Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad
The Review of Religions, November 1992

Urdu Audio

The following is the gist of the opening address delivered by Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Head of the Ahmadiyya Community in Islam, on July 31, 1992 at the three day annual Convention held at Islamabad, U.K.

In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
Blessed is He Who has sent down al-Furqan to His servant, that he may be a Warner to all the worlds—
He is to Whom belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. And He has taken unto Himself no son, and has no partner in the Kingdom, and He has created everything, and has determined its proper measure.
Yet they have taken beside Him gods, who create nothing but are themselves created, and who have no power to harm or benefit themselves, nor have they any power over death or life or Resurrection. (25:1-4)

After reciting the above passage from the Holy Quran, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad said that he had chosen to speak on the subject of “The Unity of Allah”. It was Allah Who had revealed the Al-Furqan (The Discrimination, another name of the Holy Quran) to His servant the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) whom God declared was a Warner for all mankind. The message conveyed by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the Promised Messiah and Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community in Islam, was the same Quranic message preached and expounded by the Holy Prophet of Islam which we have vowed to convey to the whole world.

Allah is the Master and the King. He has no equal or partner and He is the sole Creator of everything in the universe. He has no son or a ssociate. He has determined a measure of everything. It is unfortunate that people have set up other gods besides Him. Allah says in the passage which I recited that their false gods have not only been created but they themselves are unable to create anything. They have no power over life and death.

In the presence of false religions the Unity of God has been revived and re-established. By false religions I mean those which originally taught Unity of God but gradually deviated away from this universal truth and introduced idolatrous beliefs.

Leaders of the world loudly proclaim their solutions for world problems but I say, in the name of God, that they will never be solved with out recognition of the truth of the claims of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the implementation of the teachings of the Holy Quran. There is no value, otherwise, in their claims. The great task of solving the problems of the world is in the hands of the Ahmadiyya Community in Islam. There is no one else who can do this work.

In the early history of Islam the Holy Prophet had prayed for the victory of Muslims against their powerful enemy at the battle of Badr. He beseeched Allah for His help saying that if this small band of Muslims be annihilated (God forbid) then there would be no one left to proclaim and worship the Unity of God.

O Ahmadis! O Ahmadis! O the Ahmadiyya Community in Islam! You have been commissioned to discharge this sacred work. If you become negligent then you will be responsible for your own destruction. If you are destroyed then the Unity of Allah will be effaced from the world. I know, however, that God will never permit this to happen for He loves His Unity and it is impossible that He would ever allow His true worshippers to perish. No one can harm you as long as you sing the praises of Allah and declare His Unity. No power on earth can destroy. Recognition of the Unity of God is not only necessary for your salvation but also for the whole of mankind.

Unless the meaning of the Unity of God is properly understood how can you expect to guide others to believe in it? In order to clarify the matter I shall refer to the writings of the Promised Messiah who had a deep insight and knowledge of the matter which he gained from the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) which he presented to the world in a clear way of understanding. He advanced no new teaching on the subject but, as it were, he presented old wine in new bottles. Only when you drink deeply from this wine will you be able to go out into the world and intoxicate people with the belief and understanding of the Unity of God.

It is my belief that the Unity of God was taught by all previous revealed scriptures and that the main aim and desire of God’s Prophets has always been to spread this truth. The Holy Quran, which was revealed to the Holy Prophet of Islam, explains the subject in more detail than any other scripture, but still the disbelievers insisted on believing what they had been told by their fore-fathers. This is the response which has always been forth by the opponents of all Prophets of God.

What God wants from you and which concerns your salvation is that you should believe in the absolute Unity of God free of all deified associations such as stone idols, celestial bodies or sons etc., otherwise the Declaration of faith: There is none worthy of worship other than Allah is meaningless. You should examine yourselves to find out what kind of inner idols need to be broken.

One of the commonest kinds of idolatory is the worship of oneself. There have been and are such people who make their own ego their god. We should pray to God to overlook our weaknesses which however, is insufficient as long as we do not ask Him for light and guidance. When you will break this idol you will experience the Grace of God. I advise the members of the Community to purify themselves and break into pieces all fake gods because as long as they do not purify themselves they cannot exhibit full faith in the Unity of God.

The Promised Messiah said that if you have full faith in God you should not seek your needs from anyone as God alone possesses all power and provides you with sustenance. If he chooses to give or take anything away from you then none of the great powers of the world can do anything about it. No high level worldly plans or conferences can interfere with the plans of God. It is God only who can help you in times of worldly trials and when your honour is at stake. It is necessary, however, that your love for Him should be exclusive.

The Promised Messiah has explained different aspects of the Unity of God. You should consider everything unreal and non-existent besides Him. That is to say nothing except Him has independent power of its own. Everything is dependent upon God. If He so wishes He could destroy the universe in a moment. Such a firm faith represents pure belief in the Unity of God in Whose love a believer should be lost.

Every Ahmadis should understand the reality of the Unity of God and manifest it in his life otherwise his claim about caring for the welfare of mankind would be meaningless. The Holy Prophet of Islam was so absorbed in his love of God’s Unity that the world has not witnessed an equal to it. His opponents described him as being madly in love with his Lord. This is the state of love for God which the Promised Messiah has expounded upon in his writings. It has been related that once the Holy Prophet was speaking about the Unity of God with such feeling and emotion that the stage on which he stood collapsed.

It is asked sometimes why is it that man undergoes so much suffering in the world when God claims that He is Compassionate and Merciful? God’s reply is that if man wants Him to be compassionate and merciful to him at all times then he should abstain from injustice. Man himself has created his own suffering by his unjust and wrong actions. Unless man turns to God and recognises His Unity there can be no security for him.

During my recent visit to India I told many prominent figures and officials, collectively and individually, that some people had the mistaken idea that as a representative of the Ahmadiyya Community I had come to seek shelter from persecution in Pakistan. I categorically refuted this suggestion and told them that I am a representative of God Who is the Creator of mankind. You should never think that I am seeking human shelter. My Community and I are in the shelter of God Who has polished us with love for righteousness. As long as you do not accept our divine message of guidance you would not be able to find salvation. I told these leaders and officials that they should rise above politics and that they should try to improve their relationship with Pakistan; and I gave the same message to the leaders of Pakistan. They should not undermine the welfare of mankind.

We are linked with God and the whole world is our homeland. We have been created for the sake of good. Our message is Unite in goodness and righteousness. We should help one another to promote those qualities. I do not care what the Pakistani mullahs say about me. I am answerable to God only and not to them. On the day of Judgement God will be my judge and not the mullahs. I worship only one God, Allah, on Whom I depend. I am only concerned in taking steps which will win the pleasure of God and promote the welfare of mankind. Unfortunately the world today does not understand these practical truths which are the basic teachings of all religions. They all sprout from the fountain of the Unity of God. People do not realize the evil aspects of human activities which have taken command of man. Man suffers on account of his own unjust behaviour and I see this danger spreading throughout the world.

I speak with my heart full of passion when I tell the members of the Community that if they want to save the world they should call mankind to the Unity of God; and in order to fulfil this task they must be prepared to sacrifice everything if need be, even their families, property and lives. It will prove to be of great benefit to them. Concerning the situation facing mankind, the Promised Messiah said:

O Europe, you are not safe and O Asia, you, too, are not immune. And O dwellers of islands, no false gods shall come to your rescue.I see cities falling and settlements laid waste. The One and the Only God kept silent for long. Heinous deeds were done before His eyes and He said nothing. But now He shall reveal His face in majesty and awe. Let him who has ears hear that the time is not far. I have done my best to bring all under the protection of God but it was destined that what was written should come to pass. Truly do I say that the turn of this land too is approaching fast. The times of Noah shall reappear before your eyes and your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook the cities of Lot. But God is slow in His wrath. Repent that you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead not alive.

This is the spirit and effort required by you in conveying your message to the whole world. Again the Promised Messiah has urged mankind to repent so that they may shown divine mercy. He said that whoever forsakes God is not a man but a worm. He is dead not living. On the other hand he urged everyone to propagate the Unity of God, to show mercy on all, refrain from committing injustice and showing pride, and help in the welfare of mankind. Be kind and patient with those who abuse you.