The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam

'''The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam''' is an essay on Islam by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya religious movement. The original was written in Urdu with the title Islami Usool ki Falāsifi, in order to be read at the Conference of Great Religions held at Lahore on December 26–29, 1896. It explicitly deals with the following five broad themes with detail set by the moderators of the Conference:

The subjects of the soul, the threefold reformation of man, what is moral quality? Why the flesh of swine is prohibited, the attributes of God and heaven upon earth are also discussed.[1]

In 1896, during the Christmas Holidays a Hindu by the name of Swami Sadhu Shugan Chandra convened a conference of Great Religions at Lahore. A committee was appointed to oversee the arrangements. Six people were chosen as its moderators including the judge of the Chief Court of Punjab and the former governor of Jammu.

The committee invited the learned representatives of the Hindu, Christian and Muslim faiths to set forth the excellences of their respective faiths. The main objective of such a conference was so that the learned divines of each of these faiths were given the opportunity to convince others of the truth of their religion in the context of a few published themes and so that the listeners may assess each speech and accept the truth from wherever it was to be found. Each speaker was required to address the five themes set by the moderators and to confine his discourse to the holy scriptures of their religions. Among those who attended the conference were representatives of Hinduism, Freethought, the Theosophical Society, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism as well as various scholars, barristers, lawyers, professor, doctors and extra assistants, who numbered between 7 and 8 thousand.

The speech representing Islam was the essay written by Gulam Ahmad and though he could not attend himself due to poor health, it was read out by his disciple Mawlwi Abdul Karim. It could not be read out within the set time allotted for it; therefore the conference was extended to an extra day. The Report of the Conference of Great Religions stated:

The essay was delivered in four hours and from start to finish it was most interesting and well appreciated.

On the 21st of December 1896 Ghulam Ahmad declared that he had been informed by God that his essay would be the most overpowering one. He stated:[2]

In the conference of Great Religions which will be held in Lahore

Town Hall on the 26th, 27th and 28th of December 1896, a paper written by this humble one, dealing with the excellences and miracles of the Holy Quran, will be read out. This paper is not the result of ordinary human effort but is a sign among the signs of God, written with His special support...I have been moved by sympathy for my fellow human beings to make this announcement, so that they should witness the beauty of the Holy Quran and should realise how mistaken are our opponents in that they love darkness and hate light. God, the All-Knowing, has revealed to me that my paper will be declared supreme over all other papers... I saw in a vision that out of the unseen a hand was laid on my mansion and by the touch of that hand a shining light emerged from the mansion and spread in all directions. It also illumined my hands. Thereupon someone who was standing by me proclaimed in a loud voice: Allahu Akbar, Kharibat Khaibar (God is Great, Khaybar has fallen). The interpretation is that by my mansion is meant my heart on which the heavenly light of the verities of the Holy Quran is descending, and by Khaybar are meant all the perverted religions which are afflicted with idolatory and falsehood, in which man has been raised to occupy the place of God, or in which divine attributes have been cast down from their perfect station. It was thus disclosed to me that the wide publication of this paper would expose the untruth of false religions and the truth of the Quran will spread progressively around the earth till it arrives at its climax.

The essay on the philosophy of the teachings of Islam gained much popularity since it was delivered in the conference. It received numerous favourable reviews in various newspapers in India, England, and America. The well known Russian writer Count Leo Tolstoy commented on it thus:[3]

I approved very much two articles, ‘How to get rid of the Bondage of Sin’ and ‘The Life to Come’, especially the second. The idea is very profound and very true.

It was originally published in The report of the Conference of Great Religions and was later published in book form as Islami Usool Ki Falāsifi. It was subsequently translated into English. It has seen many editions and has been translated into French, Dutch, German, Spanish and various other languages.

Introduction

A person by the name of Swami Sadhu Shugan Chandar had spent three or four years of his life attempting to reform the Ka’isth2 Hindu caste. In 1892 he came to the conclusion that unless people were gathered together under one roof, his efforts would be in vain. He therefore proposed to convene a religious conference, with the first one taking place in 1892 in Ajmer. In 1896, considering Lahore to be a suitable venue, he began preparations for the second such religious conference. Swami Sahib appointed a committee to oversee the arrangements. Master Durga Parshad was president of the committee, and Lalah Dhanpat Roy, BA, LLB, its chief secretary. The dates chosen for the convention were 26–28 December 1896, and the following six people were nominated as its moderators:

1. Roy Bahadur Babu Partol Chand Sahib, Judge Chief Court, Punjab.

2. Khan Bahadur Sheikh Khuda Bakhsh Sahib, Judge Small Cause Court, Lahore.

3. Roy Bahadur Pandit Radha3 Kishan Sahib Cole, Pleader Chief Court Lahore, former governor of Jammu.

4. Hadrat Maulawi Hakim Noor-ud-Din Sahib(ra), Royal Physician.

5. Roy Bhawani Das Sahib, MA, Extra Settlement Officer, Jhelum.

6. Sardar Jawahar Singh Sahib, Secretary Khalsa Committee, Lahore.4

The committee invited the learned representatives of Muslims, Christians and Aryas to set forth the excellences of their respective faiths. The objective of the Conference of Great Religions, to be held at the Lahore Town Hall, was that the excellences and the merits of the true religion be espoused in a gathering of cultured people and that its love be instilled in their hearts and that they become well acquainted with its arguments and proofs. The learned divines of every religion would thus be given the opportunity to convince others of the truth of their respective religions, while the listeners would be able to assess each speech in relation to the others and accept the truth from wherever it was to be found.

Disputes between the followers of different religions had given rise to the desire to seek the true faith. This was the best achieved by bringing together the learned preachers and teachers so that they might, in the context of a few published questions, set forth the beauties of their respective faiths. In such a conference, the true religion from God would definitely become patent.

This was the objective of the conference. Every learned teacher and preacher knew that he was dutybound to make evident the verities of his faith. The conference was being held so that the truth may become manifest and it was thus a God-given opportunity for them (the learned divines) to fulfil this objective. Such opportunities were not always available to us.

Prevailing upon them further, Swami Sahib wrote: “If a person sees another suffering from a fatal disease, and he firmly believes that he holds the cure for the disease, and he also claims to have sympathy for the human race, then how is it possible for him to intentionally turn away when called upon to provide a remedy? My heart is filled with the desire to know which religion is the one replete with truth. I have not the words to express my fervour.”

Representatives of various religions accepted Swami Sahib’s invitation, and the Conference of Great Religions was held during the Christmas holidays of 1896. Each of the speakers was required to address five questions published in advanced by the committee.

The committee also stipulated that, as far as possible, each speaker should confine his answers to the holy book of his religion.

The questions were:

hereafter?

earth and how can it be achieved?

the afterlife?

The conference was held on 26–29 December and was attended by representatives of Sanatan Dharm5, Hinduism, Arya Samaj, Free Thinker, Brahmo Samaj, Theosophical Society, Religion of Harmony, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. All representatives addressed the conference, but only one of the lectures provided a true and complete answer to all five questions.

Words cannot describe the atmosphere of the conference when Maulawi Abdul Karim Sialkotira, most eloquently, delivered the lecture. Every person, regardless of religion, could not help but show his appreciation and approbation. There was not one person who was not engrossed and enraptured. The style of delivery was most interesting and appealing. What better proof of the lecture’s excellence than the fact that even the opponents were full of praise for it. Despite being a Christian newspaper, the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, considered this speech to be the only one worthy of mention and it was the only one which it commended highly.

The speech was written by Mirza GhulamAhmad(as)of Qadian, the founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Jama‘at. It could not be completed in the two hours allocated for it, so the conference had to be extended for an extra day. The newspaper Punjab Observer filled column after column with applause for it. Paisa Akhbar, Chaudhwin6 Sadi, Sadiq-ul- Akhbar, Mukhbir-i-Dakkan and General-o-Gohari Asifi of Calcutta etc. all these newspapers were unanimous in their acclaim. Non-Muslims and non- Indians all declared the essay to be the most superior one of the conference.

The secretary of the conference, Dhanpat Roy, BA, LLB, Pleader Chief Court, Punjab, wrote in his ‘Report of the Conference of Great Religions’:

“There was an interval of half an hour following the speech of Pandit Gordhan Das Sahib. As the next item on the agenda was a speech presented on behalf of a renowned advocate of Islam, most people did not leave their place. The large Islamia College building began to fill up long before 1.30pm. The gathering numbered between seven and eight thousand people. Educated and knowledgeable people from various religions and nations were present and although plenty of tables, chairs and floor space had been provided, still hundreds of attendees were left with no choice but to stand. The attendees included many dignitaries, Leaders from Punjab, scholars, barristers, lawyers, professors, extra assistants and doctors. In short, different branches of educated society were all present. They stood for four to five hours listening with great patience and with rapt attention and this shows how deeply they cared for this sacred cause. The writer of the paper did not attend in person, but one of his disciples, Maulawi Abdul Karim Sialkoti, was delegated to read it at the conference. The committee had allotted two hours for the essay; however it was not finished in this time.

Seeing the avid interest shown by the audience, the moderators willingly agreed to extend the session until the conclusion of the speech. This decision was in exact keeping with the wishes of the participants. Maulawi Abu Yusuf Mubarak Ali agreed to forgo his time so that Mirza Sahib’s essay could be concluded. This was widely appreciated by the audience and the moderators. The conference had been due to end at 4.30 pm., but in view of the wishes of the audience it was extended to beyond 5.30 pm. The essay was delivered in four hours and from start to finish it was most interesting and well appreciated.”

After receiving prophetic revelation from God, on the 21st of December 1896, a few days before the conference, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement publicly declared that his essay would be the most overpowering one. A translation of his declaration is presented below:

2. Here “th” at the end is pronounced as “th” in “three”.

3. Here “dh” in the middle is pronounced as “dh” in “dharma”.

4. Report Conference of Great Religions. Page 253, 254 printed by Siddiqi Press, Lahore 1897.

5. Here “dh” in the beginning is pronounced as “dh” in “dharma”.

6. Here “dh” in the middle is pronounced as “dh” in “dharma”.

See also

Writings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

References

  1. ↑ Rare Hard to Find Books Search Results by Title | The Teachings of Islam | Kessinger Publishing
  2. ↑ Philiosophy of the Teachings of Islam
  3. ↑ Review of Religions

Philiosophy of the Teachings of Islam | Amazon.com

External links

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