In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, who establishes His argument in every age, revives His Faith at all times, and sends a Reformer at the time of every disorder. Guides for people come from Him, one after another.

He bestows benevolence upon His servants by showing them the straight path and paves the way for eager souls. Through His Book, He leads people to His secrets, but reason is not permitted to unravel His mysteries. He bestows His revelation upon whomsoever He pleases from among His servants and opens the doors of His guidance for whomsoever He pleases. Hence, no filth can adhere to such a person nor can any peer compete with him. God admits him among the pure ones. He grants acceptance to whomsoever He pleases and rejects whomsoever He wishes. He frustrates the plans of whomsoever He desires and grants His magnificent bounties to whomsoever He pleases. He places His message where He wills, and He knows best who is the most entitled to, and worthy of it. All people are astray except those whom He guides and all are dead except those whom He gives life. All are blind except those to whom He grants sight; all are starved except those whom He nourishes; and all are thirsty except those to whom He brings water. One who is not guided by Him cannot be from among the guided.

Peace and blessings be upon His Messenger and His chosen one, Muhammad, Khairur-Rusul [the Best of the Messengers] and Khatamun-Nabiyyin [the Seal of the Prophets]. He brought shining light and saved creation from the destructive darkness. He delivered the wayfarers from the hardships of the path and supplied them with abundant provisions. He bestowed pure scriptures analogous to a pure tree, whose fresh fruit nourishes every seeker after truth. All who had sound natures inclined towards acquiring its blessings, and nobody remained deprived [of these fortunes] except the eternally unfortunate and hapless one.

And peace be upon his pure progeny, whose light illumined the entire earth and whose advent manifested the truth. Indeed, they were the full moons of imamat [the office of an Imam] and mountains of the paths of steadfastness. Nobody bears them enmity except those who are accursed and misguided. May Allah shower mercy upon the one who combines the love of them with the love of all Companions. And peace be upon his Companions and his pure devotees who followed him even more faithfully than his shadow and were more obedient to him than his shoes.

Having witnessed his rubies, they forsook the glory and splendour of this world. They committed themselves to obey every command with sincere submission and natural goodness. Notwithstanding the adverse circumstances, they strove in the way of Allah and did not sit back idly. They chose to completely devote themselves to Allah, accumulating the treasures of the hereafter while taking nothing whatsoever from the wealth of the world. They did not incline to amass worldly provisions. They spent their lives in the propagation of the Faith and followed in the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, so much so that their [independent] selves died.

They sold their souls to win the pleasure of their Benevolent Lord and for His sake they were content to part with their households and dear friends. They turned their eyes away from the world and its affairs and were pulled by a mighty attraction that drew them towards Allah, Rabbul-‘alamin [the Lord of all the worlds].

To proceed, know that Islamic brotherhood demands sincere advice and truthfulness. A person who is bestowed with some knowledge and then conceals it like a closely guarded secret is a traitor. There is no end to the subtleties of knowledge, and its verities are countless. There is no hindrance to their disclosure, nor are there dark nights for their full moons. There are many fields of knowledge left for the people of the Latter Days. The truth is that my Lord has taught me many a mystery and granted me knowledge about the unseen. He has commissioned me as the Mujaddid [Reformer] of this century and chosen me to receive liberally and abundantly of His knowledge and made me an heir to His Messengers.

It is by the grace of His teaching and through the gift of understanding bestowed by Him that [I have learned that] the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, died a natural death and passed away just as his other fellow Messengers passed away. Allah gave me glad tidings and said:

‘The Promised Messiah whom they are looking forward to and the blessed Mahdi whom they are awaiting, is none other than you. We do whatever We please. Be not, therefore, of those who doubt.’

He also said: ‘We made you the Messiah, son of Mary.’ Thus He broke the seal of His secret and informed me of the mysteries of this matter. These revelations occurred with such frequency and these glad tidings were given so regularly that I became fully convinced. Then I chose the path of care and discretion and turned my attention towards the Book of Allah that guards the pathways of peace, and discovered it to be the first witness to this. And what could be clearer than His statement: 1 [‘O Jesus, I will cause you to die’]? So, reflect! May Allah guide you before you die and make you among those endowed with insight.

God Almighty confirmed [the death of Jesus] with His statement: 2 [‘When You caused me (Jesus) to die’]. So ponder over it O ye who harasses me and counts me among the disbelievers! This is a definitive verse, which no opponent can deny by appealing to any tradition [hadith] nor can it be targeted by any opponent’s arrow. No one can reject it except the transgressors. The people whose milk of thought has been exhausted and whose vision is weak and shortsighted fail to ponder over the Book of Allah and its explicit arguments. They wander about like the one who follows his own ignorance, and they talk like mad men. They say that the word [at-tawaffi—cause to die] was not employed for any particular meaning; rather, it has general connotations with no solid foundations. Thus, they deceive like the impostors. And when they are informed that wherever this word occurs throughout the Holy Quran—the Book of Allah the Gracious—it only means the causing of death and the seizing of souls which are bound to return [to Allah]—not of physical bodies—how, then, do they insist upon meanings that are not supported by the Book of Allah or by statements from Khairul-Mursalin [the Best of Messengers], peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? In reply to this they say that they found their forefathers upon this belief and they will never forsake it.

When they are told that Khatamun-Nabiyyin [the Seal of the Prophets(sa)] and the Most Truthful of the Exegetes interpreted the word [at-tawaffi—cause to die] in the same sense in explaining this verse—i.e., —as it is not hidden from men of knowledge; and that Ibn Abbas followed him in order to dispel such doubts, saying that [mutawaffika—will cause you to die] means [mumituka—give you death], then why do they abandon the meanings established by the most infallible of Prophets and his paternal cousin who was among those who hold correct beliefs and are rightly guided? They reply, ‘How can we accept it when our forefathers did not hold this belief?’ What they say is nothing but transgression, falsehood, and deception. They did not encompass the views of the predecessors of the ummah, except those of the misguided people who were close to them. They followed only those who had already gone astray from among Faij A‘waj3 and were among the deprived ones, and they continued to follow their sayings until the truth became manifest so that some of them repented in remorse. But the ones upon whose hearts God had set a seal neither accepted the truth nor benefited from the admonition of the admonisher. Those who are firmly rooted in knowledge weep over their condition and find them sleeping on the brink of a pit.

Alas for them! Why do they not reflect in their hearts that the meaning of the word [at-tawaffi—cause to die] has become clear through continuous Quranic evidence, the exegesis of the Prophet for All People and Jinn, and the exegesis of his magnificent companion? One who interprets the Holy Quran according to his own opinion is not a believer but Satan’s brother. If they are in fact believers, then what evidence is clearer than this? Were it permissible to arbitrarily change the intended and consistent meanings of the words, then the language and the Shariah would lose all credence, all doctrines would be corrupted, and calamities would befall the Faith and the Religion. Whenever a word appears in Arabic literature, it is incumbent upon us not to fabricate its meaning from our own selves, or to give precedence to rare meanings over common ones unless there exists a particular context which, in the opinion of the enlightened people, entails the priority of that meaning; this very methodology has always been the way of the jurists.

When the ummah is divided into seventy-three sects—each one considering itself to be among Ahlus-Sunnah [the followers of the Prophet’s tradition]—then what route is there to escape from these disagreements, and what other way exists to obtain freedom from these calamities, except that we firmly take hold of the strong rope of Allah? Thus, O groups of believers! It is incumbent upon you to obey the Furqan [i.e., Holy Quran]. Whosoever follows it is certainly saved from the paths of loss. Now reflect that the Holy Quran declares the Messiah to be dead and gives a comprehensive statement about it. Moreover, there is no hadith that opposes this meaning; rather, they explain it further and add to our enlightenment. You read in Bukhari, ‘Aini, and Fadlul-Bari that [at-tawaffi] means ‘to cause death’ as Ibn Abbas and our Chief [the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa)]—the Imam of All Men and Prophet of All Jinn—have so clearly testified. So then—O groups of Muslims and brethren!—what else remains after this?

The Messiah admits in the Holy Quran that his people were corrupted only after his death. So, if Jesus has not yet died, then you must accept that Christians have not corrupted their religion up to this day. As for those who have invented some other meaning for [at-tawaffi—cause to die], such meanings—unsatisfying as they are—merely reflect their wishful thinking and the confusion of their thoughts. God Almighty has sent no proof for them, as is not hidden from men of knowledge and the awakened ones. If they do not desist out of malice, and deliberately continue to insist upon falsehood, then they should cite before us some authority in support of their meaning, or offer a reliable explanation from God and His Messenger if they are truthful. And you know only too well that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used the word [at-tawaffi] only in the sense of causing death, and of all men he possessed the deepest knowledge and was most insightful. Moreover, the word [—at-tawaffi] was not used in the Holy Quran except in the above sense, so do not alter the words of Allah with inferior thinking. And do not say, ‘This is true and this is false’ about matters regarding which your tongues utter falsehood. Fear Allah if you are righteous.

Why do you follow that [doctrine] which is false and a mere conjecture and not seek the explanation of the one who is free from all defects and the Chief of All Infallible Ones? So keep away from such prejudices. O mortal creatures! Remember death. Have you been granted [eternal] respite in the world, without any care? So remember the day when God will cause you to die and then you will be returned to Him one after another. No opponent or enemy of truth will be able to help you and you will be called to account like the guilty.

As for the claim by certain foolish people that an ijma‘ [consensus] has been reached that Jesus ascended to the high heavens with physical life—not with spiritual life—know that such a statement is absurd and [like] a worthless commodity which only an ignorant person would buy. Ijma‘ means the consensus of the Companions [of the Holy Prophet(sa)], which is not established with regard to this doctrine. Ibn Abbas rendered [mutawaffika] as meaning [mumituka—give you death]. Thus, death stands established, even though your demon may be unwilling to accept it.

O ye who have hurt me! You have heard that the verse [‘but since You caused me to die’ (5:118)] proves by a conclusive argument and a clear statement that the death [of Jesus], which is established from the exegesis of Ibn Abbas, is an event that has already taken place and was consummated, not that it will happen in the future as some people think.

Do you believe that the Christians have not associated partners with their Lord and are not caught in snares like prisoners? If you admit that they have gone astray and have misled others as well, then you must also admit that the Messiah has died and passed away, because the going astray of the Christians was conditional upon the death of the Messiah. So reflect and do not quarrel like the shameless. This matter [of Jesus’ death] has been settled by the Holy Quran and the Hadith of the Imam of All Men and Prophet of All Jinn; therefore, do not pay heed to any tradition that is contrary to them. The truth has become manifest, so pay no attention to the one who is against it, nor take into account any other tradition or narrator. Do not destroy yourself by such claims; and ponder like the humble ones.

This is the belief of the Holy Prophet and the Companions, of which we have reminded you, so that we remove the veil of doubts from you. As for the ijma‘ of those who came after the Companions, we shall remind you some of their views, though you were, before this, of those lacking requisite knowledge.

You should know that Imam Bukhari, who by the grace of Allah was the Chief of Hadith scholars, was the first to affirm the death of Jesus as he has indicated in his Sahih. For, he placed together two verses4 in order that they may reinforce each other and strengthen this interpretive judgement. And if you think that he did not combine these two separate verses with this intention, nor was his purpose to prove this belief [of Jesus’ death], then explain—if you have eyes—why did he join these two verses together? But if you explain it not—and never shall you explain it—then fear Allah and do not persist in pursuing the paths of the transgressors.

O people of insight! Besides [Sahih] al-Bukhari, look at your authentic book, Majma‘ul-Bihar, which speaks of the differing opinions regarding the subject of Jesus, peace be upon him. First, it speaks of his being alive and then it cites [Imam] Malik’s statement, ‘He died.’ O men of intellect! Look at Majma‘ul-Bihar and show some decency. This is the testimony that you are denying. You tear apart that which Allah commands to join. You have deviated far from the station of righteousness. O mischief-mongers! Is there not a single wise man among you? In at-Tabarani and al-Mustadrak, it is reported from ‘A’ishah(ra) that the Messenger of Allah, may peace be upon him, said, ‘Jesus son of Mary lived for 120 years.’ In addition to these testimonies, look at Ibn Qayyim, the scholar of Hadith whose insightfulness is known only too well. He says in his book, Madarijus-Salikin, ‘If Moses and Jesus had been alive, they would have had no choice but to follow Khatamun-Nabiyyin [the Seal of the Prophets].’ Furthermore see the book Al-Fauzul-Kabir wa Fathul-Khabir, which is a commentary on the Holy Quran in light of the sayings of the Best of Creation [the Holy Prophet(sa)], and is authored by Hakimul-millah [the Sage of the faith] Shaَh Waliullah Dehlawi. He says, [mutawaffika] means [mumituka—will put you to death]. He added not a single word to this and, following the meaning derived from the lamp of Prophethood, he did not mention any other. Again, look into al-Kashshaf [a Quranic exegesis by ‘Allamah Zamakhshari] and fear Allah and do not adopt the ways of transgression like the impertinent people.

Further, you also know the doctrine held by the Mu‘tazilah sects. They do not believe in the life of Jesus, but affirm his death and make it part of their doctrine. There is no doubt that they are among the Islamic sects because the ummah divided into sects after the third century. The division of this ummah into sects cannot be denied and the Mu‘tazilah is one of these different sects.

Imam Abdul-Wahhab Sha‘rani, who is renowned among the authentic scholars, says in his famous book, at-Tabaqat, that his mentor, Afzal-ud-Din, may Allah shower His mercy upon him, used to say that most of the exoteric Sufi discourse follows the principles of the Mu‘tazilah and the philosophers. Thus, no wise person would hasten to deny it just because such theological discourse is attributable to them; rather, he would carefully consider and ponder their arguments.

He [Imam Sha‘rani] further says that he read in a treatise by Sheikh Muhammad al-Maghribi ash-Shadhili, ‘Know that the way of the Sufis is based upon the certainty of establishing the truth and sometimes it is closer to the way of the Mu‘tazilah. I have quoted it from Lawaqihul-Anwar.’ So reflect like the chosen ones, and do not turn away like the wicked, and follow not the path of the transgressors.

If you say that there is ijma‘ [consensus] not to act contrary to the teachings of the Four Imams, then I have already explained the reality of such a consensus. So do not pounce like beasts; rather, reflect like righteous and God-fearing people. And remember the saying of Imam Ahmad [bin Hanbal], who was God-fearing and an obedient servant of God, that one who claims ijma‘ is a liar. Besides, we find many partial differences among the four Imams and find these [differences] to be outside of their ijma‘. So, what is your position on these issues and their claimant? Do you admit the perniciousness of these issues or do you permit acting upon them and holding firm to them and not regarding them as the thoughts of innovators? You know that ijma‘ does not support this belief and those who hold it. However, you regard every matter outside of ijma‘ as something corrupt and a worthless commodity, and consider the proponents of such views to be heretics and deceivers.

If you claim that there is ijma‘ on the life of Jesus the Messiah based on an authentic source and an explicit statement, then it is a lie of yours and your ilk. Verily, Allah’s curse is upon the liars. Hasty people! Why do you set about rejecting me? It is a great curse to reject those upon whom were revealed the subtleties of the path of truth and certainty that were not revealed upon others. See how many people have perished on account of their ill-thinking and their abusing the truthful ones. They entered the presence of the men of God with impertinence, whereas they should have entered in fear.

The deniers shot every arrow and followed every doubt but could not hold their ground. They tried their utmost, yet they ended up with nothing but ravings. When their quivers became empty and their treasures were exhausted and there was no place left for them to flee or return, and when they lost their teeth and fangs, then they resorted to abuse, excommunication, and deception, hoping that by this tactic they might emerge triumphant. One of them even dared to deceive people by using his pen under the influence of Satan the sneaking whisperer, and com piled a book for this purpose. But as providence would have it, the very book that he pub lished, offering a prize, became the means to expose him. He claimed that he had silenced me, had rendered me speechless on all levels, and had thus become victorious. So I stood up to test the veracity of his claim, to test his waters in order to tear apart the liar and his mischief, and to show his horde all that they were heedless of.

His [offer of] prize [money] turned cattle-like people into savages and his announcement befuddled the hyena-like people so that they could not understand the malevolence of his discourse and the infirmity of his attack. They took his mirage to be a sweet-flowing spring. I had pledged myself to pay attention only to important issues and not to waste time in every argument and debate.

I found his [Rusul Baba’s] book full of ignorance, laden with gibberish, comprised of the stupidity of his nature, and a subject of innate wretchedness. The scarcity of my time and the magnanimity of my ambition prevented me from staining my hands with the blood of this worm, lest I be distracted from the real purpose. But I found that this man was misleading every ignorant and foolish person by his offer of prize money and through his vain speech, and that if I remained silent, he would definitely increase in his crimes and would deceive people with his false claim of silencing me. When he entered the trap, I deemed it proper to seize him and slaughter him for the hungry. Verily, he flies like a locust in order to devour the crop of the Lord of the people. Hence, in support of the fountain of truth and its flowing waters, I thought it proper to hunt this locust and its young and save God’s creatures from the deception of the treacherous. I swear by Him who granted me His love and called me in support of His loved ones, that I have no interest whatsoever in the prize money of that man. I consider him as absurd as his discourse. I just want him to see the reward for his crime so that certain biased, ignorant people may not be misled.

Know—O ye who composed this book demanding my reply!—that I have come to you with a wish to listen to your arguments, save you from your perniciousness, uproot your meanness, and to show you that you are in error.

You know well that the burden of proof does not lie with me; rather, it is upon him who claims that Jesus is alive and says that he has neither died, nor is he to be counted among the dead. For the reality of a claim that chooses the ways of exemption without proofs is indicative of such baseless positions; i.e. the including of countless things in one rule [i.e., all men die], then excluding something from it [Jesus(as)] without any reason of exemption or demonstrable cause. This explanation cannot be denied by a child or even a simpleton, except the one who, due to his prejudice, resembles fanatics.

With this firmly established, we argue that, as we look at the age in which Jesus was raised, our sound reason testifies that all the people of his time passed away, regardless of whether they were his friends or foes, his neighbours, his brothers, his close companions, or his maternal aunts and mothers, his paternal aunts or his sisters, or all those who lived in those places, towns, and dwellings. We do not find any of them alive in this age. Thus, whoever claims that only Jesus, out of all of them, survived and did not die, he declares him as an exception. Therefore, it lies upon him to prove this claim. You are aware that according to the Hanafis, there are four types of arguments to establish the claims of the claimants, as is not hidden from scholars.

First: [The argument that is] qat‘i ath-thubut wad-dalalah [decisive in both authenticity and implication] which is free from every flaw and defect. For example, unambiguous Quranic verses as well as those ahadith that are mutawatir [possessing numerous uninterrupted chains] and sahih [authentic]—with the proviso that they are independent of the interpretations of the interpreters and free from such contradictions and inconsistencies as render them weak in the opinion of the research scholars.

Second: [The argument that is] qat‘i ath-thubut [decisive in its authenticity] but zanni ad-dalalah [speculative in its implication]. For instance, the verses and ahadith that are definitively authentic but are amenable to multiple interpretations.

Third: [The argument that is] zanni ath-thubut [speculative in its authenticity] but qat‘i ad-dalalah [decisive in its implication]. For example, those ahad reports [ahadith with a solitary chain] that are clear but lack strength of transmission and suffer from some deficiency.

Fourth: [The argument that is] zanni ath-thubut wad-dalalah [speculative in its authenticity and implication], namely those ahad reports that are susceptible to multiple meanings and are dubious.

It is evident that the most conclusive and solid argument is the first kind of argument. The seeker cannot be satisfied without it because conjecture avails nothing against truth nor can it lead to certainty at all.

I always waited for a person who would claim certainty in this field and kept waiting to be informed about such a man among the enemies. But no one came forward to confront me to this today; rather, they fled from me like cowards. So, I hopelessly bid them farewell and started off all alone. Then after some time—O short-sighted and sore-eyed one!—I received your book. When I observed it and pondered for a while, I realized that it was worthless and considered it necessary that it should go unnoticed and not be presented as something worthwhile. If you were blessed with the light of knowledge and pondered like a man with eyes, you would have covered up your flaws and not invited the attention of your neighbour toward them. However, Allah desired to humiliate you and to publicly bring disgrace upon you. So, you came forward to take up the challenge and did what you did. You exercised deception and trickery and announced prize money in your book to please the ignorant masses. But you kept it [the prize money] enclosed and did not disclose it and deceived in whatever you said. I know that you are not a rich person.

Moreover, I do not know whether you keep your word and are righteous. On the contrary, I find treachery in your words like sinful people. In view of this, what guarantee is there that you will fulfil your promise when you face defeat and start shuddering? The truth is that the betrayal of one’s promise is one of the chief characteristics of this generation. If you arrive at the pool of betrayal, then tell me—O miserly one!—from where shall I obtain this money? I do not want to take this issue to court, requiring the help of state officials and incurring risks thereby. I know that you are poor and possess no wealth. Then tell me, where will this ready money come from despite your poverty, indigence, and want? Moreover, caprices revoke [previous] commitments and pose hurdles in the way of keeping promises. There are obstacles between us and the fulfilment of promises. O horde of liars! I do not trust your promises. If you are among the truthful and are not among those who lie and betray, and if you are honest in your promise of prize money and do not intend to breach it, then the most appropriate course is to submit the prize money with some noble gentleman so that it might remove all veils of doubts and suspicions and lead to the path of resolving all disputes. To settle the dispute, I agree that you may submit [the amount] to Sheikh Ghulam Hasan or Khawaja Yusuf Shah or Mir Mahmud Shah and for that purpose I shall obtain a handwritten receipt from them. Are you ready to submit the amount to someone who is neutral for both of us? Or do you not intend to take up the path of the just? I do not know what is hidden deep inside your heart. If you have written this book with good intention and not with any maliciousness of your nature, then stand firm and do not incline towards excess. If you are truthful then do as I have told you.

I have come to you fully prepared and will not turn away or be afraid. I will march forward happily even in the face of lions. I am not afraid of the likes of you; I regard you as foxes in battle. I am determined to delve into your inner secret and to shake off your bag and open up the lid of your waterskin. It is rare that a liar should escape scot-free or his imposture should become a source of blessing for him. For an entire year I neither used harsh language nor replied to any excommunicator and fault-finder. I remained patient, observing their arrogance until the harshness of their words forced me to chastise them for their abusive language. And serpents can only be dealt with by sticks and stones. So, I stood up to expose the liars.

I would not like to begin a long discourse. What I want is for you to declare your wealth before me and submit the amount to any one of the above persons. And tell them that when they find you vanquished, they should give your money to me. If you do not do so, your falsehood will become manifest and your breach of promise will bring disgrace upon you. Beware! God’s curse is upon the liars. Hearken, God’s curse is also upon those who are perfidious and break their promises, those who do not do what they say, and make covenants yet do not fulfil them, and speak like the deceitful and the untrue. Such people are indeed cursed by God, the angels, and all mankind. So fear the curse of Allah and fulfil your promises like the truthful. If you cannot keep your promise and do not possess wealth like the rich, then seek those who can come to your aid and heal your wounds and become your support. If your supporters prove to be your true devotees, they will help you like your disciples. For it is incumbent upon people to help the needy, free the captives, respect the ulema, and have goodwill for the well-wishers.

However, you will not demand a single penny except after the testimony of the arbitrators. And as for the verdict, it will be passed by two arbitrators after submitting the amount. I entrust this matter to you and grant you complete authority over its particulars. Even if you appoint two dishonest arbitrators, I will accept them wholeheartedly and will overlook their falsehood and lies. However, I will put both arbitrators under God Almighty’s oath, requiring them to swear in public that they have spoken the truth. Then I will grant them respite for one year. During that period, I will engage in offering supplications before God, the All-Aware, the All-Knowing. And if during this period a manifest Sign of the acceptance of prayer is not shown, then God Almighty is my Witness that I will, without any doubt or misgiving, admit your truthfulness and count you among the truthful.

I wonder why you took to writing this book and what novel and extraordinary things you have written in it. [The truth is that] you have merely collected the refuse of worthless people and replicated the follies of the ignorant. Everything that you have said had been said before you and was tarnished by ignorance even greater than yours. You have not said anything from yourself; you have only plagiarized the works of the ignorant. I find such expressions in your book that smell like rotten fish and stink like a putrid carcass, and I find them to be full of petty and hollow artificialities and the laughing stock of people. You have done all this just to snatch loaves of bread from mosques and to achieve the approbation of the people like the one overpowered by his passions, and not for the sake of God, the Lord of the worlds. O ye who abandoned the truth and lied! You have cast aside the Holy Quran; you know nothing but mad ravings and walk like the blind, and you know nothing except walking the paths of falsehood and running wild in the streets of mischief.

You fear not the claws of the lion and wander like the blind and the one-eyed. I have exposed your darkness and torn your writing to shreds, and you will soon realize it. Do you, like the ignorant and shameless, believe that Jesus is alive, and consider him to be exempt from the dead? You have not offered any evidence from the bayyinat [clear and perspicuous Quranic verses] and muhkamat [explicit and decisive verses] nor from any ahadith of the Best of Creation which possess numerous uninterrupted chains. And so—O ye whose speech is in vain!—you lied in order to establish your claim and deviated from the fundamentals of Islamic law. O reckless ignoramus! O reproached miscreant! Pause and think seriously with reason. You have not advanced any argument in favour of your claim regarding Jesus’ life. You have simply followed conjectures—nay, rather, superstitions. The conclusion of a problem cannot exceed its premises. When two premises are hypothetical, their conclusion will also be speculative, as is not hidden from those who possess sight. If you cannot comprehend these profundities and are not cognizant of their truths, then ask those who possess profound wisdom and deep insight. If you cannot see your conduct with your eyes, then see it through the eyes of others; if you are deprived of rain, then seek it from the clouds of others. O wretched one! Do you not realize that your words contradict the manifest arguments of the Holy Quran and are against its muhkamat? The meaning of [at-tawaffi—cause to die] has been expounded clearly by the Chief of All Men and Prophet of All Jinn [the Holy Prophet(sa)], and by his wise and insightful Companions. Then what value can be accorded to the meanings used by the common folk when compared to the one defined explicitly by the Best of Creation? Who can deny these meanings except the sinful?

Repent for the disregard you have shown towards Allah and His bayyinat. You have followed the mutashabihat [Quranic verses susceptible to different interpretations] and have neglected the muhkamat. You attacked like one unbridled and have abandoned the truth like the idolaters. I reviewed your book from time to time and found it dancing like a chanteuse; by God, this book is devoid of truth and full of the deceptions of Dajjal [the Antichrist]. Therefore, you must immediately pay this amount in cash so that I may expose to you your falsehood and teach you a lesson. It is also incumbent upon you to submit money to a trustworthy person who is a reliable guarantor. Or else, how can I believe that I will get your prize money after having disproved your claim and demonstrated your wretchedness? O poverty-stricken one! You are not among the wealthy but among the helpless, ignorant ones. So, give up your insolent nature and deposit the said amount and keep away from the paths of deception and abandon excuses. If you are truthful and a seeker of truth, well and good, but if you turn away from it, and are a cheat, then shame on you! I have conveyed this admonition to the fullest degree, and have enquired like one who seeks a wise guide and reveals the straight paths. I have perfectly conveyed the message for the sake of Allah the One. Now I will see whether you submit the prize money and abide by your promise and faith, or betray your word and follow Satan, like the corrupt.

I swear by God, who causes rain to fall from the clouds and brings forth fruit from calyces, that I have come forward to take up the challenge not in hope of any reward, but only to humiliate the miscreants so that the truth may be revealed and the path of the guilty be exposed. Verily, Allah the Almighty is with the righteous, and God, who endowed man with reason and intellect, is my Witness, that you have perpetrated an abominable deed and left a bad name behind you. I already published an announcement before this in which I solemnly promised a prize for those who would respond to it, but not a single one of them came forward to answer it. They were speechless like beasts and animals. Dumbfounded and stunned, their muscles were quivering incessantly with fear and they fell on their faces in shame.

Do you know more than all those people, or are you insane? They were far cleverer in discourse than you; you are a mere novice by comparison. Ultimately, their end was humiliation, disgrace, and the wrath of the Lord of the worlds. When Allah decides to humiliate a people, they begin to harbour enmity towards His Auliya’ [Friends], hurt His loved ones, and curse His chosen ones. Then God comes forward to confront them for war and turns their faces away with a single blow and renders them helpless. Do you not ponder over their fate? Surely God sends me every kind of help and He is visiting the land, reducing it from its outlying borders. He protects me with His gracious hands and shields me in the blankets of His support so that no plot of the wicked can harm me. He knows who belongs to Him and who does not. He keeps watch over the movement of every one who walks. He does not guide transgressors and destroys the sinful people and erases the names of the liars from the face of the earth. He is Most Jealous for His honour and is the Avenger. He is aware of the acts of mischievous evildoers and quickly apprehends the liars. And He sends down His chastisement faster than the blink of an eye. O horde of the enemy! Repent like those who fear the wrath of God the Gracious and turn to Him before the day of loss, and who transform themselves in order to seek God’s pleasure. Seek [His] mercy because He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. O deluded one! Be ashamed of your ignorance and ask forgiveness for your transgressions. Ponder over your loss, your moral degradation, and your being exposed, and reproach yourself like those who fear.

Know that whoever undertakes to investigate any trace of Jesus being alive is like one who cuts off his nose with a razor inasmuch as this whole corruption was spread through the belief in Jesus’ life, and the earth has darkened due to this hideous belief. Besides, you are unable to bring evidence in support of [Jesus’] life. You accept the statements of man but reject the words of Allah and of the Leader of the Universe [the Holy Prophet(sa)]. You know that anyone who interprets the Holy Quran according to his personal opinion—even if it is correct—commits an error, yet you follow your own desires and fail to fear the Being who created everything, and you talk like the impertinent. When the verses of the Furqan [the Holy Quran] are recited before you, you do not accept them even though half the Quran may be recited, but if anything other than the Quran is presented, you happily accept it.

You do not pay attention to the Book of Allah the Gracious, and gladly make haste towards others. I wonder how can it be permissible, when we have witnessed the bayyinat of the Furqan, to then have faith in anything except the Quran? Is there anything except the Quran that can lead you to submission and certainty? Should you be truthful, then present any evidence. Alas for our enemies who have turned their eyes away from the scriptures of the Allah the Gracious. They did not seek Quranic verities like the seekers of knowledge and wasted all their time and all their lives clinging to such opinions as can neither lead them to the gardens of obedience nor satiate them with the pure springs of faith. I regard their statements as the words of impostors. O horde of blind and one-eyed men! Fear God and dare not commit sins and evil acts. Take the path in which you do not fear any oppression or any stroke of the sword, or any sting of a biter, or any calamity of a vast valley. Stand in submission before Allah and ponder over what I have said. Have I spoken the truth or have I deviated from the truth? Reflect like God-fearing people! What is the matter with you that you do not show readiness to accept the proof and stray away from the right path?

You exert yourself to hoard provisions and abandon close relations for its sake. I find none among you who parted with his near and dear ones for the sake of God, strove in faith, and persisted in it. Why do you not adopt the morals of the righteous and follow the paths of the God-fearing? You denied the truth and did not witness its satiating power; neither did you walk upon its gravel, nor did you probe the whole matter. You abandoned the Holy Quran and its guidance and you are a transgressing people.

O mischievous and spiteful ones! Fear Allah, the Lord of mankind. Where has your piety gone? Your knowledge led you astray and failed to save you. You neither have any understanding of the Holy Quran nor are you acquainted with the Furqan. Where have your virtues gone and where is your vitality? I do not find your discourse based upon righteousness; rather, your hearts are tainted with rebellion. What will become of the boat that has sailors like you? And what will become of the land ploughed by farmers of your ilk? Without doubt, you are the enemy of the Faith and the mighty Shariah. We know the citadel of Islam has been razed to the ground on your account and by your hands and now it lies in ruins. Had my Lord God not graced it with His mercy, it would have been engulfed by darkness. God is its Guardian and He is the Best of Guardians.

Do you not perceive how many paths you have trodden and how many people you have destroyed; how many innovations you have introduced and how many nations you have deceived; how many honours you have violated and how many cunning people you have outdone? However, the truth has now become manifest and the Merciful God has shown mercy, the dark night has lit up, and the true Faith has been illumined. God’s decree becomes manifest despite your discontent. Surely, Allah is Ever Watchful. So, He mercifully turned His attention to His Religion and found it the target of the enemies’ arrows. He found it solitary and helpless in a desolate wilderness. Then, through His special mercy, Almighty Allah raised me in this age of poverty and destitution in order to make the Muslims prosper and to grant them that which was not granted to their forefathers, and to have mercy upon the weak. Indeed, He is the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy.

By God Almighty’s command, who raises the Imam and knows [the need of] the time, I have been bestowed with this station. He, the Wise and All-Knowing, knows the error and misguidance of this time and is well aware of the violent winds of mischief among men and women. People have reached their limit in sins—they wounded the backs of their animals and buried the truth in nooks and crannies—and falsehood has shined like mirrors. The Lord of creation saw all this happen and sent one of His servants at the time of this mischief.

O embers of hatred and enmity! Do you wonder at His grace? Do not rely upon doubts and suspicions. God’s secrets are like hidden pearls. He tests His men in every age. Every day He reveals Himself in a different state. I swear by Him who fully knows all secrets and helps the truthful men and women, that I am from Allah who is the Lord of the universe. The earth trembles at His grandeur and the sky is rent asunder by His awe. It is not possible for an accursed impostor to live a long life despite his lies. Therefore, fear God and the glorious majesty of His Being. Is there not a iota of piety left in you? Have you forgotten the admonition to hold your tongue and to fear the hereafter? O distrusting people! Come here and do not flee from light. O my people! I am from Allah. I am from Allah. I am from Allah. I call my Lord to witness that I am from Allah and I believe in Allah, His Holy Book, and in everything established by the Chief of Mankind and Prophet of all Jinn. I have been raised at the turn of the century to rejuvenate the Faith and illuminate the countenance of the Religion. Allah bears witness to this, and knows who is wretched and who is blessed.

Fear Allah, O hasty people! Is there not a single humble fellow among you? Do you dare attack the lions? And fail to differentiate among the accepted and the rejected?

There are people among this ummah who are among the elect and their Lord converses with them with love and affection. He becomes the enemy of those who bear enmity towards them and a friend of those who befriend them. He provides them with food and water, stands by them, watches over them, and becomes theirs. They are encompassed by the Lord of the worlds. They receive such secrets from their Lord as are unknown to anyone except them. Their hearts are filled with the love of the Beloved and they attain union with their Besought. Their inner self is illuminated and their outer self is left exposed to the critics. Blessed is the brave youth who adopts their morals, whose every clever scheme is shattered in their presence, and who rides the horse of truth to join the company of the righteous.

This is what I have written and composed for you. Write a reply as it reaches you. In short, I am ready for the contest in order to make you pay for your arrow slinging. He who hurts good men destroys himself. Listen to me! I am waiting for you to arrange for the prize money. Once you have arranged the amount and fulfilled the demand, know then that Ahmad will swoop down on you, exposing your misfortune and making an example of you.

O poor fellow! Jesus’ death is a self-evident truth and to deny it is great ignorance. However, your hearts have become rusty and veils have thickened. So you rejected and all doors were shut upon you. You pay no heed to admonitions and the truth hurts you like enraging words. Your pride in your book destroyed you, which is the real cause of your ruin. I have come to know your secret and its riddle, even though other people do not recognize its meaning. Your sole purpose is to entice foolish people and deceive the ignorant, so that you gain respect among the wretched and succeed in your designs. I hereby conclude my discourse. So reflect like the wise and do not sit like the blind.

May Allah guide you; do you wish to please the commoners,
That you might thereby gain the vanities of the world from them?

Is there a trace in the religion of Islam,
Of the words that you fashion in order to quarrel?

Do you possess as evidence the consensus of those people,
Who lost truth on account of their ignorance and transgression?

It was people like you who killed Husain at a time,
When they found him to be an Imam without equal.

THE END