaries stood againstthem and tried their level best todestroy them. However it neverhappened that a representative ofAllah was not able to achieve hisgoal. They were all successful

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proving that there is a LivingGod Who has appointed them.The same thing happened withN o a h( a s ), and Abraham( a s ), Moses( a s )

and Jesus( a s ) and the Holy Prophetof Islam, Hadhrat Muhammad( s a ).The same thing is being repeatedin this age in the person of thePromised Messiah( a s), who wasfrom a small village of India andwas not known in his own area,when he claimed that God hadtold him that his message wouldreach the corners of the earth.Today his message is reachingthe corners of the earth, provingthat there is a God Who supportsand brings victory to Hisappointed ones against all odds.

Not only do these representativesof Allah prove His existence bytheir own success but also inviteeverybody towards God so thatpeople are able to achieve thecertainty of the existence of Godby their own experience.

The truth is that when oneachieves the goal of havingcommunication with God, onebecomes a manifest sign of theLiving God in one’s own person.

People see God through him as ifhe is a walking proof of theexistence of God. HadhratKhalifatul Masih I HakimMaulvi Nooruddin was one suchexample whom I quoted in thevery beginning.

The Holy Founder ofAhmadiyyat, the PromisedMessiah(as) says:

‘With regard to the hereafterour knowledge arrives at thedegree of certainty by sightwhen we receive directrevelation and hear the voiceof God through our ears, andbehold the true and clearvisions of God with oureyes. Without a doubt we arein need of direct revelationfor the purpose of achievingsuch perfect understandingfor which our hearts hungerand thirst in our beings. IfGod Almighty has notprovided the means of suchcomprehension for us inadvance then why has Hecreated this hunger and thirstin our hearts? Can we becontent that in this life,

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which is our only measurefor the hereafter, we shouldbelieve in the true andperfect and mighty andliving God only on the basisof tales and stories, orshould depend upon under-standing or reason alone,which understanding is stilldefective and incomplete?Do not the hearts of truelovers of God desire thatthey should enjoy the delightof converse with theBeloved, and should thosewho have given upeverything in the world forthe sake of God and havedevoted their hearts andlives to Him, be content withthe repining in a dim lightwithout beholding thecountenance of that Sun ofTruth? Is it not true that ana ffirmation by the LivingGod: I am present, bestowssuch a degree of under-standing compared withwhich the self conceivedbooks of all the philosophersamount to nothing at all?What can those philosopherswho are themselves blind

teach us? In short, if GodAlmighty designs to bestowperfect understanding uponHis seekers, then Hecertainly has kept open theway of converse with them.’(The Philosophy of theTeachings of Islam)

The Promised Messiah(as) has notonly told us that Godcommunicates with humanbeings but also has shown us thepathway to find Him. He hasmentioned eight steps to findGod. In short they are:

1. To believe in the True God,for if the very first step is notright, for instance, if a personbelieves in a bird or ananimal, or in the elements orin the issue of a humanbeing, as god there can be nohope of progressing towardsGod. The True God helps Hisseekers to reach Him.

2. The second means is to beinformed of His beauty, forthe heart is naturally drawnto the beauty the observationof which generates love in

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Is there a God?


the heart. God’s beauty is HisUnity and His Greatness andHis Majesty and His otherattributes.

3. The third means of approachto God is knowledge of HisBeneficence, which is anincentive to His love.

4. The Fourth means ofreaching Him is supplication,as He says ‘Call on Me, Ishall respond to you’.

5. The fifth means to reach Himis to strive in His cause, thatis to say we should seek Godby spending our wealth inHis cause and by employingall our faculties in furtheringthis cause and laying downour lives in His cause and byemploying our reason in Hiscause.

6. The sixth means is stead-fastness, not to get tired ordisheartened when oneencounters trials.

7. The seventh means is to keepcompany with the righteous,

and to observe their perfectexample.

8. The eighth means ofreaching Him, are visionsand true dreams and reve-lation. As the path to reachHim is not an easy one, themercy of God keeps com-forting them and thesevisions and dreams keep himgoing.

The fact is that the purpose ofhuman life and the highest reachof man’s faculties is to meet Godthe Exalted.

The importance of achieving thisgoal in life, has been describedby the Promised Messiah (as):

‘ Our paradise is in our God.Our highest delight is in ourGod for we have seen Himand have found every beautyin Him. This wealth is worthprocuring though one mayhave to lay down one’s lifeto procure it. O ye, who arebereft, run to this fountainand it will save you. Whatmay I do, and how may I

56

Is there a God?


instil this good news in theirhearts, and by what drumshall I make the announce-ment that this is your God,so that people might hear?What remedy may I apply totheir ears so that they shouldlisten?

If you belong to Allah, restassured that Allah willindeed belong to you.’ (Kashti –e- Nuh)

REFERENCES:1. The Philosophy of the

Teachings of Islam b y

Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmad(as).

2. Revelation, Rationality,Knowledge and Tru t h b yHadhrat Mirza KhalifatulMasih IV(ru).

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Is there a God?


The staff and editorial team at The Review of Religions wishes all its readersa very healthy, peaceful and blessed New Year

ABOUT THE AUTHORDr Tariq Anwar Bajwa resigned fromthe Pakistan army, did his FRCS,served in Tanzania for 3 years andhas been in the UK since 1996 wherehe is a GP. He is the Chairman of theAhmadiyya Medical AssociationUK, Secretary Tahrik Jadid andnewsreader on MTA.


Eid MessageFrom the Head of the worldwide AhmadiyyaCommunity, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad,Khalifatul Masih V.

The Essence of Islam – Part 1Start of a serialisation of extracts from various writings and books of the Promised Messiah(as).Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

History of the Ka’abaBackground and history of the Ka’aba andrelated holy sites in Makkah.Fazal Ahmad – UK

The House of AllahA Friday sermon from 1983 delivered byHadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV(ru) that exploredthe significance of a mosque with reference tothe Ka’aba.

Hajj and its SignificanceA short summary of the rites related to theMuslim pilgrimage to Makkah.Bilquees Cheema, Kenya

Journey to Truth: HinduismA look at the teachings of Hinduism and relatedProphet Krishna.Abdul Kudus Alimi, Switzerland

The Impact of Alcohol on SocietyA brief look into problems caused byalcoholism and Islamic teachings on thesubject.Mr Latif A Qureshi – Edinburgh

The Need for RighteousnessA look at the true source of righteousness forman from the writings of the PromisedMessiah(as).

Was Islam Spread by the SwordHow understanding, not force, was the drivingforce behind Islam’s rapid progress across theglobe – Friday Sermon delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the worldwideAhmadiyya Community.

Balance Within the BodyThe latent system of justice that governs themicrocosm – extracts taken from the bookAbsolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship: TheThree Creative Principles by Hadhrat MirzaTahir Ahmad(ru).

Moderation in a Fattening Wo r l dHow following Islamic teachings can lead to a healthier life. Manzurul A Sikder, MD, USA

The Prophet Promised Through Moses(as);Jesus(as); or Muhammad (sa)?Examining a biblical prophecy about ProphetMuhammad(sa).Dr A.R. Bhutta, Nigeria

Message from Hadhrat Mirza Masro o rAhmadMessage from the Head of the worldwideAhmadiyya Community to the 23rd Wo r l dReligious conference in Canada

In Search of the Existence of GodArguments in support of the existence of God.Naseem Mahdi, Canada

The Essence of Islam – Part IIWhat is religion and what are the signs of itstruth?Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

Service to Humanity – A Religious Duty inIslamThe importance of doing good to others.Bockarie Tommy Kallon – UK

March 2004

February 2004

January 2004

Index of 2004 articles

Index of articles published in 2004


Al-Hayy – The Living GodThe prime attribute of God that makes Godworshipable. God lives today as He did before.Naeem Ahmad – USA

Death on the CrossTen undeniable proofs that Jesus(as) did not dieon the cross.Abul Atta Jallandhri – UK

The Prophet Promised Through Moses(as);Jesus(as); or Muhammad(sa)?Continuing the look at the biblical prophecyabout Prophet Muhammad(sa).Dr A.R. Bhutta, Nigeria

Alexander Dowie and His ZionMessage from Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV(ra)

sent to the Ahmadiyya Community in USAbefore the start of the conference tocommemorate the fulfilment of a grandprophecy concerning Alexander Dowie.

Divine Guidance – Part IThose who turn a deaf ear to the Prophets ofGod, deprive themselves from guidance andare engulfed by the wrath of God.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

True Islamic Teachings Compared to Al-Qaeda’s DoctrineA paper read at the networks of instabilityseminar in Brussels. Religious terrorists,disowned by their own faith, have mentorswho provide them with the politicaljustification in pursuit of their objective ofdying as martyrs. The teachings of Islamtotally condemn terrorists and suicidebombers.M.A. Ashraf, Scotland

The Immaculate Conception‘ We breathed into her Our Spirit’ ismisconstrued as implicating God in a paternalrole: Understanding the physical and spiritual

birth of Jesus(as).Moosa Qureshi – UK

Islam is a PeacefulReligion A lecture asking those who call Islambelligerent to reflect. Do Islam’s high valuesmanifest themselves when bombs rain downfrom the skies?Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

Divine Guidance – Part IIThe advent of the Prophet of Islam(sa) was theneed of the time. The message given to him isa living Book, not a story but a philosophy.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

Religious ToleranceAn excellent formula for inter-faith respect,tolerance and dialogue, based on a lecturedelivered in Ghana. Abdul Wahab Adam, Amir and Missionary-in-charge, Ghana

Economic JusticeThe Islamic economic system narrows the gapbetween the haves and have nots. An emphasison spending, zakat and prohibition of interestensuring a fast circulation of wealth.Saad Ahmad, USA

Who are the Amish?An insight into a sect of Mennonites whosemen wear broad-brimmed black hats andwomen ankle-length dress.Zakaria Virk, Canada.

Avoid Those Who Create Disorder: Peopleshould identify you as the special servantsof AllahAddress to the Annual gathering of theAhmadiyya Community in Ghana askingparticipants to deal with others with kindness,tolerance, compassion, justice and humility.

June 2004

May 2004

April 2004



By saving the next generation from the ills ofthe society, become a guarantor for thesurvival of your future generation and nation.Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

The Essence of Islam – IIIDevoting one’s life to the cause of GodAlmighty so that He becomes the object ofworship, the true goal and the beloved and sothat one’s life is devoted to the service of Hiscreatures are the true essence of Islam. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

Treatment of Prisoners of War:The enslavement of conquered people or their being held as prisoners of war requires thatthey must be treated with justice and grantedthe rights available to all free persons. Islamset the standards for others to follow.Hadhrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad(as)

Peace Symposium A Dharma Talk on Buddhism: Emphasis onPeace argues that peace and happiness dependon our minds, by Phrakru Sarnu Lom;A Jewish View on Peace looking squarely atthe absence of war to promote peace, by RabbiDanny Rich.

My Journey into the AhmadiyyaCommunityA young American recalls her acceptance ofIslam.Dara Fulton, USA

Noak’s Ark – Another ViewpointThose who rode in Noah’s Ark heeded theWarner sent to them; likewise the plagueduring the time of the Promised Messiah(as)

swept away 10 million disbelievers.Latif Qureshi.

The Essence of Islam, Part IV: Allah theExaltedThe concept of God differs among worldreligions. Even within the body of Islam, there

are beliefs which run counter to the majestyand glory of the Gracious God. This piecepresents the true Islamic concept of God withdetailed exposition of relevant Qur’ a n i cverses and the attributes of God..Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

A Short Review of the Historical Critiqueof UsuryBringing together all the arguments fromvarious religions, traditions and institutions asto why lending on interest should beconsidered wrong with special emphasis onthe Islamic model of banking as a viablealternative to the interest-based globaleconomy.Wayne A.M. Visser and Alaister McIntosh

Investment, Interest and IslamIf Islam prohibits lending at interest, how does Islam encourage investment and ensure thatcapital is not hoarded? Why, in fact, has Islamforbidden the use of interest?Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru)

Cyrus the GreatThe legend of the great King Cyrus, famed notonly for his expansion of the Persian Empirebut also the magnanimity with which hetreated all his subjects, is recorded in historyand also mentioned in the Bible. Could he bethe Dhu’l Qarnain mentioned in the HolyQur’an?Fazal Ahmad – UK

Jihad – The True Islamic Concept The much misunderstood concept of Jihadwhich extremists within Islam and Islam’sopponents construe as believe or be smitten bythe sword.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

Divine Guidance – IIIThe Holy Prophet(sa) reformed people who hadbecome beasts and had prepared such truthfuland faithful people that they were prepared to

August 2004

July 2004



sacrifice everything for the cause of hisreligion. On the other hand, Jesus(as) never hadthe opportunity to cause such a change in hisapostles.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

Jihad, Human Rights and the Treatmentof Minorities in IslamA paper read at the OIC (Organisation forIslamic Cooperation) on Jihad and humanrights from Islamic and western perspectives.Islamic societies respected non-Muslimminorities but since the second half of the lastc e n t u r y, political manipulation of an ill-informed clergy and extremists bygovernments has led to an abuse of personalfreedoms and a call for Jihad.M.A. Ashraf

Outstanding Female Muslims of the HolyProphet’s(sa) EraSome inspiring accounts from the lives ofsome of the first female Muslims.Quratul-Ain Mirza, Canada

A Brief Introduction to The Daily Al-FazalA brief account of the origins and history ofthe Rabwah (Pakistan) based religiouspublication, the Alfazl, at present the onlydaily published by the community.Ahmad Mustansir, Rabwah

The Issue of Evil and Suffering – theIslamic Perspective

Addresses the question on why innocentpeople suffer and whether one can benefitfrom such trials.Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz, OBE, UK

The Essence of Islam: Allah the Exalted,Part 4Describes many of the attributes of Allah asmentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and theirpermanent nature.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

The Philosophy of Revival of Religion A speech in Australia describing theprophesies related to the advent of theMessiah, who would bring about the revival ofIslam.Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru)

Saladin – The Legend of Salahuddin The life and characteristics of Salahuddin (aswitnessed through the dignified manner inwhich he confronted the Crusaders) and whatwe can learn from his experiences.Fazal Ahmad, UK.

The Essence of Islam: Allah the Exalted –Part 5Describes in detail the four principal attributesof Allah as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, andhow they are related to each other and havebeen described in the correct order.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

Distinctive Features of IslamSome of the unique features of Islam rangingfrom the unity of God, prophethood, the HolyQur’an, rights of women and life after deaththat attracted the author to join Islam.Bilal Atkinson, Hartlepool, UK

The Holy Qur’an – The Perfect Guidancefor MankindDiscussion on how the Holy Qur’an uses theemotions of Hope and Fear to guide mankindtowards God.Fauzia Bajwa - Montreal, Canada

The Task Ahead A plea to engage in personal reformation andto ignore the fashions and distractions of theoutside world.Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan

The Concept of Jihad in IslamA study of the life and teachings of the HolyProphet(sa) towards other faiths co-exisiting

October 2004

September 2004



with Muslims. Proof that concepts such asforced conversion are alien to the originalnotion of Jihad, and that actually Jihad is apersonal battle of reformation.Amjad Mahmood Khan, Boston, USA

The Human Soul The soul is created by God from the union oftwo seminal fluids. It is not eternal anduncreated as the Vedas claim. Nor is it createdsomewhere else and then injected into the bodyat or just before the birth of a human being.Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

Universality of IslamAn in-depth refutation of claims made byWestern Orientalists, that Islam was originallyintended only for the local Arab tribes.Exposing the weakness of arguments raisedagainst the universality of Islam and clearlyestablishing that the message of Islam fromthe outset was for the whole world.Nuruddin Muneer

Interview With Montgomery WattAn interview from 1999 of the one whom theMuslim press has described as ‘the LastOrientalist.’ The Reverend ProfessorMontgomery Watt was 90 at the time. Hisinterest in Islam was aroused by ana rgumentative Muslim back in 1937. Hisstudy of Islam appears to have influenced hisown interpretation of Christianity. ProfessorMontgomery Watt is alive in Scotland and is amember of the ecumenical Iona Community.Bashir Maan & Alistair Mcintosh

Economic ValuesThe author reflects on verses of the Qur’anand the hadith relating to economic values.Economic values go hand in hand with socialvalues. Recognising that all prosperityproceeds from God should lead individualsand society as a whole to realise that, evenfrom the purely selfish point of view, the

greatest benefit is to be derived frombeneficent spending and distribution of wealthand not from avariciously holding it back.Late Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan

EpilogueThe concluding chapter of the highlyacclaimed book, Revelation, Rationality,Knowledge and Tru t h which has beenserialised regularly in this publicationHadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru)

Introduction from Jesus in IndiaThe introduction to this masterpiece is asrelevant today as it was at the time of itswriting over 100 years ago. The mis-conceptions of both Muslims and Christiansconcerning the life and death of Jesus( a s ) and hisbodily ascension has caused much confusion.H o w e v e r, the expectation of a bloody Messiahis a false belief of shortsighted scholars.

By Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)

Inaugural Address at the Opening ofBarakat Mosque in Birmingham A short speech delivered by Hadhrat MirzaMasroor Ahmad, the current Supreme Head ofthe Ahmadiyya Community in Islam, on theinauguration of a new mosque in Birmingham.A fresh look at ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’.

The Holy Qur’an Answers Four Questionson Education The authors discuss four basic questions onlearning in the light of the teachings of theHoly Qur’an.By Abdul Majid and Shahab Ahmad

Is there a God? The author discusses the different means bywhich one can prove the existence of God andreject the conclusion of atheists. By Dr. Tariq Anwar Bajwa

December 2004

November 2004


The Review of Religions – December 2003 63

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