Hazrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih III, passed away into the Mercy of Allah on June 8, 1982. The present Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam is Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V.

1983 Published by Alhaj Ata Ullah Kaleem Ameer & Muballigh Incharge the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Inc. 2141 Leroy Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Printed at the Fazl-i-Umar Press Pomeroy Road. P. O. Box 338. Athens, Ohio 45701

A MESSAGE OF PEACE AND A WORD OF WARNING

(Address delivered by the late Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih III, on July 28, 1967, at Wandsworth Town Hall, London, England)

As Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement I have the honor to occupy a spiritual office. In that capacity, I am charged with responsibilities which I am not permitted to lay aside at any time till I draw my last breath. These responsibilities embrace all my fellow beings, every one of whom, because of that fraternal bond, is dear to me. Gentlemen, mankind finds itself at this moment at the brink of disaster. In that context, I am the bearer of a momentous message for you and for all my brethren. Having regard to the occasion, I shall endeavor to make it brief. My message is of peace and harmony and of hope for mankind. I earnestly hope that you will listen carefully to what I have to say and to ponder over it with an open and enlightened mind. _________________________________________________________________ HAZRAT AHMAD OF QADIAN

The year 1835 occupies a place of pride in the human calendar. In that year, a child was born in Qadian, an obscure village in the north of India. For generations, his forbears had ruled the area around Qadian with great distinction. But the great house had fallen on lean days and lost much of its glory. The child that was born was no ordinary child. He was destined to bring about a great revolution not only in the realm of the spirit but also in the realm of matter. He was named Ghulam Ahmad by his parents and later became known to the world as Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. He was appointed by God as the Messiah and the Mahdi. Family records indicate that he was born on February 13, 1835. It was an age of ignorance. Not many people in that part of India were fond of learning. Hardly a few could read and write. Often a letter would remain unread for want of a reader.

HIS EDUCATION The tutors engaged for the instruction of this child were not very learned. They taught him to read the Holy Quran, but they were not competent enough to impart even  rudimentary instruction in the meaning and spiritual profundities of the Holy Book. They also gave him elementary instruction in Arabic and Persian. He learned to read the two languages but did not acquire any proficiency in them. He studied some books on the indigenous system of medicine under the guidance of his father who was a renowned physician. This was the sum total of his formal education. True, he was fond of books and was usually occupied with reading them in his father’s library. But as learning and scholarship were not much esteemed at the time, his father wanted him to assist him in managing his mundane affairs and to interest himself in them and win social esteem and popularity. Hence, his father tried to dissuade him from his studies and warned him against becoming a bookworm. It is clear that with such elementary education he could not have carried out the stupendous task entrusted to him by Allah. Therefore, Allah Himself became his guide and teacher and taught him the meaning of the Holy Quran. and the secrets of the spirit and of life. He illumined his mind with His own light and blessed him with the mastery of the pen and with beauty and sweetness of expression and helped him write scores of books of unsurpassed brilliance and to deliver discourses which are rich repositories of learning and spiritual knowledge.

PROPHECY ABOUT HIS ADVENT

The time of his birth had been foretold by the earlier prophets and found prominent mention in their savings and scriptures. I would here mention only one such prophecy, by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Chief of the Prophets (on whom be peace). He had prophesied about a Mahdi more than thirteen hundred years before that a number of false claimants to the office of the Promised Messiah and Mahdi would arise among the Muslims. None of them would be the true Mahdi, except one, who will be a true follower of the Holy Prophet and to establish the truth of his claim two heavenly signs will appear. These signs will be the solar and lunar eclipses which shall take place in the same month of Ramadhan. The lunar eclipse would occur on the first of the possible nights of such eclipses, i.e., the 13th. The solar eclipse would occur on the second of the possible days of such eclipses, i.e. the 28th. The fixing of the month of Ramadhan out of all the months of the year and again the fixing of definite dates of the eclipses was a mighty prophecy indeed. To foretell such a conjunction of events was to transcend beyond the limits of human knowledge. In fact when the time came, the claimant actually appeared and declared himself to be the Mahdi and this was followed by the two heavenly signs—the two eclipses—as foretold with precision and exactitude. Most certainly this prophetic utterance of the Holy Prophet, as events some thirteen hundred years later proved, was truly divinely inspired and of superhuman origin.

PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI

The prophecy was fulfilled in this manner. The child, who was born in 1835, declared in 1891 that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. In support of his claim he advanced numerous arguments and cited a large number of heavenly signs: and also presented to the world a number of his own prophecies, some of which were fulfilled in his own time, while the fulfillment of others took place later and continues to this day. The contemporary theologians rejected his claim. One of the reasons for this rejection put forward by them was that the prophecy of the Holy Prophet, namely, the one about the solar and lunar eclipses which were to take place in a certain month and on certain dates and which was to be a sign of the truth of such a claimant, had not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, according to them, he could …

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