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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
[[File:Minaratul masih.jpg|thumb|The White Minaret, Qadian]]

The '''Minaret-ul-Masih''' ({{lang-ar|منارہ المسیح|manārat-ul masīh}}; lit. [[Minaret]] of the Messiah) is a stone [[tower]] and monument standing beside the [[Aqsa Mosque, Qadian|Aqsa Mosque]] in [[Qadian]], [[India]]. It was constructed under the direction of [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]], the founder of the [[Ahmadiyya]] movement specifically as a light tower symbolising the ultimate pre-eminence of Islam.<ref>[https://www.alislam.org/urdu/pdf/ishtaharat-v3.pdf, ''Majmooa Ishtiharat''], Vol 3, pp. 294, 295</ref>

The minaret has three stages, 92 steps, and a total height of about {{cvt|105|ft|m|0|disp=or}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Valentine|first=Simon|title=Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice|year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-70094-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q78O1mjX2tMC&q=islamic+reform|page=40}}</ref><ref>[http://www.alislam.org/library/minara.html Minara-tul-Masih]</ref> Its construction was completed in 1916 and has since become a symbol and distinctive mark in Ahmadiyya Islam. The minaret features on the [[Black Standard#Ahmadiyya flag|Ahmadiyya flag]] and also (sometimes with rays of light) in the movement's major publications.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roose|first=Eric|title=The Architectural Representation of Islam: Muslim-commissioned Mosque Design in the Netherlands|year=2009|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDhoNLbM45gC&q=The+Architectural+Representation+of+Islam.+Muslim-commissioned+Mosque+Design+in+the+Netherlands|page=46|isbn=9789089641335}}</ref> It is classified as a historical monument.{{Clarify|date=May 2010}}
{{ahmadiyya|Distinct views}}

== Religious significance ==
According to a prophecy in Islamic tradition, [[Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam|Jesus]], upon his advent in the end times, would descend near a white minaret to the east of [[Damascus]].
{{Quotation|Allah would send the Messiah, son of Mary, and he will descend near (at/by) the white minaret, East of Damascus, wearing two saffron-coloured garments, his hands resting on the wings of two Angels.|Sahih Muslim Book 41, Hadith 7015 <ref>[http://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/hadith/muslim/041_smt.html Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 41: Kitab al-Fitan wa Ashart as-Sa’ah] (Book Pertaining to the Turmoil and Portents of the Last Hour)</ref>}}

===The Minaret===
According to Ghulam Ahmad, this prophecy was fulfilled with his advent in [[Qadian]], a town situated directly to the east of Damascus, and the significance of the minaret was symbolic. Reference to a white minaret, according to him, symbolised the far-reaching spread of the "light" of Islam, and also implied that with the coming of the Messiah, the truth of Islam was to tower up as it were like a minaret to a height of eminence which would establish its superiority over other religions, similar to how the sound of a call from atop an elevated platform such as a minaret prevails over other sounds. The prophecy was also stated to be pointing to an age of enlightenment, where distance would not keep things hidden from view and the numerous facilities for communication and transport would make the transmission of the message of Islam easier.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roose|first=Eric|title=The Architectural Representation of Islam: Muslim-commissioned Mosque Design in the Netherlands|year=2009|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDhoNLbM45gC&q=The+Architectural+Representation+of+Islam.+Muslim-commissioned+Mosque+Design+in+the+Netherlands|page=45|isbn=9789089641335}}</ref> This was reflective of the physical purpose that minarets served in Islamic societies: the efficient communication of the [[adhan|call to prayer]] to a wider audience in the locality. In elaboration of this point Ghulam Ahmad wrote:

{{Quote|Just as you can see that the lamp placed on top of a minaret spreads its light far and wide, and just as lightning in one part of the sky also illuminates all other parts, so too will it be in these days...The true nature of the tower of the Messiah that is mentioned in the ''ahadith'' is that the Messiah’s invitation and message will spread on this earth very quickly just as light or sound from a tower reaches far.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.alislam.org/library/books/BritishGovt-and-Jihad.pdf| title=The British Government and Jihad | author=Mirza Ghulam Ahmad | page=18 | publisher=Islam International Publications | access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref>}}

===East of Damascus===
With reference to the Messiah appearing to the east of Damascus – a commercial city within the Christian [[Byzantine Empire]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time – In a tract published on 28 May 1900, Ghulam Ahmad linked [[Biblical and Quranic narratives|Biblical prophecies]] concerning the [[Second Coming#Islam|return of Christ]] with those found in the Quran and Hadith, stating that they pointed in the same direction for a specific reason, particularly the one mentioned by Jesus in the [[Matthew 24|24th chapter]] of the [[Gospel of Matthew]]:<ref>[https://www.alislam.org/urdu/pdf/ishtaharat-v3.pdf, ''Majmooa Ishtiharat''], Vol 3, p. 285</ref>

{{Quote|For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.|{{Bibleverse||Matthew|24:27-28|KJV}}}}

According to Ghulam Ahmad, specific mention in the hadith of the ''east of Damascus'' with reference to the promised Messiah, carried a deeply religious significance since it was in Damascus that [[Paul the Apostle|Paul of Tarsus]] laid the foundation of the doctrine of [[Trinity]] and divinity of Jesus and therefore the seed for the corruption of Christian beliefs, according to him, was first sown in Damascus. From there this erroneous idea had spread to other countries with Paul’s preaching, particularly towards the West. It was therefore fitting that the Messiah appear from the East and, like the sun, illumine through his teachings even the West where the Christian faith would at the time be ascendant.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Life-of-Ahmad-20080411MN.pdf| title=Life of Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement | author=A. R. Dard | page=772 | publisher=Islam International Publications | access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref> In the same tract, he wrote:

{{Quote|Now our adversaries, though they repeatedly read this ''hadith'' of Damascus, yet they are unable to answer as to what the message contained in that which has been stated in it is – namely that the promised Messiah will descend near the minaret that is to the east of Damascus. Rather they have considered this ''hadith'' like a mere story, but let it be remembered that this is no story and that God is pure from useless actions…This passage did not mean that the minaret is a part of Damascus and is situated in Damascus as has unfortunately been understood. Rather, it meant that the light of [the teachings of] the promised Messiah will rise, like the sun, from a direction to the east of Damascus and dispel the Western darkness. And this was a subtle indication for the minaret of the Messiah, near which he is to descend, had been declared as being to the east of Damascus and the Damascene Trinity was kept to its western side. And thus was it foretold about the age to come, that when the promised Messiah comes, he will make his appearance like the sun which comes out of the east, and as opposed to him, the lifeless lamp of Trinity that is situated towards the west, will fade away day by day.|''Majmooa Ishtiharat''|<ref>[https://www.alislam.org/urdu/pdf/ishtaharat-v3.pdf, ''Majmooa Ishtiharat''], Vol 3, pp. 290-94</ref>}}

== History and purpose==
Although Ghulam Ahmad interpreted the prophecy symbolically, with the publication of the announcement in 1900, he sought to construct a physical structure representing the fulfilment of the prophecy and solicited donations for the building of the minaret laying its foundation on 13 March 1903. The minaret, according to him, was to be a physical representation of the fulfilment of the prophecy and a monument signifying the advent of the Promised Messiah with a light and a clock fixed on its top symbolising the light of Islamic teachings spreading far and wide and "so that Man will recognize his time", and a [[Muezzin]] to give the call to prayer five times a day symbolising an invitation to Islam. Though the foundation stone for the minaret was laid in 1903, construction subsequently stopped due to a lack of funds. Work continued under [[Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad|Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud]] the second [[Khalifatul Masih|Khalifa]] in 1914, reaching completion in 1916. Bright lights were fixed at the top of the minaret. These lights were not fixed so as to brighten the minaret itself but were instead pointing ''away'' from the minaret thereby representing its Lighthouse status.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roose|first=Eric|title=The Architectural Representation of Islam: Muslim-commissioned Mosque Design in the Netherlands|year=2009|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDhoNLbM45gC&q=The+Architectural+Representation+of+Islam.+Muslim-commissioned+Mosque+Design+in+the+Netherlands|page=46|isbn=9789089641335}}</ref> The clock was not fixed until 1933 and in the late 1930s it was coated with plaster of white marble. In 1980, it was veneered with white marble slabs.<ref>[http://www.alislam.org/library/minara.html Minara-tul-Masih]</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Coord|31|49|4|N|75|23|31|E|region:IN-PB_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{Ahmadiyya topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Ahmadiyya buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Minarets in India]]

Minaret-ul-Masih - Revision history

imported>Gowhk8: removed Category:Towers in India using HotCat see WP:CATSPECIFIC.