by A. Abdul Aziz.  Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.

On 20^th February 1886, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jama’at) in Islam Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him) – the Promised Messiah and Imamal-Mahdi, claimed to have received a divine revelation informing him that an exceptionally gifted and pious son would be born to him. This prophecy came to be known as the prophecy of ‘Musleh Maud’, meaning the ‘Promised Son’. In fulfilment of this grand prophecy, on 12 January 1889, his son, Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was born. This Grand Prophecy is as follows:

Under Divine inspiration Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him) traveled to Hoshiarpur – a city about 60 km away from Qadian on January 22nd, 1886 to perform Chilla (period of forty days spent in secluded place for prayers and worship). He stayed in a house for forty days, all his time was spent in intense meditation, devotion & prayer. These supplications resulted in God Almighty giving him the news of a grand prophecy. According to this prophecy Allah the Exalted will bestow him a son in the next nine years who would bring awesome progress to Islam and Ahmadiyyat. This Promised Reformer would spread the message of Islam to farthest corners of the Earth. A part of the grand prophecy reads as follows:

I confer upon thee a Sign of My mercy according to your supplication. I have heard thy entreaties and have honored thy prayers with my acceptance through My mercy and have blessed this thy journey. A Sign of power, mercy nearness to Me is bestowed upon thee, a Sign of grace and beneficence is awarded to thee and thou art granted the key of success and victory……………..He will be accompanied by grace, which shall arrive with him. He will be characterized with grandeur, greatness and wealth. He will come into the world and will heal many of their disorders through his messianic qualities and through the blessings of the Holy Spirit. He is the Word of Allah for Allah’s mercy and honor has equipped him with the Word of Majesty. He will be extremely intelligent and understanding and will be meek of heart and will be filled with secular and spiritual knowledge…………………………”.

Behold a light cometh, a light anointed by God with the perfume of His pleasure. We shall pour Our spirit into Him and he will be sheltered under the shadow of God. He will grow rapidly in stature and will be the means of procuring the release of those held in bondage. His fame will spread to the ends of the earth and people will be blessed through him. He will then be raised to his spiritual station in heaven. This is a matter decreed. (Announcement February 20th 1886)

As foretold by the prophecy Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad was born within the prescribed period of nine years, on January 12th, 1889. Promised

Messiah^(as) announced in his treatise ‘Siraje Muneer’ that the promised son whose advent had been foretold to him, had been born. Subsequently during the caliphate of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, it became quite apparent that the prophecies were fulfilled in his person.

The characteristics explained in the revealed words of this prophecy regarding this illustrious son were evident in his person; thus fulfilling the prophecy with grandeur. Praise the Lord.

In 1914 the ‘Promised Son’ was elected as the Second Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at and his period of spiritual leadership lasted for more than 50 years until his demise in 1965.

In 1944, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad declared that he was indeed the Promised Son whose birth was foretold by God Almighty to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, as mentioned above.

Before mentioning these great achievements, it is important to first preface them by saying that growing up, he endured very frail health during his childhood; his eyesight was very weak and he even started losing vision in one eye. Furthermore, he did not have any conventional education, in fact, he himself mentions that his formal education was only at the primary level. However, God Almighty had decreed that he would be filled with spiritual and secular knowledge and as such, he was enabled to deliver such lectures and pen such books that were remarkable and unmatched.

This promised son Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him) proved to be a leader of infinite wisdom, courage and piety. His Khilafat (Caliphate) was laden with countless achievements as he spread the true and peaceful message of Islam to the corners of the world.

Throughout his life, the Second Khalifa extolled peace, love, tolerance and mutual understanding as the cornerstones of Islamic teachings and he proved this through his magnificent commentaries of the Holy Qur’an.

Ahmadiyya Supreme Head (Khalifa) His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper) in his weekly Friday Sermon of 17 February 2023 delivered in United Kingdom said:

This Promised Reformer’sbooks, speeches, lectures, sermons, which have been published in book form or are prepared and ready to be published number 1,424. They are in the form of a set called Anwarul Uloom which has 38 volumes. The total number of pages is 20,340 

The total number of pages spanning his work on the commentary of the Holy Qur’an is 28,735. He delivered 1,808 Friday Sermons, which span 18,700 pages. He delivered 51 Eid al-Fitr (Ramazan Festival Sermons which span 503 pages. He delivered 42 Eid alAdha (Hajj Festival) Sermons which span 405 pages. He delivered 150 Nikah (Islamic marriage announcement) Sermons, which span 184 pages. His addresses to Shura (consultative body) have also been published which span 2,131 pages. There are various other categories as well, and if all the pages of his works are added together, they amount to about 75,000 pages The Promised Reformer’s^(ra) commentary is also published in English, in the form of the Five Volume Commentary………….

He also presented the views of Western and European scholars regarding Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad’s(may Allah be pleased with him) commentary on the Holy Qur’an. For example, AJ Arberry, a renowned scholar, said that this commentary was a great achievement. He said that it would not be an exaggeration to say that this work stands distinct in the history of Islamic academics. Ahmadiyya Head also presented the views of various other scholars and publications…………

Non-Ahmadis have also lauded the various speeches delivered by the Promised

Reformer^. For example, he delivered a speech which was then published under the title A

New World Order. A renowned Egyptian journalist and professor Abbas Mahmoud alAqqad said that upon studying this lecture, it is clear that the lecturer had full knowledge of fascism, nazism, communism and other world orders, however, he also presented the very correct belief that politicians and governments alone cannot solve problems such as poverty and hunger, rather a spiritual power is required in order to solve these problems and they can only be solved when all people come together. Ahmadiyya Head also said that the Promised Reformer(may Allah be pleased with him) also presented a very just view of the various orders and presented a new order which can be universally accepted and with sound proofs has shown that it is only Islam which possesses the ability to solve all of the world’s issues……………..

All the qualities foretold to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – the Promised Messiah and Iman-al-Mahdi, peace be on him, about the Promised Reformer were all found in Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad- the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.  God granted him knowledge and understanding, such that no other scholar could compete or compare with. All of his works are a treasure for this Community, and a great deal of work continues to be done to translate his works into English. Ahmadiyya

Head prayed that may we benefit from these work (Source: Friday Sermon 17.02.2023 by Ahmadiyya Head)