Reform, not Innovation — Essence of Islam Vol. 4

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 4), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Reform, not Innovation, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 4)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 3: Status of the Promised Messiah (as)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Mission of the Promised Messiah (as) | Next: Fighting the Satanic Forces of the Age »

God Almighty looked at the world and found it in darkness and singularized His humble servant for the reform of His creatures. Do you then wonder that according to the Divine promise a Reformer has been sent at the turn of the century? God created him in the image of whichever Prophet He chose. Was it not necessary that the prophecy of the Holy Prophetsa should be fulfilled? Brethren, I am a Reformer, not an innovator and, God forbid, I have not come to spread any innovation. I have come to proclaim the truth. I consider everything that finds no place in the Qur’an or Hadith, and is opposed to them, as heresy and negation of faith. But there are few who can reach the true meaning of the Divine Word and can comprehend its subtle mysteries. I have not added anything to, nor subtracted anything from the faith. Brethren, my faith is the same as yours. I follow the same Noble Messengersa whom you follow. The same Holy Qur’an is my guide, my beloved and my scripture, believing in which is incumbent upon you also. It is quite true that I believe that Jesus son of Maryas died and joined the company of the dead. I also believe with complete certainty that the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah has been fulfilled in me. O brethren, this belief of mine is not the product of my own imagination. Rather God Almighty has informed me, through His revelation, that I am the one who was to come in the name of Jesus son of Maryas. Status of the Promised Messiahas God has disclosed to me all the conclusive arguments which are contained in the Holy Qur’an and the true Ahadith, which establish the death of Jesus son of Maryas, Messenger of God, as a certainty. The Almighty God has told me repeatedly though His revelations that I have been sent in the spirit and perfection of Jesus son of Maryas, to repel the Yahudiyyat 22 of the latter days. I am thus metaphorically the promised son of Mary, whose advent was promised at the time of Yahudiyyat and the supremacy of Christianity. I have appeared in humility with spiritual power and spiritual weapons.
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, vol. 1, pp. 231-232]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 38]

Once you have proved that Jesus has joined the dead and have impressed this fact upon the hearts of the Christians, then do believe that that will be the day of the departure of the Christian faith from the world. Bear firmly in mind that so long as their god does not die, their religion will also not die, and it is futile to indulge in any other argument with them. Their doctrine stands on just one pillar, which is the belief that Jesus son of Maryas is alive in heaven. Demolish this pillar and you will not find the Christian faith anywhere in the world. As God Almighty desires to crush this pillar and to establish His Unity in Europe and Asia, He has sent me and disclosed to me through His own revelation that Jesus son of Maryas has died. His revelation is:

23 In this book, I have established the death of Jesusas and his having joined the dead with very strong arguments. I have established it as a clear fact that Jesusas was never resurrected, nor taken up to heaven in his physical body, but died just as all other Prophetsas have died. He has left this world forever. He who worships Jesusas should realize that he has died and has joined the company of the dead for all times to come. You should take advantage of this book for the support of the truth and should stand firm against the Christian clergy. This question should always be the subject of your attention and you should have full trust that Jesus son of Maryas has certainly joined the company of the dead.
[lzala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 402-403]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 39]

Our exalted Prophetsa is forever alive. To keep him alive forever, God Almighty has ordained that his spiritual and law-giving blessings should be extended to the Day of Judgement. Finally, as a continuation of his spiritual blessings, God has sent 23 Jesus son of Maryas, Messenger of Allah, has died and you have come in this place and his spirit according to God’s promise, which was bound to be fulfilled. You are with Me and you have your stand upon truth and you are the helper and supporter of the truth. [Publisher] Status of the Promised Messiahas into the world the Promised Messiah—whose advent was essential for the completion of the edifice of Islam. It was necessary that the world should not come to an end until the dispensation of Muhammadsa had been provided with a spiritual Messiah as had been provided for the Mosaic dispensation. This is indicated in the verse: 24

Mosesas was provided with bounties which the earlier generations had lost, and Muhammadsa was provided with such bounties which the Mosaic dispensation had lost. Now the dispensation of Muhammadsa has replaced the Mosaic dispensation, but it is thousands of times higher in status. The ‘Like of Moses’sa is more exalted than Mosesas and the ‘Like of the Son of Mary’ is more exalted than the Son of Maryas. Not only did the Promised Messiah appear in the fourteenth century after the Holy Prophetsa as Jesus son of Maryas had appeared in the fourteenth century after Mosesas, but he appeared at a time when the condition of the Muslims was similar to the condition of the Jews at the time of the advent of Jesus son of Maryas. I am that person. God does what He wills. Foolish is the person who fights Him and ignorant is the one who asserts in opposition to Him that He should have done thus and 24 Guide us in the right path – The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings.—Al-Fatihah, 1:6-7 [Publisher] thus and not so and so. He has sent me with bright signs which are in excess of ten thousand.
[Kashti-e-Nuh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 19, p.14]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 40]

If it is asked, what is the characteristic and spiritual power in which Jesus son of Maryas and I resemble each other, the answer is that it is an overall characteristic with which our spiritual capacities have been specially invested, one aspect of which proceeds downwards and the other climbs upwards. The characteristic proceeding downward means the deep and burning sympathy for God’s creatures which, having established a strong relationship between a caller towards God and his eager disciples, spreads the illuminating power inherent in the holy being of the caller towards God, throughout his living branches. By the upward proceeding characteristic is meant that higher quality of love that is compounded with firm faith and which, taking its birth by Divine design in the heart of the servant, draws the love of God Almighty towards itself. By the combination of these two loves—which are, in a sense, related to each other like male and female—a strong relationship is established between the Creator and His creatures, and the bright fire of Divine love captures the fuel-like love of the creature, giving rise to a the third characteristic—the Holy Spirit.
[Taudih-e-Maram, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol 3, pp. 61-62]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 42]

There is no God beside the One God, but there is another Messiah, who is now speaking to you. God’s jealousy brooks no second, but man’s second is Status of the Promised Messiahas there. God has sent me so that I should bestow sight upon the blind who have been sightless, not just for a few years, but for over nineteen hundred years!
[Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, vol. 2, p 305]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 4, p. 42]

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Introduction