The greatest problem which
confronts the world of Christianity today is not lack of understanding
as much as the lack of desire and will to accept truth. Christianity,
whether it is mythical or factual, has become an inseparable part of
Western civilization and has played an important role in their
colonization and imperial conquests. It supports their political and
economic systems and provides them with a unifying and coherent force
that keeps them as one powerful and unified entity. It has played a
vital role in building and cementing the complex socio-political and
economic system of the West. What we understand by Western civilisation
or Western imperialism and its economic domination has all been pervaded
with some Christian elements. In its present state, Christianity seems
to be more inclined to serve material causes of the West better than its
spiritual cause. While in the past the role of Christianity was more in
the direction of supporting Christian beliefs and building moral
values.
The most
historic role played by Christianity, however, lies in building and
enhancing Western Imperialism. The conquest of the orient was done with
Christian fervour. In particular the battles fought with the Muslim
empire were strongly motivated by the Christian hatred of Islam.
When
colonial rule subjugated almost the entire continent of Africa and tied
them crown to toe in the chains of political bondage, they did not have
to wait long until they were bound hand and foot in the chains of
economic slavery as well. Imperial conquests are meaningless without an
economic subjugation of the people. Not far behind the political and
economic lords came the Christian priests, robed in humility and
self-sacrifice. Their purpose to visit Africa appeared to be
diametrically opposed to that of their political and economic vanguard.
They came not to enslave, so they said, but to liberate the souls of
Africa. It is surprising why the Africans did not question this
purportedly noble intention. Why did they not respectfully enquire of
the benign philanthropic leaders of the Church, as to why should they
take pity on their souls and their souls alone? Could they not see how
mercilessly their bodies had been enslaved? How wantonly had they been
robbed of their political freedom? How they were bound in the chains of
economic slavery? Why did they not take pity on their physical state of
captivity and why were they only interested in liberating the souls of
an enslaved people?
The
inherent contradiction is obvious, but alas it was not so obvious to
those who fell prey to the Christian designs. Africa is naive indeed,
and as much naive today as it was two hundred years ago. Africans still
do not see the perpetration of their political and economic slavery
through the invisible, remote controlled system of neo-colonialism. They
still do not realize that for them Christianity is only a means of
subjugation. It is like an opiate that has lulled them into a deep sleep
of forgetfulness. It gives them a false sense of belonging to their
rulers in sharing at least something on equal footings with them.
It
is the same sense of belonging which has led them to imitate the so
expensive style of Western life. The trees remain planted on foreign
soils, but only the fruits are transported across to a people who have
somehow become addicted to its taste. This is a small illustration of
how Christianity has always been indispensable for the Western imperial
and economic domination of the Third World.
In
the West itself, regardless of whether a common man understands the
complexities of Christian dogma or not, he sees Christianity as an
integral part of his culture and civilization. It should be remembered
that the real strength of Christian values, wherever they survive, does
not lie in its mythical set of beliefs. But instead it lies in its
emphasis on kindness, sympathy and service to the cause of suffering and
other such values that have almost become synonymous with Christianity.
Although these values are common to all religions of the world and they
seem to be the goal, Divinely set to be attained by all humanity, yet
somehow, the powerful Christian propaganda continuously emphasises these
roles in relation to Christianity alone and, as such, has succeeded in
convincing people at large. This message of sympathy, kindness,
godliness and gentle behaviour, plays magic on ears with its mellow
music. It is this world of romance which generally attracts people to
the Christian faith. However, side by side, yet divorced from it operate
the hard, political and economic realities of Western life and its
subjugation of the rest of the world.
It
seems that the dogmatic paradoxes that the Christians have to live
with, have somehow been transferred into their worldly behaviour as
well. Kindness, humility, tolerance, sacrifice and many other such noble
words go hand in hand with cruelty, suppression, gross injustice and
large scale subjugation of the defenceless peoples of the world. Rule of
law, justice and fair play seem only to be valid currencies operable
internally in the Western cultures. In the areas of international
relationships however, they are treated as stupid and obsolete terms to
be taken seriously only by the naive.
International
politics, diplomacy and economic relationships know no justice other
than that which serves the national interest. Christian values, however
good they may be, are not permitted to step across into the domain of
Western politics and economy. This is the most tragic contradiction of
the modern times.
When
it comes to the image that it projects, Christianity is only presented
in the form of an attractive Western culture and civilization calling
the world of the Orient to a life of comfortable carefree permissiveness
in comparison to the generally rigid codes of their decadent religious
societies. This message of emancipation is largely misunderstood by the
semi-literate masses of the Third World as something very attractive.
Add to this the additional psychological advantage of acquiring a sense
of belonging to the advanced world through the commonness of religion
and then one begins to recognise the true role of Christianity in
attracting in large numbers the down trodden and, in many cases, outcast
and oppressed people who are at the lowest rungs within their own
class- ridden societies. It is beyond their scope to understand
Christian dogma. It only serves as lifting their human status, but only
spuriously so.
From
the above it should become evident that the Christianity we are talking
about is so distant from the Christianity of Jesus Christ. To conceive
of Western culture as Christianity is a manifest error. To attribute the
current forms of Christianity, in its various spheres, to Christ is
indeed an insult to him. There are exceptions of course to every rule.
No statement is applicable in absolute totality to any group of large
numbers. No doubt, there is a small number of individual islands of hope
and life in the Christian world where Christian sincerity, love and
sacrifice are genuinely practised. These are the Islands of hope around
which rage oceans of immorality that are slowly and gradually corroding
and finally claiming more edges of these islands. Had the Christian
world not been bejewelled with such shining examples of Christianity
practised in the spirit of Jesus Christ, however far and few between, a
total darkness would envelope the Western horizon. Without Christianity
there is no light in the Western civilization, but, alas, that light is
also fast fading.
It
is essential for the Christian world to return to the reality of Christ
and to cure themselves of their split identity and inherent hypocrisy.
To continue to live in a world of myths and legends is potent with grave
perils. The main purpose of this exercise is to awaken the Christian
world to the potential dangers attendant upon the widening parallax
between their belief and practice. Myths are fine as long as they serve
the purpose of subjugating the lowest rungs of the society to the
hierarchy of a system which controls them and exploits their ignorance
by keeping them doped. But when it comes to the beliefs playing a vital
role in bringing a dead people to life and reconstructing their fast
degenerating moral values, then such myths are of no avail. They are
mere fantasies and fantasies can never play a meaningful role in human
affairs.
The
application of the observations made so far can now be demonstrated.
The vital question of the survival of humanity today, revolves around
the central image of Jesus Christ. It is highly essential, therefore, to
understand his reality. What was he and what role did he play in the
first instance as Christ in the decadent society of Judaism? How
seriously can we take the promise of his second advent in the latter
days? These are the vital questions we must address.
If
the image of Jesus Christ is not real and is only a product of human
imagination, then it is impossible to visualize his re-advent. It is so
because, Jesus was not a product of fantasy. He was a real man and only
as such could he be reborn as a human child and not descend as a phantom
revisiting mortals. Such fantasies never visit the realities of human
life. As such, a people who are living with myths and legends, will
continue to do so without there ever being a chance for them to
recognise their redeemer if and when he comes.
If
Jesus was actually the Son of God, as the Christians would have us
believe, then of course he would return in glory, resting his hands on
the shoulders of real angels. But if this is merely a romantic fantasy
of Christian hopes and aspirations then, as such, this incident will
never happen. Never shall the world see this bizarre event of some god
descending from heaven in a human form along with a troop of angels
supporting him and singing his hymns.
The
very idea is repulsive to human logic and human conscience. It is the
wildest fairy tale that was ever invented to lull the faculties of a
people. On the other hand if the Ahmadiyya understanding of Jesus Christ
is accepted, it would replace this fantastic scenario with one which is
not only acceptable to human understanding, but is also powerfully
supported by the entire religious history of mankind. In that case we
would be expecting a saviour no different from the Christ of the first
advent. We would be expecting a humble man, born of humble origins like
the Jesus Christ of the first advent, to begin his ministry in the same
style as he once did. He would belong to a religious people resembling
the Jews of Judea, both in their traits and circumstances. They would
not only reject and disown him at his claim to be the Promised Reformer,
which they were expecting as their redeemer from God, but would also do
all that lay within their powers to annihilate him. He would relive the
life of Christ all over again and would be treated with the same
contempt, hatred and arrogance. He would suffer once again, not at the
hands of his own people, but at the hands of similar hostile forces
which opposed him before. He would also suffer at the hands of the
supreme foreign imperial power under whose canopy he would be born among
an enslaved people.
P.D.
Ouspensky, a prominent Russian journalist of the early twentieth
century, writing on the subject of the re-advent of Jesus Christ shared
almost the same view.
It
is by no means a new idea that Christ, if born on earth later, not only
could not be the head of the Christian Church, but probably would not
even belong to it, and in the most brilliant periods of the might and
power of the Church would most certainly have been declared a heretic
and burned at the stake. Even in our more enlightened times, when the
Christian Churches, if they have not lost their anti-Christian features,
have at any rate begun to conceal them, Christ could have lived without
suffering the persecution of the ‘scribes and Pharisees’ perhaps only
somewhere in a Russian hermitage.1
This
is the only real process by which all divine messengers and reformers
are raised. Any concept other than this is hollow, spurious and
meaningless.
It always
happens that at a time when prophetic fulfilment of divine reformers
takes place, the people for whose redemption they are sent fail to
recognise him. In that period of history they have already transformed
the image of their reformer from reality to fantasy. They begin to
expect a fantasy to appear and materialize, while what happens is merely
a re-enacting of the religious history as it invariably occurred from
the time of the first divine reformer. They always appear as humble
human beings born of human mothers and during their lifetime are always
treated as humans. It is much later after their death that process of
their deification begins. As such, their smooth acceptance during their
re-visit becomes impossible.
When
such religious people are confronted with the realities of the divine
reformers, who always appear as ordinary humble human beings, they are
rejected outright. When you are expecting a fairy to come or a phantom
to materialize, how can you accept the coming of an ordinary human
instead? That is the reason why the world failed to see and recognise
the second advent of Jesus Christ that has already taken place.
A
tall claim perhaps, which is more likely to be simply rejected by most
readers. How could Jesus have come and gone without the world having
taken a serious note of it? How could he have gone unnoticed by the
entire world of Christianity and Islam? The modern times have seen many
such claimants who even created momentary stirs and storms in many a
cup, but where are they today?
It
is an age where in many countries, cults erupt like mushrooms and
bizarre claims of Jesus having returned or having sent his forerunner
are made sporadically. This claim could perhaps be just one of those.
Why should any serious minded person waste his time to even contemplate
this? Certainly, serious doubts would be created and a grave dilemma
would indeed be faced. We seek to indulge the reader’s attention by
requesting him to visualize a situation where Christ would actually have
come. Is his revisit just a fantasy or can he really revisit the world
in person or through proxy? This is a question which has to be resolved
before we can attempt to answer the various doubts mentioned above.
Is
the world, be it Christian or Muslim, really in a psychological state
of mind to accept the second advent of Jesus? If so, in what form and in
which way? If we see it from the vantage point of both Muslims and the
Christians, Jesus, if he were to ever return, would come with such glory
and clear signs, descending from the heaven in broad daylight with
angels supporting him, that it would be impossible for even the most
sceptical to refuse to accept him.
Sadly,
only a Jesus of fantasy is acceptable to the world of today, a Jesus
the like of which never came before in the entirety of human history. If
religious history is to be taken seriously, one finds scores of
instances where founders of religions or other divines are reported to
have ascended to heaven bodily. These claims are so numerous and so
widespread that it seems to be a universal trend of man to concoct such
stories in order to elevate and superhumanise their religious leaders.
The question is how can we deny all these reportings which are accepted
and believed by perhaps billions of people in the world today? The
Christians and Muslims alone who believe in this and other similar
bizarre events number beyond two billion. So a reader may enquire as to
what right, we or anyone else in the world has to reject all such
beliefs as unreal and imaginary. We agree that examining it from this
angle will require a ponderous exercise to refute such claims as being
unsupported by the scriptures of the religions which entertain them.
Once one is led into this maze of possible and alternative
interpretations, it ends up only as a question of preferences and
choices. It then becomes anybody’s game to interpret scriptures or
reported religious history as literal or metaphorical. To step into this
quagmire of conflicting explanations would serve no purpose. Yet there
is one exit from this onerous exercise that we can show the readers and
invite them to follow or reject as they please.
For
arguments sake let us accept all such claims of religious leaders
having ascended to heaven and take them at their face value. If the case
of Jesus Christ’s reported ascent is to be treated in a superficial
sense and his second coming to be interpreted as literal and real then
there is no reason why we should refuse to accept other similar cases in
the world. Why make the exception of Elijah, King of Salem or the
Twelfth Imam of the Shiite faction in Islam or the ascension of Hindu
Gods or other similar holy men and the so-called personifications of
God? It is safer, therefore, to avoid entering into such unproductive,
futile debates with those who entertain similar beliefs. One may
enquire, from all such credulous believers in fantasy, if they can point
out a single revisit, in person, of those who are reported to have
disappeared by ascending into remote heavenly recesses. Can the entire
human history present a single example of the bodily return of any
person to this world who is reported to have bodily ascended? Show us if
there is one.
Looking
at the total absence of literal fulfilment of such claims, one is left
with two choices. Either to reject such claims as fraudulent, or accept
them only metaphorically, as Jesus did in the case of Elijah’s second
coming. It becomes evident from this that those who await Jesus’ literal
descent from heaven have created a barrier between themselves and the
reality of Jesus. If Jesus comes again he will come only as a human
being just like all the expected divine reformers before him. If he
appears today as an ordinary humble person, having been born in a land
similar to the land of Judea in Palestine and commissioned to play the
same role he played during his first advent, will the people of that
land treat him in a manner other than he was treated before?
Such
is the case of the second advent of the Messiah in whom we believe. It
happened just over a hundred years ago that a humble man of God, by the
name of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian was informed by God that Jesus of
Nazareth, Son of Mary, whose literal second coming is being awaited both
by the Christians and the Muslims alike, was a special prophet of God
who passed away like all other prophets of God. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad declared that Jesus was not bodily alive and was never bodily
lifted to any heavenly space to await his revisit to this earth. He had
died like all other prophets of God and was no more than a prophet. The
second advent of Jesus Christ, a belief common to Christians and Muslims
alike, he was told, was to take place spiritually and not literally. As
such, he was told that God had raised him in the fulfilment of that
prophecy.
Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad belonged to a noble family of the Punjab. His family pursuits
were mostly concerned with building the family’s fortune and honour, but
he distanced himself from worldly pursuits and spent most of his time
in the worship of God and religious studies. He was a man almost lost to
the world, little known even in the small township of his birth. Then
slowly he began to emerge on the religious horizon of India as a
stalwart and a champion of the cause of Islam. He became known as a holy
man of such fame that he commanded respect not only among Muslims but
also from the followers of other religions. People began to witness in
him a man in communion with God; whose prayers were answered; whose deep
sincere concern for humanity and the suffering of people was beyond
question.
Islam, during this period in India
was unfortunately in a most pitiful state. It was targeted by the Christian
missionaries, who in accordance with the policies of the British Empire, launched
a vitriolic campaign not only against Islamic teachings but also against the
Holy Founder of Islam. Also, in Hinduism, the major religion of India, extremely
ambitious movements were taking form with a two pronged plan. To revive Hindu
culture and practice and to eliminate Islam and the Muslims from India, portraying
them as aliens having no right to remain rooted on its soil. The most aggressive
among them was the Arya Samaj Movement, which was founded by Pandit Swami Dyanand
Sarsooti (1824–1883) in 1875. This perhaps further motivated Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad to begin extensive research in comparative religions in defense of Islam.
His studies further
strengthened his belief in the superiority of the teachings of Islam. He
was impressed by the distinctive approach of the Quran to human
problems. The Quran, he discovered, after presenting a course of human
conduct did not stop at that instruction arbitrarily, but continued to
build strong, logical arguments supported by evidence that the
prescribed course was the most appropriate option in the given context.
It
enabled him, at last, to champion the cause of Islam, which at that
time was practically defenceless. Thus he performed the most pressing
requirement for the defense of Islam in India at that period. He began
his public life by holding dialogues and debates on a smaller scale
which gradually expanded into much wider circles. His fame as the most
competent and formidable proponent for the cause of Islam began to
spread far and wide.
It
was in that period of time that he commenced the authoring of one of
the greatest literary religious works that he ever undertook. This book,
Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, was planned to be published in fifty
volumes but he could only publish the first five while tumultuous events
overtook him and from then on it was no longer possible for him to
pursue that scholarly task to its conclusion. However, subsequently he
authored many other books in response to the dictates of the time. His
books covered almost the entire subject which he had originally intended
to cover and much more. In fact he did more than fulfil his promise
though not under the title. It is amazing how he could produce such vast
literature almost single handed, without much clerical help. The books,
epistles and treatises which he authored numbered around one hundred
and ten.
It was not just his
literary works that won him such wide recognition in the entire
Sub-Continent but also his spiritual qualities played a vital role in
wining him wide-scale fame and respect.
In
this twilight of his rising and widening reputation he was commissioned
by God to bear the grave responsibly of reformer of the latter days as
expected and awaited by almost all religions of the world. From the
Muslims point of view he was the Al-Mahdi, the divinely guided reformer.
From the view point of both the Christians and the Muslims he was
raised to the status of the Promised Messiah to fulfil the prophesies of
the second advent of Jesus Christ. However, this appointment cost him
all the fame and popularity that he had earned previously. Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad, the divinely appointed spiritual reformer of the age was
abandoned forthwith and rejected not only by the followers of other
faiths but more strongly so by the Muslims of India themselves, the
people whose cause he had been so competently and vehemently pleading.
It
was practically a new spiritual birth for him. As he had come alone to
the world so he was to start a new life as a single man in the world of
religion, practically abandoned by all around him. But God did not
abandon him. He was repeatedly assured by God’s succour and support
through different revelations that he received during the period of
intense hostility.
A warner came into the world but was not accepted, but God will accept him and will establish his truth with mighty signs.
These
are some of the early revelations which sustained him during the state
of utter desolation and rejection he suffered at the hands of his
opponents. More than a hundred years have passed since and the picture
that has slowly but steadily emerged, fully supports his claims and
prophesies and the truth of his revelations.
That
one man has grown into ten million people all over the world in a
hundred and thirty four countries spread over five continents. His
message has reached the corners of the earth, from the farthest west to
the remotest east. He is accepted as the Promised Guided Leader and the
Promised Messiah of the second advent in the Americas, in Europe, in
Africa, in Asia and even in the distant islands of the south east
Pacific, such as Fiji, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands etc. Despite this, his
followers, can best be described as a small pool insignificant in
volume, as compared to the large sea of the Christian world.
The achievements of Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad’s Movement would require an account too lengthy for the small
space available here but it is essential to note that no other religious movement
in the modern times has progressed and spread so rapidly with such a firm step.
It is not a cult, nor is it a popular craze. It is a serious message—an uphill
task which requires great effort and discipline on the part of those who venture
to follow it. Those who follow it do so by accepting grave responsibilities
that are to be discharge throughout their lives. It is almost as austere as
the early Essene society. To accept Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s claim as the
Promised Messiah is not hob-nobbing with romance but is a commitment of a life
time. Those who get initiated in his Community have to deny most of the vain
pleasures of their lives, yet not in the style of the ascetics and the hermits,
but with deep conviction, commitment, satisfaction and contentment of heart
that enables them to sacrifice and persevere in his cause to a high degree
of excellence. He has created a world-wide community which has no equal in
financial sacrifices. Where all earning member of the Community commit themselves
to pay at least a sixteenth of their income towards the noble cause. The spirit
of voluntary sacrifice and the amount of voluntary labour which is performed
throughout the world is mind boggling. Yet all this is done without the least
coercion of any type. Those who are able to put in their share of labour or
financial offerings consider themselves fortunate to be able to do so.
This is a community that
is entirely independent in its financial affairs. This universal system
of voluntary contribution is being exercised for the last hundred years
with remarkable purity and moral integrity. Therein lies the secret of
its success in maintaining its independence from outside influences for
over a century. That however, is only one angle of observation. Looking
at the quality of his followers from other angles provides no less a
fascinating scenario. It is a community which stands out in its moral,
peaceful co-existence, mutual love and deep respect for human values. It
is a religious community that is highly admired the world over for its
respect of law and regard for decent human relationships irrespective of
religion colour or creed.
To
a reader it may seem that we have outstepped into a track which has no
relationship to the subject of our address. Let us most respectfully
point out that such an observer has missed the point. The relevance of
this discussion can be better understood in the light of a profound
observation of Jesus Christ that a tree is recognised by its fruit.2
If
anyone today is seriously interested in determining the bona fides of
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s claim, this is the best and the most
dependable criterion. On this criterion it can be judged whether he is
indeed that Promised Messiah whose advent had been foretold not only by
Jesus Christ himself but also by the Holy Founder of Islam. To discover
what manner of followers he has been able to produce and what the
passage of a century has done to them would be a very rewarding
exercise. The question would also arise if they have been treated by the
age in a manner similar to the followers of Jesus Christ in the first
century of Christianity? Again the question must arise as to what was
the attitude of God towards him in the face of the many attempts that
were made to annihilate and exterminate him and his Community? Has the
attitude of God been in favour of, or has it been against such a hunted
community? If like the early Christians, the followers of Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad also experience the same pressing support of God against
all odds? If whenever they were ground through the mill of persecution,
instead of being pulverised they emerged on the other end even larger
than before and more powerful and more respected, then of course the
claim of such a claimant cannot be trivially waived. It is no longer a
tall claim of a mad man, or a fanciful cobweb of a day dreamer’s
imagination. Ahmadiyyat has become a reality to be taken seriously on a
much wider horizon than Christianity could ever be taken towards the end
of its first century.
Here
is the case of a Messiah who was a fact of history and not the product
of fiction, and here again is the case of a Messiah whose re-advent was
as realistic as was his first appearance as a commissioned divine
leader. It is entirely up to the people of this age to choose to live
continuously in a world of legends and fancies and to keep eternally
awaiting the promised reformers of their religions and creeds or to
accept the hard realities of this life. On one thing we must agree, that
many a religious leader has been elevated from the common human ranks
to that of the ranks of deities. Many a time, religious leaders have
been imagined to have ascended to heaven to await somewhere in the empty
recesses of space for their second visit to the planet earth. There is
no reason why one should accept one of such claims and reject another,
because they are merely claims, without any positive, scientific proof
to support their validity. Hence there is no option but to either accept
them all or to reject them in their entirety. This would be the only
honest and just course of action. One thing however is certain, that
once departed from their terrestrial existence, regardless of the manner
in which their followers believed them to have departed, never in the
entire history of mankind has anyone ever revisited the Earth. Again,
one thing is most certain that all such divines and spiritual leaders
who have been elevated to the status of deities or partners of God,
began their lives like ordinary humble human beings and lived until
their deaths the life of a human. It was only their followers who turned
them into gods. But remember, that none of them ever demonstrated his
role in the running of nature. There has always been only One hand alone
which seems to govern the laws of nature. The mirror of the heavens and
the laws of nature at every level reflect the face of one God and one
God alone. The Holy Quran says:
‘They allege: The
Gracious one has taken unto Himself a son. Assuredly, you have
uttered a monstrous thing! The heavens might well-nigh burst
thereat, and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall
down to pieces, because they ascribe a son to the Gracious One;
whereas it becomes not the Gracious One to take unto Himself
a son.’ (19:89–93)
REFERENCES
- P.D. Ouspensky, A New Model of the Universe, pg 149–150, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubener & Co. Ltd. 1938
- Make a tree good and its fruit will be good,
or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is
recognized by its fruit.
(Matt 12:33)
