Part – 1 The Sign of the Mosque of the Grand Victory in Zion will Bring About a Significant Change in the Lives of our Progeny
By. Mohiuddin Abbasi, London
I was one of those fortunate ones who had the blessed opportunity to witness the recent tour of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his helper, to the USA and also the historic event of the inauguration of the Masjid Fath e Azeem (The Mosque of the Grand Victory). I was literally beside myself with joy when I received an invitation from Sahibzada Mirza Maghfoor Ahmad Sahib, Amir Jama’at Ahmadiyya, USA. As a mark of thankfulness, I made a prostration of gratitude to Allah. I had the blessed opportunity to join in the congregational prayers led by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V and also benefited spiritually from his company besides having been blessed with the opportunity to offer special prayers. May Allah enable us to benefit from the blessings of the Khalifa of the time and also to follow his advice and instructions in letter and spirit. (Amen).
Friday, the 30th September, 2022 was an extraordinarily significant day in our lives which can never be effaced from the slate of our heart and mind. This was the day which would be remembered as a great landmark in the annals of the Jama’at Ahmadiyya because on this day the grand prophecy of the Promised MessiahAS regarding Dr Alexander Dowie culminated during the blessed reign of the fifth Khilafat. On this blessed day, inaugurating the Masjid Fath-e-Azeem with his Friday sermon, our beloved Hudhur said: The Promised MessiahAS, upon receiving a revelation from Allah, had made a prophecy about the death of Dowie and said that it would be a sign of a ‘Grand Victory’ which would appear soon. And exactly the world witnessed that within fifteen to twenty days Allah inflicted Dowie with an ignominious death. The inauguration of this mosque in this city is the next phase of that prophecy. The first phase of this revelation was fulfilled 115 years ago and today we are witnessing the fulfillment of the next part. Hudhur further stated: Due to the historical significance of this city and the fact that a false claimant to prophethood – someone who used extremely foul language against the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) – who then perished away, and given the fact that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is now established in that very city, are all such aspects which should make every Ahmadi Muslim grateful to Allah. We should also be grateful to Allah Who enabled us to build this mosque. Therefore, it is not only a day of jubilation but also a day of expressing our profound gratitude to Allah, Who, besides enabling us to build this mosque, made us witness a sign of the truthfulness of an ardent and true lover of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.
(Alfazl International,16 October, 2022)
Regarding this prophecy, the Promised MessiahAS was vouchsafed the following revelation from Allah on 20th February, 1907: “I shall manifest a fresh sign which will contain a great victory. It will be a sign for the whole world and will be wrought by the hands of God and will be from the heavens. Let every eye wait for it for God will manifest it soon as His testimony that this humble one who is being reviled by all peoples is from Him. Blessed is he who benefits from it. Amen.”
(Majmua Ishtiharat , Vol 3, p. 560, Edition 1989). Hudhur further said: We are inaugurating the Fath-e-Azeem Mosque, the Mosque of the Grand Victory in Zion as a symbol of true religious freedom. Its doors open with an enlightened message pronouncing that the religious rights and peaceful beliefs of all people and communities are to be forever protected and cherished.
(Report USA tour, No.6 , Alfazl online)
At the inauguration of this Grand Mosque, thousands of people also witnessed the fulfillment of this revelation of the Promised Messiah AS: ‘O Masroor, verily I am with you.’
(Tadhkira, p.630)
We have witnessed the fulfillment of this revelation on many previous occasions also. The first occasion was when Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib was elected to the office of Khilafat. We shall continue to witness many more such occasions in the future also, Insha’Allah. This day assumes a special significance in the annals of the Jama’at Ahamdiyya as millions of Ahmadi brethren witnessed this occasion live on MTA International and through social media. This spiritual sight can never be obliterated from our memory. During the Friday prayers, we saw many devout Ahmadis literally sobbing and crying in their prayers. It was a momentous sight and all this was being done to express gratitude to Allah. Blessed are those who had the opportunity to witness this sight and also the other functions attended by Khalifatul Masih. Only the fortunate ones are offered such great opportunities. I also was among those fortunate ones and had received such an opportunity after decades. Prior to this, I witnessed the historic inaugural ceremony of the Basharat Mosque in Spain in 1982. The city of Zion was the Headquarters of Dr Dowie. I have gathered some details about this city from various sources which I would like to share here with our readers in brief. A detailed article on this topic has been published in the Alfazl International of 7th October, 2022.
Historical significance of the city of Zion
Zion, also known as Saihoon, is a small city situated in the Illinois state of the USA. Towards its north is situated the famous Lake Michigan. Zion was founded by Dr Alexander Dowie in 1901. Most of the roads and streets of this city bear biblical names. Dr Dowie built a magnificent church in Zion which was named as Christian Catholic Church of Zion. The word Zion signifies those chosen ones of God who are making preparations for the second coming of Jesus. At the centre of a roundabout in the city of Zion, Dr Alexander Dowie laid the foundation of his Church, which stands even today, though it is owned by some other sect of Christianity. Dowie’s ancient house, now converted to a museum and in a dilapidated condition, is also situated in this area. We visited this area to see his old house and Central Church, but could not enter it as it is opened only on particular days for a limited time. However, we went round it from the outside and had a close look at it and its surroundings. The inhabitants of this area do not know this city by Dowie’s name . Even the elderly and old aged people failed to give any clue about it. At this point, a couplet of the Promised Messiah AS flashed across my mind which says:
I was poor and helpless, unknown and unskilled,
No one knew as to where Qadian was located.
Today the world has come to know where Qadian is situated and also about Zion, but through the Promised MessiahAS and his prophecy regarding Dowie. Today Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib, the fifth Caliph of the Promised MessiahAS, has lent this place a special significance. Sometime later, when the replica of the Minaratul Masih will be built here, its spiritual radiance will scatter across the ends of the world and thus this sign of the Mosque of the Grand Victory will bring about a spiritual revolution in our posterity.
Dr Dowie’s Life in brief
Dr Dowie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in May, 1847. His father’s name was John Murray Dowie. It is said that Dowie had finished reading the Bible just at the age of six. In 1860, his family emigrated to Australia. Dowie worked at the shop of his uncle who had a shoe business in Australia. Thereafter, he did odd jobs at many places. At the age of 20, he hired a teacher to become an evangelist. Later he went to Edinburgh City University to study theology. He also worked as an honorary evangelist in a reputed hospital. He was appointed as an evangelist in Sydney where he rendered services during 1873-74. Here the Church had a large number of followers. Later, he was appointed at Newton. In 1876, he married his cousin, Jeanie . This marriage was wrought with conflicts and disputes as the Christians generally do not marry their cousins and it is considered immoral. Dowie had three children from this marriage. In 1878, Dowie took a Theatre hall on rent and started his preaching sessions. He announced that he wanted to establish Free Christian Church. His proposal received wide acclamation and response. He also contested a parliamentary election which he lost by a huge margin and as a result he ran into heavy debts. Facing financial stringency and also following the death of his daughter, he wrote a letter to his wife that he could not afford a single meal in a day rather he had to go without meals sometimes for 48 years. He further wrote that it seemed that he was on the brink of death. During 1884, his financial condition improved greatly. So he established Free Christian Church in Melbourne and also built a prayer hall. Thereafter, he started the Ministry of Divine Healing during a Convention. His basic concept was that diseases come from Satan, and they can be cured only through the mercy of Jesus. Listening to this speech, many people joined him and became his followers. However, his enemies also increased proportionately. This led to the formation of a law prohibiting conduction of preaching sessions or meetings on the streets or roads. Dowie violated this law and said that he was just following the teachings of the Gospel. He also held such meetings and sessions both in England and Australia. He was arrested and produced in the court of law where he was found guilty and was fined five pounds. He refused to pay the fine and consequently he had to undergo imprisonment for thirty days. In 1880, he migrated to America and established the International Divine Healers Association. His family also moved to America from New Zealand. He started preaching of Divine Healing and settled in Evanton, Chicago where he was met with severe opposition and he was declared a liar and an imposter. There was another person namely, Jacob Schwin Furth who also claimed to be the Messiah. He also attracted many followers, mostly women. Dowie’s followers claim that he went to meet Jacob and defeated him in a debate. According to the available details of this meeting, it is said that Dowie made some insolent comments about the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, during his discussion. Here I want to add that in 1890 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib claimed to be the Messiah. He wrote a treatise entitled The Victory of Islam which was published in 1891 in which he claimed:
The Messiah who was to come is this very person……..
This humble one has been sent in the name of the Messiah, in order that the doctrine of the Cross may be smashed into pieces.
(The Victory of Islam, p. 10, footnote 11)
Dr Dowie did not receive much acclamation when he settled in Chicago in 1893. However, people started visiting him for divine healing. When his group took some houses on rent in that area, he was met with bitter opposition. People named those houses as mental asylums. During that period, he started his paper entitled ‘Leave of Healing’ to propagate his mission. His followers continued to increase but his enemies also grew proportionately. The Chicago Board of Health also joined his enemies. Consequently, arrest warrants were issued for Dowie. He was arrested, tried in a court and was fined for he was found guilty .
In 1896, Dowie made a prophecy that about his popularity that: If God grants me life, and if he rose to the position of General and Steer in the Church, then his Christian Catholic Church will become so strong and wealthy that the world did not witness the like of it before. (Exemplary End of Dowie, p. 24)
Venting his bitter hatred against Islam, Dr Dowie made the following remarks on 25th August, 1890: “I warn the Christians of America and Europe that Islam is not a dead religion, rather it is full of potential strength. Though Islam must perish, Mohammadanism must perish, its destruction cannot be executed by the indolent Latin Christianity or the impotent Greek Christianity.” (Tarikh e Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 2, p. 242). On 19th October, 1899 Dr Dowie announced that he would deliver a lecture on the topic ‘Doctors, Drugs and Devil’ in Chicago. Its main objective was to attack the medical world. Therefore, the medical students and persons working in the medical field decided to launch a severe protest against the proposed lecture of Dowie . No sooner did the function start, people attacked Dowie. He was meted out the same treatment in other cities also. In 1899, Dr Dowie’s Church declared a holy war against the prevailing evils in Chicago. It is worth mentioning here that prior to this announcement, Dr Dowie read out the prophecy of prophet Malachi. This he did in order to proclaim himself as the one who came to fulfill the said prophecy of Malachi. He also revealed the good news that during the past one year, the Church had received donations to the tune of one million dollars. Between the period 1899-1900, Dr Dowie claimed to be a prophet and rechristened his community as Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. (Tarikh e Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 2, p.241)
The same year he made a plan to establish a couple of industrial units to manufacture lace cloth. On 15th July, 1901, he laid the foundation of Zion city and declared that the Messiah would appear in that very place.
(Tarikh e Ahmadiyyat,Vol.2, pp 241-242)
Continue………………….