Originally published in Hartford
Although Muslims don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, millions of them across the globe do commemorate a sign of God’s love for the real Islam six days after. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who believe in both Messiahs, Jesus and Ahmad, honor Yawm Al Musleh Ma’ud or the Promised Reformer Day on Feb 20.
As was God’s way with some of His earlier blessed elects like Abraham, Zachariah, and Mary, He also promised the latter-day and universal Messiah, his holiness Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , a spiritually powerful son who, this time, would help re-unite all peoples of the world with their Loving Lord.
127 years ago, Prophet Ahmad shared this miraculous and comprehensive prophecy publicly announcing on Feb 20:
“God the Merciful, the Noble, the High, the Exalted, Who has power to do all that He wills (glory be to Him and exalted be His name), has vouchsafed to me the following revelation:
“I confer upon thee a Sign of My mercy according to thy supplications. 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, and nearness to Me is bestowed on thee. A Sign of grace and beneficence is awarded to thee and thou art granted the key of success and victory. Peace on thee, O victorious one. Thus does God speak so that those who desire life may be rescued from the grip of death and those who are buried in the graves may emerge therefrom and so that the superiority of Islam and the dignity of God’s word may become manifest unto the people and so that the truth may arrive with all its blessings and falsehood may depart with all its ills, and so that people may understand that I am the Lord of Power, I do whatever I will, and so that they may believe that I am with thee, and so that those who do not believe in God and deny and reject His religion and His Book and His Holy Messenger Muhammad, the chosen one (on whom be peace) may be confronted with a clear sign and the way of the guilty ones may become manifest.
“Rejoice, therefore, that a handsome and pure boy will be bestowed on thee. Thou wilt receive a bright youth who will be of thy seed and will be of thy progeny. A handsome and pure boy will come as your guest. His name is Emmanuel and Bashir. He has been invested with a holy spirit and he will be free from all impurity. He is the light of Allah. Blessed is he who comes from heaven. He shall 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 disorder through his Messianic qualities and through the blessings of the Holy Spirit. He is the Word of Allah for Allah’s mercy and honor have 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. He will convert three into four (of this the meaning is not clear). It is Monday, a blessed Monday. Son, delight of heart, high ranking, noble; a manifestation of the First and the Last, a manifestation of the True and the High; as if Allah has descended from heaven. His advent will be greatly blessed and will be a source of manifestation of Divine Majesty. 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 peoples will be blessed through him. He will then be raised to his spiritual station in heaven. This is a matter decreed.”
Many mercilessly taunted Prophet Ahmad (on whom be peace) and his Divine inspiration. Nevertheless, three years later, notably within the timeframe foretold by the noble recipient and the same year the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was formally founded under Divine command, a boy was born who later fulfilled every subtlety of the Divine communication. His name was Mirza Bashir-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad (1889-1965), with whom God is well pleased, and he became the holy second Khalifat-ul-Masih or Successor of the Universal Messiah at the tender age of 25. He would go on to transform the world as we know it, advancing enlightenment itself, and exposing the intricacies of spiritual dimension like never before. Among his monumental services was his revolutionary commentary of the Holy Quran called Tafsir-i-Kabeer, which I implore you to read in English here.
This truly unprecedented manifestation effectively bearing witness also that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was indeed a true claimant of prophethood is why we rejoice giving thanks to the Living Allah in His Houses all around the globe on Feb. 20.
Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad
The current head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, his holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad Khalifat-ul-Masih V (God strengthen him), who also happens to be the grandson of the Promised Reformer and great-grandson of the Second Messiah, reiterated the wisdom behind observing Musleh Ma’ud Day in a Friday service admonishing; “…we do so in order to revive our faith as well as to remember the pledge that our objective is to establish Islam’s truth in the world. Musleh Ma’ud Day is not the date of his birth or his death. This is a day to remind us of our responsibilities and draw our attention to the progress of Islam…we should not merely enjoy it on an intellectual and ideological level.” May God, the Helper, enable us to do so, Amen!
I wish you all Yawm al Musleh Ma’ud Mubarak, a blessed Promised Reformer Day!
