THIS article is about Allah’s promise of victory to Muhammad in the Quran, which was miraculously fulfilled towards the end of his life. Can the same process of victory be fulfilled in the latter days? Let us read to find out.
The promise of victory and large-scale conversion into Islam revealed by Allah to Muhammad is contained in the following short chapter of the Holy Quran:
“In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. When the Help of Allah comes and the Victory (Fat’h), and thou seest men entering the religion of Allah in troops, glorify thy Lord with His Praise and seek His forgiveness. Surely, He is Oft-Returning with mercy” (Quran 110:1–4).
In these verses, Allah, the Omnipotent, did promise the Holy Prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, divine Help (Nasr Allah) and Victory (Fat’h).
The victory refers to the defeat of the Meccans and the capture of Mecca by Muhammad and his followers. The meaning of the verses is that the promise of help and victory contained in the preceding verses would be evidenced by the large-scale conversion of the Arabs and mankind into the fold of Islam. In the last verse, Allah says that whenever Muhammad should see the fulfilment of the promise, he should glorify Allah and seek His forgiveness.
Once, during the Khilafat of Hadrat Umar, the second Khalifa of Islam, he asked the elders of Islam to tell him the true meaning and interpretation of the above verses. They gave him different views, none of which satisfied his expectations.
He then invited Ibn Abbas, who was then a youth far younger than the elders, to explain the verses. In answer, he replied that they were a portent of the approaching demise of the Holy Prophet. Not long after receiving the revelation, he passed away.
In dream interpretation, if a Muslim sees himself or herself reciting the verses in a dream, it is a sign that he or she will soon meet their Lord in the Hereafter.
Focusing attention on the verses, it is clear that Allah would grant help and victory to the Muslims, which found fulfilment in the defeat of the Meccans during Muhammad’s lifetime.
Following the defeat of the Quraish, the most royal tribe of Arabia, the rest of the Arab tribes did not find it difficult to accept Islam, particularly as Muhammad himself was a prince from the royal tribe.
According to Ibn Sa’d, no fewer than 72 delegations, representing various Arab tribes, went to accept Islam and acknowledge the Prophethood of Muhammad, thereby fulfilling the promises in the verses.
If so, can this same promise of victory and large-scale conversion into Islam be enacted in this age, particularly when Islam is weak and disunited?
The following verse from the Quran answers that question:
“It is Allah Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth that He may cause it to prevail over all other religions” (Quran 61:10).
Eminent commentators such as Tabari, Shihab Deen, Razi and Ibn Kathir, basing their arguments on a Hadith of Abu Hurairah, are of the view that the term “He may cause it to prevail over all other religions” shall be fulfilled during the second advent of Christ (Issah Ibn Maryam).
In other words, during the time of Isa and the Mahdi, the victory of Islam over all other faiths shall be completed.
It is thus obvious that the term “It is Allah Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth” refers to the first advent of Muhammad, but the final victory shall occur at the second coming of Isa, son of Mary.
According to the interpretations of insightful Muslim scholars, the second coming shall be fulfilled in a Muslim from the Islamic dispensation who, spiritually, shall resemble the first Christ.
His identity is further made clearer by Muhammad’s use of the term, “He shall be an Imam from amongst you”, meaning that the expected Christ would be a spiritual leader from the Islamic dispensation.
According to the worldwide Jamaat Ahmadiyyat, he is no other person than Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India.
Following his death in 1908, he was succeeded by five Khalifas: Nuruddin, Bashiruddin, Nasir, Tahir and Masroor, who is the current Khalifa.
As leaders, they have been preaching the good news of Islam in the present age, including the advent of the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi.
With the establishment of the Ahmadiyya Muslim TV network (MTA), the fifth Khalifa has been exposing the beauties of Islam, particularly to Western political leaders.
The result, the author argues, is that their perception of Islam as a radical and hostile religion is changing to that of a loving, caring and merciful religion. Americans and Europeans, whom nobody thought would accept Islam, are now accepting it.
To cut a long story short, let me cite a recent development which, in my view, is a step closer to the dream of mass conversion promised in the Quran in the latter days.
There was a mass demonstration in London, Britain, quite recently. According to the demonstrators, the mindset of the British was changing from Christianity to Islam.
Not long after the first demonstration, there was a counter-demonstration, most likely by Muslims, against the first.
When a large number of people begin to demonstrate, then that must be taken as a sign of concern to more people.
Yes, the truth of the matter is that the Muslim population in European countries, including Britain, is on the increase, mostly due to migration.
I understand the Mayor of London is a Pakistani. Notwithstanding these developments, it needs no hard thinking to conclude that the major contribution to these recent developments, which have resulted in a demonstration, is due to the sermons and talks by our Huzur Masroor Ahmad to European leaders and heads of state.
He has ever since been giving good accounts of the beauties of Islam to these leaders.
Bravo! May Allah give him long life and strengthen him to achieve more of such successes for Islam and Ahmadiyyat.
As a reminder, we should always keep this prophecy of the third Khalifa, Nasir Ahmad, in mind: that Allah made him see in a vision that the whole universe was reciting and reckoning the Islamic Kalima: “There is none worthy of worship except Allah.”
Last but not least, it is stated in Tadhkirah that, through prayers and a speech in Arabic delivered by the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi, on whom be peace, he succeeded in converting an obstinate Arab.
The man returned to his country full of eagerness to spread the message of Ahmadiyyat. These accounts, the author argues, endorse the fact that true leadership rests on knowledge.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned recent demonstration is a good sign of the approach of the time of fulfilment of large-scale conversion into Islam in the latter days, just as it occurred in the early days of Islam.
May God fulfil it.
BY KHALID KOFI AHMAD
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