The ''Review of Religions'' is an English-language comparative religious magazine published monthly by the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

. Regularly in print since 1902, it is one of the longest running Islamic periodicals in English. It has been described as the main publication of the Ahmadiyya movement in the language and as a valuable source material for information on the geographical expansion of Ahmadi activity. The magazine was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with the aim of conveying an accurate understanding of Islamic teachings across the English-speaking world and dispelling misconceptions held against the faith. The articles, however, typically comprise distinctly Ahmadi perspectives. In addition to the English edition published from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the magazine currently publishes separate quarterly editions in German, French and Spanish.

History and impact

The ''Review of Religions'' was established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1902 with the express purpose of disseminating Islamic teachings in the English language. The periodical had three main goals: to inspire new Muslim converts in the Western world who may have felt isolated and reinvigorate their efforts in propagating Islam; to convey a clear understanding of Islam to non-Muslim intellectuals; and to counteract

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

ary proselytism. The idea that the ''Review'' should publish more articles of a general nature with those specifically connected to the Ahmadiyya movement being printed in a supplement was abandoned early on at Ghulam Ahmad's behest. The ''Review'' targeted Western audiences and focused especially on

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. The magazine was printed in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

but published from

Qadian Qadian (; ; ) is a city and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India. Qadian is the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya m ...

, Punjab, alongside an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Early issues featured articles addressing the Islamic teachings on a range of themes that were common targets for Orientalist critics of the faith including

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

, marriage, divorce, slavery and

concubinage Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubin ...

; and comprised ''inter alia'' a series critiquing various European translations of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and a series in refutation of the theory of Quranic abrogation. In addition, the ''Review'' devoted much space to the messianic claim of Ghulam Ahmad and the organisation of the Ahmadiyya movement. In 1902–3, the ''Review'' partly serialised Ghulam Ahmad's treatise ''

Jesus in India The unknown years of Jesus (also called his silent years, lost years, or missing years) generally refers to the period of Jesus's life between his childhood and the beginning of his ministry, a period not described in the New Testament. The " ...

'' (1908) which put forward the view that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

had survived crucifixion, left Roman jurisdiction and died a natural and honourable death in Kashmir. On the issue of Jihad, which was also extensively covered in early editions, the ''Review'' was both the reflection of and the English vehicle for the dissemination of the Ahmadi teaching of jihad "by the pen" in the propagation of Islam. In its critical approach towards Christianity and its doctrines, the ''Reviews style and content led the editor of the ''

Calcutta Review The ''Calcutta Review'' is a bi-annual periodical, now published by the Calcutta University press, featuring scholarly articles from a variety of disciplines. History The ''Calcutta Review'' was founded in May 1844, by Sir John William Kaye an ...

'', in April 1902, to suspect that the articles were written by a European. By 1914, the ''Review'' had also begun highlighting the racial relations subsisting within Islam, often in the context of the

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

among Christian missionary institutions of the time. The editors of the ''Review'' were successful in accessing mainstream publishing outlets in Britain and the United States and the periodical received the appreciation of both Muslim and non-muslim figures of the early 20th century. Ahmadi sources list a number of international endorsements from prominent Europeans of the period including the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and the Dutch Orientalist Martijn Theodoor Houtsma. Writing in 1918, Howard Walter, a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

minister working in

who was otherwise unsympathetic towards the Ahmadiyya movement, commended the wide range of subjects and the variety of religious groups and currents with which the ''Review'' dealt. In the first decade of the 20th century, the ''Review'' also served as the most significant means of contact between the early Ahmadiyya movement and converts to Islam in Britain and North America before the arrival of Ahmadi missionaries there. The influential Victorian English convert to Islam,

Abdullah Quilliam William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mo ...

, who described the ''Review'' as a "priceless work" in the defence of Islam, acclaimed the standard of the articles and their effectiveness in answering Christian polemics against

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. He also reprinted an article from it in his own newspaper, '' The Crescent'' in 1903 and advertised the ''Review'' therein in 1906. Other notable subscribers among Quillam's circle of Muslims who positively received the ''Review'' and were in correspondence with its editors included Djaffar Mortimore, Nur-ud-Din Stephen an
Yahya Nasser Parkinson
In the United States,

Alexander Russell Webb Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (born Alexander Russell Webb; November 9, 1846 – October 1, 1916) was an American writer, publisher, and the United States Consul to the Philippines. He converted to Islam in 1889, and is considered by histor ...

, one of the first converts to Islam in the country who was also in contact with the Ahmadiyya movement, was a regular subscriber and also commented favourably on the ''Review''. Among its American readers was A. George Baker, a contact of Webb and former Protestant clergyman who had converted to Islam and would become one of the earliest Ahmadi Muslims in America. Baker also maintained correspondence with the editors of the ''Review'' and contributed articles for it. Although the articles were initially intended to feature translations of Ghulam Ahmad's lectures, the ''Review'' soon extended its range to include the writings of prominent followers as well as lectures and articles by Western converts to Islam. British subscribers who contributed articles to the ''Review'' included converts such as the Irish Peer Baron Lord Headley, Yahya Nasser Parkinson and

Khalid Sheldrake Khalid Sheldrake (1888–1947), originally Bertram "Bertie" William Sheldrake, was an English pickle manufacturer and philanthropist who later converted to Islam. In 1934, he was briefly declared king of the short-lived state of Islamestan in ...

. Contact between the British Muslim converts and Qadian grew through the ''Review'' under the leadership of Hakim Nur-ud-Din the first Ahmadi caliph, as did their literary contributions towards the magazine; something which may have conveyed the urgency of establishing an Islamic mission in Britain for the Ahmadis in India following Quilliam's departure from England. The ''Review of Religions'' also played an instrumental role in establishing the Ahmadiyya movement in different parts of the world including in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

(1915) and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

(1921). The ''Reviews editorial office was transferred from

, India to

, England by Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud, the then caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, when he visited the city in 1924 to lay the foundation for the first purpose-built mosque in the British capital. The scope of the magazine has since grown to cover a vast array of topics surrounding theology, science, philosophy, history of religions, international politics and contemporary issues. It is mainly based in

, while a considerable amount of its editors are themselves based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

International editions

During Ghulam Ahmad's lifetime, the ''Review'' used to be published in both English and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

as ''Die Revue der Religionen''., based in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Since 2017, the magazine also has a French edition published as the ''Revue des Religions'' based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

edition of the ''Review of Religions'' was launched from Guatemala in 2018.

Exhibitions

Since 2015, the ''Review of Religions'' has been hosting regular thematic exhibitions covering various religious topics including

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

, the Turin Shroud and Quranic calligraphy. Many of these exhibitions are of an interactive nature and allow for the active participation of Muslim and non-Muslim guests.The ''Review of Religions'' Exhibitions
/ref>

Early editors

* Maulana Muhammad Ali *

Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (1870 – December 28, 1932) was a prominent figure of the early Ahmadiyya movement and the author of numerous works about Islam. Life Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was born in Punjab, India in 1870. His grandfather, Abdur Rashid, a p ...

* Mufti Muhammad Sadiq *Maulwi Muhammad Din * Mirza Bashir Ahmad * Maulvi Sher Ali *

Malik Ghulam Farid Malik Ghulam Farid (1897–1977), was a notable Ahmadiyya Muslim scholar. He was deputed the task of preparing the 5 Volume The English Commentary of the Holy Quran, in 1942, by Mirza Mahmood Ahmad, the second Khalifa Khalifa or Khalifah (Arab ...

* Abdul Rahim Dard *Maulwi Farzand Ali *Sufi Abdul Qadeer Niaz

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Official website

Online archive
digitised issues (incomplete) of the years 1902–2018
German website

French website

Exhibitions website
{{Ahmadiyya topics, state=collapsed Ahmadiyya literature Ahmadiyya periodicals Islamic magazines English-language journals English-language magazines Magazines established in 1902 Religious magazines published in the United Kingdom Religious magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in Pakistan Magazines published in India Magazines published in Pakistan French-language journals German-language magazines Spanish-language magazines