The Truth

The miracle of the growth of the Jamaat from such humble beginnings in such a (comparatively) short space of time is in itself a matter of inspiration and reinforces faith in the power of Almighty Allah and the covenant that he made with his humble disciple.
In 1882 the small dusty village of Qadian,(India) was an insignificant, sleepy hamlet deep in rural Punjab. Even by the standards of 19th century India it was totally devoid of all modern facilities. There was no electricity, no post office, no metalled roads or paths leading to it, and no main market except only one or two small shops. There was not even a school or Madrasa in the village. To communicate with the outside world the nearest telegraph office was 14 miles away. From the nearest railway station at Batala there was no formal transport available for Qadian. The inhabitants of Qadian covered the distance from the Railway Station to Qadian on foot, sometimes taking many hours to make the journey.


Qadian was established in 1530 by Mirza Hadi Baig, a religious scholar dedicated to Islam and the first Qazi within the area. Because of his religious beliefs, he named the new town 'Islam Pur Qazi'. Later, it was named just 'Qadi' and eventually, it became known as Qadian.


In 1834, during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the region consisting of Qadian and five other adjoining villages were given back to Mirza Ghulam Murtaza Sahib.


In this village there lived a person who was then unknown to the wider world, named Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, (peace be on him).He was the son of Mirza Ghulam Murtaza Sahib, the chief of the village. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad belonged to a noble family, but had adopted an austere life for himself. Although he spent most of his time in reading and writing he was also passionate in his defence of Islam and wrote many articles championing the cause of Islam against virulent attacks of Christian and Arya Smajist (A missionary branch of Hinduism). He had little time for more worldly matters and lived such a secluded life that even some people living in Qadian did not know much about him.


There was a small mosque attached to his house which could barely accommodate seven or eight people at a time. At the time this was more than sufficient as he did not have many visitors or guests to call upon him. Apart from a few members of family and the occasional friend who might join the congregational prayer, the mosque was simply a place of contemplation, solitude and prayer.


He (Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him) had only a select group of friends. One among them was Hazrat Abdullah Sannauri Sahib a very pious man who lived outside Qadian and would visit him from time to time to spend a few days with him.


It was about this time that he started to receive divine revelations from Allah. He would narrate his revelations to Hazrat Sannauri Sahib. In these revelations he had received the glad tidings that Islam would be triumphant once again. Huzoor was told that Allah would make him a Champion of Islam and that he would have the honour of defending his Master Hazrat Muhammad, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), against attacks made by Christian evangelists and the Arya Samaj .


One day he told Hazrat Sannauri Sahib that he was constantly receiving the same revelation which he was finding difficult to understand. The words revealed repeatedly were, “Enlarge thy house”.


Here is an excerpt from " Tazkira". Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, says,


“This was followed by the revelation (Arabic) Enlarge thy house. This means clearly that the day is coming when the number of visitors will multiply so much that it would be difficult to meet everyone and I was warned that I should not then be annoyed nor tired of meeting them. Holy is Allah, how grand is the prophecy which was conveyed to me seventeen years ago when only two or three people came to visit me and that also infrequently. What a wonderful proof is this of God’s knowledge of that which is hidden. (Siraji Muneer pp63-64) Tazkira translated by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan Page 35.”


Huzoor confided with Hazrat Sannauri Sahib and stated that although his small mosque could easily accommodate seven persons at a time, he did not expect so many guests ever to visit him. “Why should so many people visit him?” he asked. Hazrat Sannauri Sahib was of the same opinion and agreed with him.


After a few days Huzoor said to Hazrat Sannauri Sahib that he was constantly receiving the same command of Allah to extend his house. Although he did not understand why he should extend his house, he nevertheless felt compelled to obey the command of Allah. He gave Maulvi Sannauri Sahib a few rupees and asked him to go to the nearby town of Amritsar, and buy some timber and other building material so that he could extend his house. Hazrat Sannauri Sahib went to Amritsar and purchased some building material and eventually returned to Qadian. They both started work to put up a small veranda/hut next to his house and thus extended its capacity in a modest way, and in a few days completed the task.


The next day Huzoor asked Hazrat Sannauri Sahib to accompany him to have a look at the new construction. They both stood under the veranda/hut for some time in contemplation. The Promised Messiah then raised his hands for prayers and said,


“My Lord, I have obeyed your command and have extended my house although I still see no need of extension of the house. I have enough space at my small mosque where seven or eight people can easily sleep. My Lord, Why would so many people come to me?”


His eyes were moist with tears and his whole body was shaking with emotion. Huzoor stood there for some time deep in prayer and lost in thought, and then slowly returned to the mosque.


From those humble beginnings the foundation of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam was thus laid at a cost of only a few rupees, and a mountain of prayers!


Today that same movement has spread to every part of the world in fulfilment of the Promised Messiah’s prophesy and Allah’s promise that “I will cause thy message to reach the four corners of the world”. Under the leadership of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s spiritual successors, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 15,000 purpose built mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Quran into over 70 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 (alislam.org) and has printed hundreds of books & periodicals in scores of different languages (Islam International Publications).


All over the world the number of mosques, buildings and properties that the Movement owns and are used for daily prayer might run into hundreds of thousands. As a matter of fact every house or property or business that an Ahmadi owns is an extension of the original five rupees investment that was made in response to divine revelation. Almighty Allah has fulfilled His promise and today the five rupees spent a century ago have been multiplied by Allah into billions of rupees.


Ahmadiyyat has become like a tall and mighty oak and under its strong shade millions of its disciples, the followers of Hazrat Muhammad, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are now flourishing and taking its shelter.





That small investment of the Promised Messiah of a few rupees and a mountain of prayers has led to the Jamaat having the distinction of returning to Spain and building the first mosque in that country after 600 years of Muslim exile. Building the first mosque in the United Kingdom in London, at a time when it was at the heart of the British Empire. Hundreds of Mosques have been built in every corner of the African continent .The first purpose built mosque in South America was built in Guatemala, and recently a beautiful new mosque was opened in Jamaica, West Indies. In far flung Kobe, Japan to the tiny pacific island of Tuvalu Ahmadis have built mosques in fulfilment of Allah’s prophesy and to spread the message of Islam. Every corner of the continent of Europe has a mosque built by Ahmadis. The most recent opening is when our beloved Khalifatul Masih Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad inaugurated a beautiful mosque in the Scandinavian country of Norway.


Whilst the “Islamic” republic of Pakistan has silenced the Adhan (Call for five daily prayers) being called in mosques belonging to Ahmadis in Pakistan, Allah in return has blessed the Jamaat with the honour of building hundreds of mosques around the globe, almost as an admonishment to Pakistan. It is as if Allah has said that you may have silenced the call to prayer from the minarets of mosques in Pakistan, but Allah willed that his universal call to prayer could never be silenced and would be heard from the far flung corners of the world. For every one Ahmadi mosque defaced, demolished, or shut down, Allah has given the Jamaat the honour of building a hundred in its place. Such are the bounty and blessings bestowed upon the Jamaat, and in fulfilment of that command of Allah to the Promised Messiah to extend his house. That one extension those many years ago in response to Allah's command has resulted in the extension of the Jamaat a thousand fold. The few rupees that the Promised Messiah gave for the extension of his house has multiplied into many billions of rupees spent in the service of Islam.


The miracle of the growth of the Jamaat from such humble beginnings in such a (comparatively) short space of time is in itself a matter of inspiration and reinforces faith in the power of Almighty Allah and the covenant that he made with his humble disciple.


I ask myself is it not sufficient to prove the truthfulness of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, The Promised Messiah (peace be on him)?
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