All the scriptures and prophecies pointed toward the end of the 19th century as the time of the appearance of a divine reformer. It is well documented that many religious groups and communities were anxiously awaiting someone to appear at this time, from the late 1800s onward. This was the time, by all accounts.
According to the prophecies, the time had come, and the people were awaiting this reformer. At this time there was only one man who not only made the claim, but since then has emerged as the only one who has stood the test of time, fulfilling the purpose for which he was sent.
This purpose was to establish a community that would be the leader in good works in the world, and form a body of righteous people, based on divine teachings. This man’s name was The Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born during a time of great need. His birth in 1835 in Qadian, India coincided with anticipation from followers of many religions of the advent of a Promised Reformer. Simultaneously, humanism and anti-religious sentiments were also significantly on the rise, and the need was present for a reformer to bring mankind back to the teachings of God and establish the superiority of religion.
He fulfilled all of the signs foretold by the world’s major religions. One of the major signs spoken of in religious scriptures as mentioned earlier with numerous examples is that of the eclipses as a heavenly sign from God.
In Islam, it was the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa who mentioned that the Divine Reformer would appear during an event that was never appeared since the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the Bible Jesus (peace be upon him) is recorded to speak of these eclipses as in Matthew.
Prophet Muhammad indicated that the reformer would arrive when the moon will be eclipsed on the first night of Ramadhan when an eclipse can occur, and the Sun will be eclipsed in the middle of the nights when a solar eclipse can occur.
On what nights would it be possible for these two events to occur? Dr. David McNaughton has pointed out that a lunar eclipse can occur on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of the month, and a solar eclipse can occur on the 27th, 28th, or 29th.
Lo and behold, in April of 1894, both the Lunar and Solar eclipses occured in the east, proving to be a sign of the divine, in favour of the truthfulness of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, during the month of Ramadhan.
A year later – 1895 – in March, both the solar and lunar eclipses occurred once again in the West this time, as a sign for those in Western countries.
This was one of the numerous prophecies that was fulfilled in favour of the Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
But not just the eclipse, if you look at his teachings, in an age of reason, the reformer of this time, should be armed with rational and logical arguments, to show the truth of religion in general, and more importantly, the existence of God, to debunk the myths that have crept in and corrupted the teachings of the religions of the world.
He was born in Qadian, which was prophesied by Prophet Muhammad as the birthplace of the Promised One (East of Damascus). He was also prophesied to come in the 18th century. But not only did he come at the appointed time, not only did he fulfill all the prophecies, in letter and faith, not only did he follow the exact patterns of the prophet’s in the past, that all those around him testified to his character, not only did he perform miracles through his prayers, to the point that just in his life time alone, 100s of thousands accepted him as the divine reformer, not only did he pen dozens of books in defence of religion. But his truth, his truth can be judged by the movement that he’s left behind. A continuing movement of a body of righteous people, whose purpose is to serve mankind, day and night, and bridge the gap between the people and their creator.