80 Years Ago

37 80 YEARS AGO ATTITUDE OF THE HOLY QURAN TOWARDS OTHER REVEALED SCRIPTURES AND ITS CLAIM TO PRECEDENCE. (M. Muhammad Din, B.A.) (This article appeared in the Review of Religions dated September 1910) From time immemorial, human society has been obliged to bow down before the unseen and the inevitable. It has seen limitations put to its ubiquitous enquiry after the unseen and the unrealisable. The experience of the learned and the wise has led to the discovery of the existence of the prime cause of everything and fully exploded the so-called doctrine of the spontaneity of commencement. Some antecedent condition or conditions must precede any event. They have come to the conclusion that events do not follow one another irregularly, indiscriminately or capriciously. They think, and rightly so that every phenomenon of the present is linked with some phenomena of the pasttoo; that the present condition of things is one end of an iron chain of causation, at the other end of which must have been the primary or first cause. It is obvious and self-evident that the primary cause which we call by the name of God or Allah or Purmeshwar must be infinite in its essence or attributes. On the other hand it is admitted by all that human faculties and resources are after all finite and limited not withstanding £he insatiable thirst and lofty aspirations man may have to the contrary. Our every day experience corroborates this. Amongst .the many advantages of experience,. one of the most valuable is that we come to know the range of our own powers, arid if we are wise we keep contented within them. Man being finite, cannot understand the infinite, unless the infinite comes to his help. This is why we cannot say that we know all about any and every thing. We cannot say anything for certain even about the common things. We cannot even sound the depths of our parents hearts, who are so dear and near to us. We cannot know anything about God, unless He by His own love and All Pervading providence reveals something about Himself. But God being the Prime Cause, it was necessary that this frail humanity should have known some of the obligations it owed to that Supreme Being, and He in the nature of the case was to reveal His will, not that He was bound to do so, but 38 80 YEARS AGO because the needs of humanity that were weltering and wallowing in the mire of their inherent materialstic tendencies, required that it should be given some thing of the light without which its existence was mere groping in the dark. Hence God in the fullness of His love and mercy revealed everything that was necessary for the emancipation of man from the bondage of his downward-going tendencies. Nay, more he was given to understand that he could make eternal progress and hold communion with God Himself. Then began that chain of revelation which is the subject of this paper. How that chain gained in length and strength will be discussed here. But before we take up the question in earnest, it is necessary for us to have a glance at the beginning of religious history. Man, we came to know, stood in need of revelation from on high. We began with experience as our basis and the world as a settled fact. Even here our own experience and the experience of those that preceded us will act as our guide. For instance it is God Who sends down rain from the clouds. God is Almighty; He could do this without resorting to any means, but still our observation and experience tell us that He employs means whenever He wishes to send down rain. No natural phenomenon occurs without the agency of the means. So in sending down revelation, God selects some persons from among the common run of mankind. They are called the chosen ones of God who fulfil His mission here on earth. They are specially designed for this purpose. They are the mouthpiece of heaven in a way. They are purified, like distilled water, of every impurity. They are pure metals cleansed of every dross and it is through these people that God reveals His own will. What should be the nature of this revelation would be clear now. It is the expression of the will of God in human speech. It is what ennobles man’s character and leads him higher and higher until he soars high in the heavens, and seeks communion with God and finds rest and comfort in His lap for He is the goal of everything. It is at once a code of law and spiritual magnetism, which directs as well as attracts and purifies man. This revelation embodied in books, or tablets or found in people’s memory is designated as the Holy Book. Now we come to a somewhat different question. Here on the face of this globe we have got many books whose followers claim divine origin for them. The Jews, the Christians, the Muhammedans, the Hindus, the Parsis and the Buddhists etc, have their own books and each insists upon the acceptance of his own to the exclusion of every other. Had the subject REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 39 been one, though in different tongues.or had there been harmony of opinion between the followers of different books, all would have been well. But the difficulty is that each party not only advances its own claims, but also repudiates vehemently the claims of all others. The Arya with Niyoga i.e., (the doctrine permitting a woman to have sexual intercourse with strangers ) and Transmigration, the Christian with his doctrine of Atonement and the crucifixion of God, the Parsee with his gods of Good and Evil and the Musalman with his ideas of Forgiveness and Submission to the Will of God are all contending for mastery. We have discussed the necessity of divine revelation but the difficulties crop up when we examine individual cases. How should we bring order out of this chaos. Where should we search for harmony when there is a jarring discord of opinions. The Christians and the Jews say that God selected only two tribes out of the sons of Israel upon whom He showered his special favours and let all the world go without them. It appears that either these children of Israel stood in special need of revelation on account of some of the heinous deeds which they committed for which a special warning was required, or.that God purposely intended eternal perdition for the whole of mankind with the exeption of a few favoured dwellers of the valley of Jordan. But the matters did not end here. The Jews and the Christians would both differ on the personality of Jesus, son of Mary, whom the former regarded and still regard as an impostor, while the latter worship him as the son of God. Yet both of them are agreed on the fact of an eternal seal having been set to divine revelation. So is the case with the Hindus and the Parsees. They believe in the necessity of divine revelation and say that God spoke to the sages of yore. But He spoke only in former times as if He were like a carbine that has discharged itself once and then stands in need of some one to recharge it. Such doctrines look preposterous and human nature revolts at the idea of such niggardliness being ascribed to the All-Loving God. When humanity is the same struggling mass that it once was when God felt Himself responsive to its needs, it is inconceivable why the necessity of divine revelation should be dispensed with now. When we have the same cause working here, why should we not expect the same effect? Man and his environments remaining the same, why should there be a change in God? By the way, if He is subject to the law of change, He is not infinite, for that would amount to the total denial of His existence which we have reason to believe as imperatively inevitable. It is to the eternal disgrace of these systems that they inculcate such doctrines. When the world was in 40 80 YEARS AGO its infancy, then God was Merciful enough to reveal His will to this herd of mankind, but when that herd increased and mutual wars and feuds sprang up, and material tendencies completely shrouded what was divine in man, then the All-Loving, All-Seeing and All- Wise God excused Himself on the plea that He had expressed Himself once for all, though that once be millions and millions of years ago. There is another consideration which belies such a doctrine as the one stated above. A blacksmith strikes hard when he sees the iron hot. He knows the time and the occasion proper for such an act. He strikes softly now and then because he sees the moment is not ripe for striking hard. It is his knowledge which withholds him from acting rashly. He would be an ill expert who does not see the time or the moment. Prescience is the one quality that is needful for all exquisiteness in work. We have got an ever progressing world before us. It would have been an ungainly, and an ill judged act on the part of the Divine Being to thrust His will at a time when the world was not ripe for the occasion. Or just take the example of a physician. He prescribes differently to different patients under his treatment. At one stage of the disease he applies one remedy and at another, another. This action of His does not denote ignorance on his part. It is His complete knowledge of the working of human constitution that makes him prescribe differently on different occasions. The same has been the case with human nature. It has been evolving itself out gradually. It would have been an unwise act of God, He applied the same remedy at every stage. In its onward course humanity has been passing from one lower grade to the next higher one, and then to the next higher one and so on. Such a conduct on God’s part would have implied total ignorance of the working of human nature and its needs. So .far we have seen that the books we commonly call by the name of Holy or Revealed books recognise the need and existence of such a thing as divine revelation to mail and we have also seen that, these different systems err on the side of restricting it to one period of ‘human history, ignoring human nature 6’ii the one’side and depriving God of some of the most prominent attributes, such as knowledge, ‘wisdom ‘and love, without which even God is no God at all. But herein steps in one book with the following proclamation:- i.e. ‘there /zos been no such tribe or nation to which a warner was not sent and thou art, O Prophet, but one of the warners. Therefore REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 41 believers are those who believe in what has been sent down unto thee, and in what was sent down before to thee and who put faith in what is to come.’ The Quran is explicit on the subject It not only accepts all those revelations that were sent before it was revealed to the world, but it also takes the responsibility on its shoulders to announce the revelation to come. Had there been no such announcement the ardour of those who walk and work in the path of righteousness would have cooled down. There would have been no incitement or spur to action. If at this stage of the world’s development and culture people were to be informed that henceforth no discovery could be made, nor any new thing invented, provided the rumour were true, there would be a complete upsetting of the whole organisation. In that case none would take the trouble of meddling with these things. Then the world would fall on its evil days again because change is the one condition of healthy life. There would be disruption, disintegration and complete breakdown. When such are the concomitants of unhealthy life, the more truly destructive would be the consequences of the cessation of divine revelation to the spiritual life. There is another verse in the Holy Book which runs to the self-same tune • — • and the Holy Quran is full of such references and allusions — and it is as follows:- ‘ i .arable i.e. ‘The prophet believes in what is sent down to him from his God and the believers do the same. All believe in God, His angels, His books and His prophets and they make no distinction between any of the prophets. They make no disparaging comparison and contrast. ‘ Herein the Musalmans are ordered to believe and put faith in all the Prophets without any distinction. To crown all there is a message of peace to all nations and creeds in the following verses:- 42 80 YEARS AGO O prophet, summon these Christians and Jews and the Sabians and the followers of other systems by proclaiming reverence for aE. Say that we the Muslims believe in God and that which has been sent down to the prophets of yore-to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants as well as to Moses and Jesus. No difference do we make between any of the prophets and to God are we resigned (Muslims). If those summoned respond to your call and reverence in the same spirit as ye do, then they are the guided, but if they reject and turn their backs to you, then verily they are in a state of separation from you and a wide gulf divides them from you and God will suffice to protect thee against them; and He is the Hearer and Knower. (This is the humanist way possible to come to terms with upholders of different religions). Verily this is God’s baptism, and one who wishes to join this fold, must pass through this baptism. We have the Baptism of God and who is the better to baptize than God? And Him do we serve. Say 0 Prophet: will you dispute with us about God when He is our Lord and you LordI we have our works and ye have your works, and we show forth to him a pure faith. Will ye say, verily Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes were Jews or Christians? And who is more in fault than he who concealeth the witness which he hath from God? But God is not regardless of what ye say. That people have now passed away, they have the reward of their deeds and for you is the meed of yours, but of their doings ye shall not be questioned.1 In these verses we find an exposition of that religion of humanity from which the people had fallen off. As God’s worldly gifts are not restricted to any class, clan or creed, so are His spiritual blessings not confined to any one people. The religion of Islam is a religion of obedience and resignation to the Will of God. Whenever any new revelation is sent down the Muslims are required to believe in it as well as in those that were revealed before: The revelations will be sent to you time after time. 0 Sons of Adam: therefore whoso believes in the revelation whenever it comes is guided in the right path and no fear shall touch him nor shall he be grieved. Then he who wishes to join the pale of Muslim Brotherhood should be REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 43 ready to sacrifice his narrow-mindedness and bigoty. He should not refuse reverence and respect to the founders of other religious systems-nay he should practise them. This was the original purity from which other religious systems had fallen off and which Islam has established on the earth. This was the starting point to which Islam drew attention and invited all sane, thinking and God fearing people to join the common brotherhood. If they accepted this invitation, that is, they forsook their bigotedness and intolerance for wider human sympathy, then of course they were welcome, for this was the right path, but if they refused, then there was a world of difference between them and the Mussalmans, for no Mussalman could brook his leaders and elders being railed and reviled in his presence. When he respects the leaders of other religious systems, why should others dare to revile his own. His God forbids him to say aught against the gods of other nations for the ignorant will not stop short of reviling even the very God of Islam. Such are the behests of the Holy Quran. This was the divine baptism with which Islam baptised its followers. God indignantly repudiates the assertion that Abraham and the host of other people belonged to this sect or that. They were Muslims, i.e. their religion was resignation to the will of God, which is the essence of Islam. Like true Muslims they obeyed what was revealed to them and what was revealed before them, and they had firm faith in the revelation to come. Now comes in the question of drawing a line of demarcation between one revelation and the other. Have we got any hard or fast rules to guide us? Why do the Mussalmans act upon the ordinances of the Quran to the exclusion of every other book? It is a long and complex question, and I shall try my best to steer clear of all the difficulties that beset the inquirer after truth. To be brief it would be sheer injustice and highhandedness on the part of a person who tries to forge any line of demarcation where there is, or should be, none. We are ordered to believe in each and every revelation that is sent down. We are enjoined not to make any distinction. Here at this stage comes in the question of Mussalmans following the Quran to the exclusion of every other book. For this purpose let us go a little deeper into the question. • First let us see what is the Quran’s verdict on this point and then we shall try to find out its accuracy in the light of history. In the first place the Holy Quran speaks of the former revelations as having been tampered with by human agency. The writers of those revealed books have hopelessly mixed the Word of God with the word of man. It is now next to impossible to sift out truth from falsehood. For instance we take up the 44 80 YEARS AGO Bible and the Vedas. The former contains some sixty-six books by different authors. One is at a loss to understand the term of Holy Book being given to such story books. Only a short perusal will disclose the fact that it is not a revealed book in the real sense of the term. It is a chronicle of the children of Abraham that settled in Judea and Samaria. Herein are depicted all those vicissitudes which the children of Israel underwent. There is very little of inspired matter in it. As history it is even inferior to Buckley’s History of England, for there we have a complete and connected narrative while that of the Bibles fragmentary and disjoined. It is in some such books as Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Psalms that one comes across some faint glimpses of revelation. Even here the authorship by another hand is quite apparent. Only one instance from the Old Testament would suffice here. The first books are said to be the work of Moses. Deuteronomy is the fifth one in order. In the 34th chapter of this book we find it written And the Lord said unto him (Moses), this is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shall not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated and the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Now can any sane person say this to be the work of Moses? How could he write about his death and subsequent mourning over his loss. About the New Testament suffice it to say that the first four Gospels contain narratives about Jesus’ three years ministry in Judea. We can challenge each and every Christian to produce any verse or verses purporting to mean that whatever is written in these Gospels is a revelation from God to Jesus, son of Mary, when this is not so, it is idle talk to go on making fuss over Christian Revelation and what not The other part of the New Testament consists of the Acts of Apostles and their epistles which evidently mean the Acts of Apostles after the crucifixion affair and the epistles of Paul and others. There is a considerable internal evidence to prove that the first four Gospels are mere biographies in a restricted sense of the word. For instance, Luke begins his book For as much.as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them to us, which from the beginning were eye-witness and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightiest REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 45 know the certainty of those thing wherein thou hast been instructed… Herein the writer acknowledges the fact that seeing many others writing accounts about Jesus, he is encouraged to do the same for some person who is evidently not so well acquainted with the real story of Jesus. Here there is no mention of divine revelation nor the Holy Ghost’s assistance therefore how can the Christians venture to put down their books in the category of revealed Books? If they are revealed books, one is justified to include Aesop’s Fables and Plutarch’s Lives, & c., in the Category of Heavenly books. Even to this day we possess a collection of the apocryphal Gospels which Christian piety could not sanction for reasons best known to itself, but we on our part see no reason why they should not be included in the New Testament story-books.l And that even these story-books have been tampered with is admitted by all the Christian writers of repute.& The last chapter of the Gospel according to John is universally conceded to be the result of some later pious fraud. Higher critics, both in Germany and Holland, go the length of declaring the whole as an impious job. Only the following sentences are considered to be actual words of Jesus uttered on different occasions:- 1. My Lord, my Lord, why hast thou forsaken me. 2. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 3. Why callest thou me good, for none is good save the father. In the face of so many overwhelming arguments against the authenticity of the so called Christian scriptures, bold indeed would be the man who makes a futile effort to prove the revealed character of these books. As to the Vedas, even Daya Nand could not feel sure of the purity of the text of the Atharva Veda, hence his verdict on its un-authenticity. A short perusal of the Rig Veda will prove that it is nothing but an effusion of a burning soul or souls after the conquest and vanquishment of the aborigines of India. They are the outpourings of the rough and the rude who see nothing beyond the elements of nature. They are overawed by the grand spectacle presented to them by nature. They do not see through these elements. On the contrary these elements are to them the very gods. In fact the Vedas proclaim nothing but nature worship, mixed and confused sometimes with ideas about the Supreme Being, and if God ever occupies any place, that is in the background. Such a book can never be cited as an example of the Holy Book. 46 80 YEARS AGO When such is the pitiable plight to which the so-called heavenly books have been reduced, then what should have been the measures adopted by the Almighty for the promulgation of a New Law. The Holy Quran solves this riddle too. At first it pictures out the conditions of the times in as brief and sententious a way as is its characteristic. It says,.^iJ^i^jCjiJiJ*£ the land as well as the sea had become corrupted/ The sea became tumultuous and stormy. Confusion was reigning supreme even in those books which had some semblance of revealed character about them. To remedy this evil, it was -necessary to sift truth from falsehood. God only knows the date and place when this chain of revelation began and the extent to which it had already spread. But now truth and falsehood were inseparably mixed up with each other and it was impossible for man to attempt such a stupendous task. It was God alone who could do this and He did it in a way that we will consider now. The revelations that had been sent down up to this time were of two sorts, the one was of universal character and the other of temporary nature. They were intended for the local needs and were not of a universal nature. Besides this, the time had come when East and West were to be united into a composite whole. Therefore there was a great need for a revelation of a universal nature. Therefore in the revealing of the Quran, God reformulated what was of a universal nature in the old revelation and added those portions that were not revealed as yet which were also of universal character because a new era had dawned upon the whole mankind. God begins His new dispensation with the following verses:- ^ |£^cgi u> Corruption has appeared among the people of the book as well as among ‘those to whom no book has been sent down, from no unjust motive on God’s part, but on account of the misdeeds of these people. Know Ye, 0 people: that God has been gracious to you. He is going to revive this earth after its spiritual death that had come over it. He wishes to show you, and direct you in, the paths of those righteous people that have pressed before you. All previously revealed books are contained in this book. Today He intends to sum up and crown His former revelations by the sending down of this book (Quran). Here there is a clear exposition of the position adopted by the Holy 80 YEARS AGO 47 Quran with relation to other books. It recognises their holy origin but it regards their texts as perverted and interpolated. So at this juncture it was necessary that those revelations should be purified of the dross that was concealing their pure character. The former books had become a kind of metallic ore out of which pure metal was to be extracted in the fiery furnace of divine revelations. Those who have studied other books than the Quran are of opinion that the general essence and the common teaching of all is to be found in the Holy Quran. This is why the Muslims, though believing in the pre-Islamic revelations, refuse to act upon the teachings of other books except the Quran; of course it should be so. It is not incumbent to follow such perverted and interpolated text as would only create confusion and distrust. Though the Holy Quran claims the law to have been completed in itself, yet it does not bar the way to future revelation. On the other hand, it declares it to be ever open, but only to those who follow this perfect law and through it attain to union with God. A practical proof of this has been furnished us in this age by the advent of Ahmad, the Promised Messenger of the latter days. REVELATION Do not think that revelation from God is not possible in the future: that it was possible only in the past: do not think that the holy spirit cannot come down now. I tell you truly that every door can be closed but the door for the coming down of the holy spirit. Open all the doors of your heart to receive it. With your own hands you remove yourself to a distance from that sun when you close the window through which light can enter. Therefore, get up at once and throw this window open, so that the light of the sun should, of its own accord, enter your heart with the simplicity and inevitability of a natural process. When God has not closed the doors of His blessings upon the world, when in fact He has multiplied them even more than before, do you venture to presume that He has closed upon you the doors of His spiritual blessings, even at a time when they were needed most! No, no; not at all. Rather has that door been opened beyond any possible shadow of doubt. (Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) GREED FOR WEALTH Greed for wealth indicates love for wealth.The Holy Quran warns: O ye who believe! let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does so it is they who are the losers. (63:10) The Holy Prophet gave a timely warning to the Muslims against such greed for wealth. A few of his sayings can be related as follows: (1) Hazrat Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: The son of Adam becomes old while his two things remain young-Greed for wealth and for longevity. (Agreed i.e. Bukhari and Muslim) (2) Hazrat Abu Hurairah narrated from the Holy Prophet who said: The mind of an oldman ceases not to be young in two things- in the love of the world, and:.~m the desire for continued possession of wealth. (Agreed) •’ ” (3) Hazrat Ibn Abbas narrated from the Holy Prophet who said: Had there been two mountains of wealth for the son of Adam, he would have surely hankered after a third; and nothing but earth can fill up the belly of the son of Adam. Surely Allah turns to him in repentance. (Agreed) (4) Hazrat Amr-bin-Shuaib narrated from his father (who had narrated from his grand-father that the Holy Prophet said: The first good thing of the people is certainty in faith and renunciation; and their first aversion is to miserliness and greed for wealth. (Al-Baihaqi) The Holy Prophet, however, did not forbid earning of wealth. What he emphasized and urged upon the Muslims was that they should always be above the world and its possessions, and should earn to spend in the way of God in fulfilment of His purposes. They should not be engrossed in the love of wealth being negligent of their duties to God and His created beings. ************* What is Islam? Islam literally means Peace, Surrender of one’s Will; and to be in amity and concord. The significance of the name Islam is the attainment of a life of perfectpeace and eternal happiness through complete surrender to the Will of God. The Quran—-the Holy Book of the Muslims—interprets it to be the religion whose teachings are in consonance with human nature. Islam, as the Quran has stated (5:4), is the completion of the religion inaugurated by God in the beginning of the world, on His sending the Quran through the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. As a child is taught his alphabet, so God taught the religion to the world gradually and little by little, by sending His prophets at different times and to different peoples. When the world reached that stage of understanding when it was ready for the final lesson, He sent the last and complete Book through the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This Book not only corrects the errors which had found their way into various religions, but preaches the truths which have not been preached before, on account of special circumstances of the society or the early stage of its development. At the same time it gathers together in itself the truths which were contained in any Divine revelation granted to any people for. the guidance of men (The Quran 9 8:4). Lastly, itmeets all the spiritual and moral requirements of an ever advancing humanity. This is Islam which is wrongly called Muhammadanism. According to Islam, the object of man’s life is its complete unfoldment. Islam does not support the idea that man is born in sin. It teaches that everyone has within him the seed of perfect development and it rests solely with a person himself to make or mar his fortune. We created man in the best make says the Holy Quran (95:5). The cardinal doctrine of Islam is the Unity of Godhead. There is none worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger. He is free from all defects, Holy and Transcendent. He is All Good, All Mercy and All Power. He has no partner. He neither begets nor is He begotten, because these are the traits of frail and weak humanity. Furthermore, Islam helps us to establish a permanent relationship with God and to realise Him during our earthly life as our Helper in all our affairs and undertakings. This Unity of God is the first and foremost pillar of Islam and every other belief hangs upon it. Islam requires belief in all the prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucious and Zoroaster. We regard them all (and many more not mentioned here) as heavenly teachers born to reform and regenerate man and lead him to God. Adherents of some other religions may consider it an act of piety to disrespectful words and heap abuse on the prophets of other religions, but if a Muslim were to show the slightest disrespecttowards the founder of any other faith, he does so at the cost of his own faith. He has to utter therespectfulbenediction Alai/iis-SoIam, peacebe upon him, after mentioning the name of every prophet. Thus Islam establishes peace between all religions. The REVIEW of RELIGIONS The Review of Religions is the oldest magazine of its kind published in English language in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent. Its first issue was published in 1902 and it has been continuously published since. It bears the distinction that it was initiated under the direction of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah himself. During more than eighty-six years the message of Islam has been conveyed through this magazine to millions of readers and many fortunate persons have recognized the truth of Islam and accepted it through its study. The articles published in it deal not only with the doctrines and teachings of Islam but also set forth a comparative appreciation of the teachings of other faiths. One of its outstanding features is the refutation of the criticism of Islamic teachings by orientalists and non-muslim scholars. It also presents solutions in the light of Islamic teachings of the problems with which the Islamic world is from time to time confronted. A study of this magazine is indispensable for the appreciation of the doctrines of the Ahmadiyya Movement and the teachings of its Holy Founder. Printed by Raqeem Press, Islamabad, Sheephatch Lane, Tilford, Surrey GU10 2AQ, U.K. Published by The Review of Religions, The London Mosque, 16 Gressenhall Road, London SW18 5QL