By A. Abdul Aziz.

 Saturday 23rd March 1889 was the momentous day when Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, accepted the hands of forty faithful servants in allegiance to the 10 conditions of Bai’at (initiation) and founded the community which he called ‘The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at’. The Promised Messiah^, peace be on him, took this oath of allegiance at the house of a spiritual preceptor Hazrat Sufi Ahmad Jan in the city of Ludhiana (Punjab, India). Hazrat Moulavi Hakim Nooruddin was the first person to have the honor of taking the first Bai’at. This was a revolutionary yet a very modest beginning to a new chapter in the history of Islam.

 128 years after this day, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is spread across the world in 209 countries, with worldwide membership exceeding tens of millions. The current headquarters are in the United Kingdom.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Ahmad, peace be on him, like Prophet Isa to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival. He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings. He also recognized the noble teachings of the great religious founders and saints, including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and Guru Nanak (peace be on all of them), and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad emphatically declared that an aggressive Jihad by the sword’ has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual Jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Hazrat Ahmad penned over 90 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. As part of its effort to revive Islam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to spread Hazrat Ahmad’s teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world.

 Similarly, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Quranic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God’s creatures. Today, it continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the foremost Islamic organization with a central spiritual leader, known as the Khalifa of Islam. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad reminded his followers of God’s promise to safeguard the message of Islam through Khilafat  (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). The Community believes that only spiritual successorship of Khilafat can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded Hazrat Ahmad since his demise in 1908. It’s fifth and current spiritual head, His Holiness the Khalifa of Islam Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom.

 Under the leadership of Islamic Khilafat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 16,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Qur’an  into over 75 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA) the Internet www.alislam.org and print (Islam International Publications). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been at the forefront of worldwide disaster relief through an independent charitable organization,

Humanity First

To mark the Founder’s Day, special events are organized in Ahmadiyya Centers Island-wide on Sunday, March 26.

LOVE FOR ALL: HATRED FOR NONE.