The Festival of Easter : Religion, Myth and History

Across the world, the Christian communities today are celebrating the Festival of Easter. The religious practice of Easter seeks to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ (as). The rituals and traditions that make up this festival have interesting origins in the ancient world. In other words, the lineage of the present festival and associated rituals can be traced back to the pagan worship norms of ancient communities. As it happened, the pagan practices were adapted and modified and transformed to a ‘Christian’ milieu. It is apparent that to accommodate the deviations from the original message of Jesus (as), much theological engineering was done to reshape and reconstruct the belief systems within Christianity as well.  In his Friday Sermon of 29 March 2013, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius throws searching light on the pagan origins of these Christian religious practices by drawing upon the studies and writings of Christian scholars.  

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

Easter is a day that is honoured by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Hazrat Isa (as)). Christian believes that Jesus (as) rose again from the dead three days and three nights after he was crucified. The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an “Easter Ham”, decorated eggs and stories about rabbits. Free thinking Christian scholars in bewilderment have often questioned all these incongruous activities. Why rabbits? Why not a puppy or any other animals? Rabbits do not lay eggs, why not orange or onions etc., because they also roll. Why are these traditions so ingrained in Easter Sunday? And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?

The Elixir of Truth in Divine Prophecies

March 23 is an important date in the modern history of spiritual Islam. It was on this Day in 1889 that the the Jamaat-e- Ahmadiyya was established by the Promised Massih Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian. [Inset: a photo from the 2005 Jalsa Salana at Qadian, which the present writer attended]. He initiated the Bai’at Programme through which devout Muslims could express their allegiance to the Divine appointee. In a special speech to mark the occasion on Saturday, 23 March 2013 the Chosen Messenger of our times, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius spoke at length about the sacred, foundational prophecies that undergird the belief about the coming of Divine Messengers/Massihs’/Mahdis’ in the Latter Days of Islam. The speech beautifully captures the essence of Divine prophecies foretold in the sacred writings of Muslims, Christians and the seers of other religious. It demonstrates how these prophecies have been fulfilled in the times of the Promised Massih (as) and also reflects on their contemporary significance. The spiritual outlook regarding the continuity of Divine revelations and the appearance of Divine Messengers in future, who will speak with the Holy Spirit, as emerging from the writings of the Promised Massih (as) and as discussed in the speech must be of special interest to devout Ahmadis.   

Read the Extracts from the Speech:

Today 23 March 2013 establishes 124 years since an event took place in the once unknown small village – Qadian – situated in the province of Punjab in India. It was an event destined to change the course of history. In Islamic literature, the Quran predicts a thousand years during which Islam will suffer an extraordinary decline.

“He regulates His command from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count.” (As-Sajdah 32: 6).

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has predicted that this decline will not begin until three hundred years after his advent: “The best century is the one in which I live, then the second and the third will be good, afterwards lies will spread, truth shall disappear; cruelty, excesses, differences and divergences shall appear”. (Miskat, Bukhari & Tirmidhi).

Sacrifice and Striving: The Road to Success

The political, economic and ideological precepts and value systems being practiced today are leading the world, inevitably and inexorably, to the brink of natural and man made-disasters, including war. On the other hand, as a religion, Islam offers a fascinating, analytical framework to lead life in all its complex settings. Islam’s ability to appeal to the human mind and its innate capacity to recognize and accede to what is just and right and morally appropriate is evident from its great confidence and self assurance in declaring that the norms, principles and methods that Islam deploys to analyze and critique the worldly  systems and competing ideologies, will eventually gain universal appeal and traction. The open challenge to produce an equally appealing, if not exceeding, philosophy of life that Islam presents to the world stand testimonial to this magnificent edifice, built on the sure foundation of guidance from a Living and Ever-Subsisting God, as against the illusion-filled worship or pursuit of mere human images and conceptions.

Through his exemplary personal conduct and exceptional sacrifices, the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) portrayed the trajectory of practical spirituality in  individual and social life. Hadhrat Muhammad (sa), thus, left enduring imprints on the sands of time for all peoples and souls in search of the ultimate Divine reality. It is astonishing to note that even at times when material preoccupations have corrupted the general Muslim populace, Islam’s inherent capacity to produce the Divinely-raised saints in every age was never in doubt. These saints or Khalifatullah, who gave practical guidance on the ordinances of spiritual life in their epochs, injected fresh blood and revitalized Islam through their tireless sacrifices and striving in the cause of Allah and His religion.

As a way of life, the superiority of Islam over all other frameworks and ideologies, is self- evident to Muslims who practice Islam. The incremental expansion of the Muslim Ummah, in its own way, slowly but surely, testifies to the turning tide and the inevitable victory of the Divine Truth. The Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam is today engaged in this noble and extraordinarily important mission of spreading the message of Islam at many, different levels, with different initiatives being pursued simultaneously. In his Friday Sermon of March 15, 2013 the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius exhorts the noble believers to imbibe and imprint in their hearts the culture of supreme sacrifice and mighty striving and do all they can in their every day life so that the glory of Islam can illuminate the world in its darkest hour.