Further Review of Maulawi Rusul Baba Amritsari’s Hayatul-Masih

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Request for Depositing Rs. 1,000 in Prize Money

I have already stated that the above-mentioned maulawi has recently written a book to prove the life of Jesus, peace be upon him, and has named it Hayatul-Masih. However, if it is asked, ‘Having striven so hard and wasted so much time, what has he proved?’, the answer of a fair-minded person would be, ‘Nothing.’ If the maulawi’s intentions were sincere and the ultimate motive of his work was to investigate the truth of the matter and nothing else, then he would have carefully read those bayyinat [clear and perspicuous] verses of the Holy Quran which prove the death of Jesus, peace be upon him, so clearly as though he had died and been buried before our very eyes. However, it is a pity that the aforesaid maulawi, closing his eyes, passed over these decisive and explicit verses and—by tampering with some other verses and by adding certain phrases from himself—he has tried to convince people that these verses point to Jesus’ life. If anything is proved by the maulawi’s deceitful exercise, it is only that his nature possesses some disposition of the traits of [wayward] Jews; otherwise, it does not behove a virtuous person to prove something by altering the apparent composition of the Holy Quran and severing the inextricable connections of [Quranic] verses as well as adding some phrases from himself. If this is called ‘proof ’ then there is nothing that cannot be proved. Every heretic and disbeliever can establish their objectives in this way. Who does not know that the meaning of a book is called its meaning only when its sequence, relation of sentences, and context are preserved? But if the sequence of the book is altered and portions of the text are separated from one another, and certain phrases are added audaciously, then trying to prove anything from such a self-conceived text is tantamount to the same Jewish interpolation on account of which, those people who indulged in such heretical practices with regard to the Torah were described as swines and apes in the Holy Quran. If these kinds of dishonest manipulations and interpolations can be used to prove the life of the Messiah, then it behoves us to admit that his life has indeed been proved; but what is the remedy for the fact that God Almighty has designated such interpolators as ‘swine’ and ‘apes’, has cursed them, and has enjoined us to abstain from their company?

It should be remembered that we are not authorized to make any alteration, substitution, reordering, or restructuring of any verse in the Word of God, except in the case when the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had done so himself, and it is proved that Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, himself had made such an alteration or substitution. In the absence of such proof we cannot disturb the sequence of the Holy Quran, nor can we add anything to it from ourselves. If we do so, we would be guilty of an offence before Allah and would be held accountable for it.

Now, readers should see for themselves whether the aforesaid maulawi’s book is really filled with such corrupt practices or if he has done even so much as to present any verse from the Holy Quran whose meaning he demonstrates—not from himself, but rather, through a hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—as proving the actual life of the Messiah, without indulging in any laboured explanations and interpolations. I bear no hostility or enmity towards Maulawi Rusul Baba or towards any other maulawi. If he does not follow the Jewish tendency and employs correct reasoning, then it would be dishonest not to accept the established fact. If someone were to reflect fairly as to how the facts are proved and what is the criterion for their proof, one would realize that God Almighty has laid down only one such rule; namely, that clear, manifest, and self-evident matters should be cited as evidence to prove speculative matters. And if something is presented as a proof which itself is speculative and ambiguous and comprises forced explanations and interpolations, then it will not be treated as proof, but rather, as a separate claim which itself stands in need of proof.

Unfortunately, our naive maulawis cannot differentiate between proof and claim. And if proof is demanded in support of a claim, they come up with yet another claim and fail to understand that it needs proof just like the first claim. I asked my opponent maulawis only one question regarding the life and death of the Messiah, peace be upon him. Had they pondered over the question honestly, only one question would have sufficed for their guidance. If they were truly seeking guidance, they would ponder over it. The question was that Allah, the Lord of Glory, has twice used the word [tawaffi—cause to die] for the Messiah, peace be upon him, in the Holy Quran and this word has also occurred with respect to our Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Similarly, Allah, the Lord of Glory, used this word in the prayer of Joseph, peace be upon him, and it is also present at several other places. Observing these instances, a fair-minded person can ascertain to his satisfaction that the word [tawaffi] always means to seize the soul and to cause death; nothing else. This expression also occurs commonly in Hadith literature. You will find the word tawaffi hundreds of times in Hadith books, but can anyone prove that it has been used there to mean something other than ‘to cause death’? Certainly not! On the contrary, if we said this phrase even to an uneducated Arab, [Tuwuffiya Zaid], he would understand this phrase to mean: ‘Zaid has passed away.’ Leaving aside the common idiom of the Arabs, the sacred sayings of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, themselves prove that whenever a Companion or any other relative of his died, he(sa) always pronounced his death with the word tawaffi. When the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed away, his Companions also announced his death with the word tawaffi. Similarly, the deaths of Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Umar, and all other Companions were described in speech and writing by the word [tawaffi].

It was regarded as a respectful term for the death of Muslims, but when the same word occurs with regard to the Messiah, why do they apply self-concocted meanings? If they do not accept the verdict of this common expression, there is another way of settling it, and that is to determine what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his Companions took the word tawaffi to mean when it occurred in the Quranic verses with regard to the Messiah. So we enquired into it and discovered that in Kitabut-Tafsir [the Book of Quranic Commentary] of Sahih al-Bukhari, the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is reported to have interpreted the verse [falamma tawaffaytani]1 as ‘to cause death’.2 Then, in the same place the meaning of the verse [inni mutawaffika]3 is described as [mumituka—will give you death] by Hazrat Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, which means, ‘O Jesus, I will cause you to die.’ Now, someone should ask these maulawis whether it is honest or dishonest on their part to not only reject the first verdict but also refuse to accept the verdict of the Companions and especially of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and to keep on saying that the word tawaffi means something else. Such prejudice is to be regretted a thousand times when one refuses to accept the meaning of a word after hearing it from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and invents some other meaning that does not consent to the verdict of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, or [refuses] to submit their dispute to God and His Messenger; seeking instead help from Aristotle and Plato’s logic. This is not the way of the righteous; rather, it is the age-old habit of the wretched ones. There is no greater testimony for us than the testimony of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. My body shudders when someone is presented with the verdict of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he does not accept it and turns away. I wonder what kind of faith these people have. They pay scant regard to the verdict of the Noble Quran as well as to that of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and they do not attach any importance to the interpretation of his Companions. Strange are the times! Despite being called ‘maulawis,’ they forsake God and His Messenger. If it is asked insistently, ‘When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had defined the word [tawaffi] as ‘causing death’, why do you not accept it?’, they—as a last resort—reply, ‘There is ijma‘ [consensus] regarding Jesus’ life, so how can we accept otherwise?’ However, this excuse is worse than the misdeed, and is abominable trickery and disrespect, for what value does a ‘consensus’ possess in which our Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has no part—nay, rather, one which he opposes clearly? Besides, the claim of ijma‘ is also a sheer lie and deception. See the book Majma‘ Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 1, p. 286, where the word [Hakam—Arbiter] is explained thusly:

That is, Jesus will descend as an arbiter under the Shariah, not as a Prophet. Many of them say that Jesus has not died, but Imam Malik said, ‘Jesus died and he was thirty-three years of age.’

Now behold Imam Malik(ra), what a great and honourable imam, who belongs to Khairul-Qurun [i.e., the first three centuries of Islam] and has millions of followers! If he held this belief then it can be said that millions of scholars, men of knowledge, the righteous ones, and the divines—who were Hazrat Imam’s sincere followers—also held the same belief that Jesus had passed away. For it is impossible that a true follower should contradict his imam, especially regarding a matter that is not merely the saying of the imam but also the saying of God, His Messenger, the Companions, the Tabi‘in, and the Taba‘ tabi‘in.4 One should be ashamed that when such a great imam—who appeared prior to all other imams of Hadith, and who encompassed all Prophetic traditions—held this belief, how brazen it is for someone to claim ijma‘ regarding this issue. Alas! The maulawis deceive people but fail to realize that the whole world is not blind; there are also those who read books and expose their dishonesty. When these so-called maulawis find that they are unable to present textual evidence from the Holy Quran and Hadith, that there is no way to escape, and that they are left with no argument in their favour, then they have no recourse but to say that there is ijma‘ regarding it.

It is a true saying that [a maulawi is one who never keeps silent even if he has to tell lies]. These people are also aware that there is disagreement over the meaning of ijma‘ [consensus] itself. Some restrict it to the Companions, some to the first three centuries, and some to the four Imams. The position of the Companions and the Imams is already known. The dissent of just one person suffices to break ijma‘ let alone a great imam like Imam Malik, may Allah be pleased with him—who had millions of followers—should believe openly in Jesus’ death. Yet these people dare to claim ijma‘ regarding his life. Shame! Shame! Shame!

The statement of Imam Ahmad [bin Hanbal], may Allah be pleased with him, regarding ijma‘ is truly based on research and justice. He says that whoever claims ijma‘ is a liar. This demonstrates that the Holy Quran and Hadith alone comprise the true and perfect charter for the Muslims; everything else is worthless. But a hadith which goes against the bayyinat and muhkamat [explicit and decisive verses] of the Quran and narrates a story contrary to those of the Quran, is in fact not a hadith, but rather some perverted statement, or from its inception it is maudu‘ [fabricated] and spurious. Such a hadith would undoubtedly be worthy of rejection. However, it is by the grace and blessing of God Almighty that the Hadith have nowhere opposed the Holy Quran regarding the issue of Jesus’ death; rather they confirm it. The word [mutawaffika—cause you to die] occurs in the Quran while the word [mumituka—give you death] in Hadith. The Quran contains and in Hadith, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has applied the same words, , to himself without any change or alteration, thus revealing its meaning as ‘causing death’, and nothing else.

It is far from the dignity of a Prophet to distort the meaning intended by God Almighty by applying a verse of the Holy Quran to himself which in the sight of Allah [supposedly] means ‘to raise alive’, but which he interprets as ‘causing death’. It is dishonesty and interpolation. Ascribing such an abominable practice to the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is, in my estimation, a mortal sin; nay, it approaches apostasy. Alas! To what great lengths have these treacherous maulawis gone in order to prove the life of Jesus! God forbid, they have declared that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, distorted the Quran! What else can we say except: [God’s curse be upon dishonest traitors].

It was a very clear and straightforward matter that our Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, applied the verse5 to himself in the same sense in which the verse applied to Prophet Jesus, peace be on him. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not say on this occasion: When applied to Prophet Jesus, this verse will have a different meaning and when applied to myself, it would have quite a different meaning. For, if the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had intended any change or alteration in the meaning, then, for the sake of removing any possible misunderstanding, it would have been necessary that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, on the occasion of this similitude and comparison, clarify that we should not misunderstand his statement, for when he will say in the presence of God on the Day of Judgement, it would mean those people had gone astray after his death, whereas when the Messiah [i.e., Jesus] will utter the very same words, , it will not mean ‘after his death’, but rather, ‘after his being raised’. Since the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, made no such distinction, it proves categorically that he intended the same meaning on both occasions.

Now one must see with open eyes that when the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and Jesus are both included in the words 6—implying that this verse applies to both of them—then whatever meaning of this verse you may choose, they will both share it. If you say that the word [tawaffi] here means ‘raising someone alive to heaven’, then you must admit that this ‘raising alive’ is not unique to Jesus alone; our Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also been raised to heaven alive, because they both equally share in the meaning of the verse. However, it is well known that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was not raised alive to heaven; rather, he passed away and his blessed tomb is present in Madinah Munawwarah. So, it follows that Jesus, too, has died. Interestingly, a tomb of Jesus is also found in the Levant.

To elaborate, I will reproduce here in a footnote the testimony of my brother-in-faith, Sayyid Maulawi Muhammad as-Sa‘idi Tarabulusi. He lives in Tripoli, the Levant7 and the tomb of Jesus, peace be on him, is found within its boundaries.8

If you say it is a false tomb then you should prove it. And also you should prove when this forgery was made. In that case, there will be no satisfactory proof regarding the tombs of other Prophets, too; all credibility will be lost and it would have to be said that perhaps all these tombs may be fraudulent.

At any rate, the meaning of the verse has been established as ‘causing death’.9 Some ignorant, so-called maulawis say that it is true that the verse means ‘causing death’ and nothing else, but that death would occur after his descent, which has not yet happened.

But sadly, these ignorant people do not realize that in such a case the whole meaning of the verse is perverted. For, the verse says that Jesus will submit to God Almighty that his people were corrupted after his death. In other words, as long as he was alive, they were on the right path and went astray only after his death, not in his lifetime.

Therefore, if it is claimed that Jesus, peace be on him, has not yet died, then it must also be admitted that his people have still not become corrupt, because it is clear from the text of the verse that his people will not become corrupt until Jesus’ death. The word ‘death’, or the reality of death, is evident for all to see; that is, a person is said to have died when the Angel of Death seizes his soul by separating it from the body. Now the fair-minded people should say honestly if there is any greater proof of Prophet Jesus’ death than this? Is it possible to have a more logical verdict than the one delivered by this verse? Then, on the face of it, is it not the way of sinfulness and heresy to interpolate the Holy Word of God Almighty like the Jews, fabricating its meaning on one’s own with an unclean heart? Justice demands that if they did not accept this clear and conclusive argument, they should have shown it to be false. But my opponents have not done so; on the contrary, by resorting to laboured interpretations and totally abandoning the ways of truth, they have demonstrated to me that they have no regard for truth at all.

They declared the rejection of Jesus’ being alive as a word of kufr [disbelief ] but did not open their eyes to see that the Quran and the Prophet of the Latter Days [i.e., Muhammad(sa)] both agree in word and speech upon Prophet Jesus’ death. A great imam like Imam Malik believed in his death. The renowned Imam of Hadith, Imam Bukhari, placed two separate verses together just to prove his death. An eminent Hadith scholar like Ibn Qayyim affirmed the death [of Jesus] in Madarijus-Salikin. Similarly, ‘Allamah Sheikh Ali bin Ahmad explained Jesus’ death in his book Siraj-e-Munir. The great scholars of Mu‘tazilah were also convinced of Jesus’ death. However, in the sight of our opponents, ijma‘ still holds about Jesus’ being alive. Some ijma‘ this is! May Allah the Almighty have mercy on these people; they have exceeded all limits. They have declared the statements proved by the words of God and His Messenger as words of kufr. [Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return].10 I do not want to dwell on this subject for long, nor do I need to remind how absurd and preposterous Maulawi Rusul Baba’s book Hayatul-Masih is. What is of vital importance, and for which I have written this book, is that the maulawi, with a view to pleasing the people, has stated in his book that he would offer 1,000 rupees if I would disprove his arguments regarding the Messiah being alive. His arguments are there for all to see! The maulawi has needlessly blackened some pages only to expose his long-concealed flaws. He has written such absurdities that, except for two labels, I cannot suggest any third for them; i.e., either they are mere claims and to call them arguments is gratuitous and foolish, or they are alterations of the Holy Quran in the manner of the Jews, and nothing more.

It seems that he, too, is convinced in his heart that his book has no substance. That is why, in order to hide this fact, he says at the end of the book that it will not be understood unless someone learns it from him by taking regular lessons. Why did he say so? Only because he knew that his book was empty noise, devoid of conclusive arguments, and those who possess any sense will surely come to know that it has no merit. So, by way of imposing an impossible condition, he said that the arguments he wrote are so hidden that not everyone can appreciate them and his tongue alone will remain the key to them. Unless someone stays at his residence for a period of time and learns this collection of rubbish in regular lessons from him as a disciple, it is not possible to gain anything worthwhile from these confused pages. O loud-mouthed Maulawi! If your arguments are so hidden and concealed in darkness that they cannot demonstrate their existence like a living proof in your book, then why compose a book of such rubbish and absurdity at all? Since you knew that your arguments were so worthless and incoherent that they made no sense without your verbal gibberish, it was no use writing such a book. In fact, to call them arguments is inappropriate, shameful, and plain nonsense.

Although a thousand varieties of deceit take place in this treacherous world, rarely will anyone have heard of the deception employed by this Maulawi Rusul Baba; namely, that he established the condition that one must become his disciple and learn the book directly from him through regular lessons in order to understand his arguments. He must have felt certain within his heart that no wise man would ever accept the discipleship of an ignorant, stupid man and learn his satanic book in regular lessons from him in the hopes of understanding the arguments of the Messiah being alive, which are so deeply concealed within his book that the whole world could not see them nor discover them even after reading the book a thousand or a million times! They can be discerned only with the guidance of the writer, or else there is no hope of finding them until the Day of Judgement.

Readers! Have you ever heard of such a book whose arguments remain in the mind of the writer even after having been set down in the book? Unfortunately, such absurd trickery is found in our maulawis nowadays as affords the enemies [of Islam] the opportunity to mock and ridicule it. It is because of this that the scholars, divines, and true men of knowledge are turning their backs on these short-sighted and ignorant people, and coming to me. As far as the so-called maulawis are concerned, they cannot even write Urdu properly and are ignorant of the Holy Quran and the Hadith. Because of their blind following of their ancestors, they have become my bitter opponents, as if I killed one of their forefathers. They engage ceaselessly in abusing, ridiculing, and declaring me an infidel as if they are never going to die or be held accountable as to why they labelled Muslims as infidels. They are fighting God Almighty and are not backing away from opposition. However, it was necessary that the prophecy of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, should also be fulfilled; namely, that when the Mahdi of the age—that is, the Promised Messiah—appears, the maulawis of the time will write edicts of disbelief against him. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, also says that those who write such edicts will be the most wicked ones in the world and there will be no wrongdoer like them on the face of the earth. They will never accept but with hypocrisy. Alas, these naive people do not understand this: how can someone be a disbeliever while speaking according to the words of God and His Messenger? Can anyone accept the assertion that the entirety of those thousands of divines and men of God—who for 1,300 years, i.e., up to these days, believed in the death of Jesus—are infidels? God forbid!—Imam Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who taught millions of his followers this very teaching, would be an infidel, too. And— God forbid!—Imam Bukhari, who reserved a special chapter on the death of Jesus in his Sahih, would also be a disbeliever. Ibn Qayyim, too—who counted Jesus among the dead like Moses—would be a disbeliever. Moreover, all those who consider them Muslims would similarly become infidels. And the Mu‘tazilah, too, in their entirety would be infidels since they have all along believed that Jesus has, in fact, died.

O maulawis who have some sense of goodness, are you not going to die one day? In your pride and arrogance, you have declared the whole world to be infidels. God Almighty says that whoever greets you with as-salamu ‘alaikum [‘Peace be upon you’], do not say to him meaning that, do not consider him a disbeliever; he is a Muslim. Yet you have declared those who share all your religious beliefs as disbelievers. They follow the same qiblah and are averse to shirk [associating partners with God]. They regard obedience to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as the sole basis of salvation. They believe that those who turn their back upon him are accursed, damned, and the inmates of hell. O mischievous maulawis! Once you die you will know what fruit this wicked impetuosity of yours brings you. Have you torn open our heart to see whether it contains disbelief and not faith; that it is dark and not enlightened? Be patient, this world will not last long.

In your opinion, only certain mischievous maulawis, who are a disgrace for Islam, are Muslims while the rest of the world is kafir. Alas! How hard-hearted they have become! What veils have covered their hearts! O Lord, have mercy on this ummah and protect them from the evil of these maulawis; guide them if they are worthy of being guided or else wipe them off the face of the earth so that evil does not spread. In fact, they are not even maulawis; that is why I addressed their leader, the chief mischief-maker and mentor, Sheikh Muhammad Husain Batalavi, in my book Nurul-Haqq and challenged him to present the like of that book if he had any proficiency in Arabic, and obtain the prize money of 5,000 rupees. But the Sheikh paid no attention to it despite the fact that he is like a mentor to all these people and it is at his instigations that these lifeless corpses start moving.

I reiterate emphatically that the Sheikh and all his followers are just ignorant, foolish, and have no knowledge of the Arabic sciences. I wrote a commentary on Surah al-Fatihah in order to test these people. Although the book Nurul-Haqq was written with a view to testing the scholarship of the Christians, some of these [Muslim] opponents, namely, Sheikh Muhammad Husain Batalavi, and those who follow in his footsteps, like Miyan Rusul Baba etc.—who denounce me as an infidel, and who are slanderers and foul-mouthed—are not exempt from this address. It is evident from the revelation [that I have received] that no one from among the disbelievers and those who denounce me as a kafir will be able to write a rejoinder to the book Nurul-Haqq, for they are liars, impostors, fabricators, ignorant, and foolish.

If they do not regard my revelation as revelation and, due to their inner wickedness, consider it forgery or satanic suggestion on my part, then they must write a reply to my book Nurul-Haqq within the appointed time frame. If they are unable to do so, then my revelation stands proved. So, those who vindicated my revelation by demonstrating their inability and lack of knowledge have, in a way, accepted my claim. After this, their hostile gibberish is not worth listening to. I invite all Christian priests as well as Sheikh Muhammad Husain Batalavi, Maulawi Rusul Baba Amritsari, and all their companions to this contest and I have given them the time to accept this challenge until the end of June 1894. As for publishing a rejoinder, they will have three months from the day of accepting the challenge.

Then, if they make no request by the end of June 1894, no such request will be accepted after that. Their ignorance will stand established forever and the title of maulawiyyat [religious scholarship] will be taken away from them. However, if they submit a request to write a rejoinder by June 1894, the requests of all applicants will be counted as one, and only 5,000 rupees will be deposited, not more. Those considered successful in composing a rejoinder—be they Christians or these enemies of truth, the so-called maulawis, or both—would divide those 5,000 rupees among themselves. Of course they will be free to compose a book collectively, perhaps it will be convenient for them, but their final outcome will inevitably be: [disgrace in this world and the hereafter and humiliation in both worlds].

And if I fail to deposit the 5,000 rupees in a bank within three weeks of their submitting the request—which must be attested to by at least ten renowned chiefs and sent to me via registry after being published in a newspaper—then I will be deemed a liar and my entire claim will be considered false, for verbally promising a prize is nothing; any dishonest liar can do that. Truthful is the one who honours his word, or else [God’s curse be upon the liars]. But if I deposit the money and these duplicitous people run away from accepting the challenge, then all the expenses that I would have to bear due to their breach of promise, will be demanded from them directly or through the court. The same holds if they are unable to write a reply; their request should also include this commitment.

Now I will speak of the 1,000-rupee prize offered by Maulawi Rusul Baba. I have already mentioned that Maulawi Rusul Baba published his book Hayatul-Masih wherein he announced a prize of 1,000 rupees for anyone who would refute his arguments; yet, in the same book, he states that those arguments are hidden therein like a mystery or a riddle so that they cannot be known to anyone until they learn the book from him word for word. The wise must have realized what fear prompted him to say such things, and what heartfelt anxiety made him resort to such deceptive wiles. I immediately got to the bottom of the issue as I heard these things and understood the reason behind this clamour, and realized what apprehension must have driven him to refer the understanding of [his] arguments to his own mind.

I admonish him through this book to deposit 1,000 rupees by the end of June 1894 with Khwaja Yusuf Shah, Sheikh Ghulam Hasan, and Mir Mahmud Shah—that is, with these three collectively—and inform me by way of their handwritten receipt wherein they declare that they have received 1,000 rupees and announce that if Mirza Ghulam Ahmad—i.e., the author—proves victorious, this amount will be handed to him without delay and Rusul Baba will have nothing to do with it. This written statement is necessary so that I am fully satisfied that the money has been deposited with the arbitrators; thereafter, I can engage myself in refutation of Maulawi Rusul Baba’s book. I am even willing to accept, to settle the matter once and for all, that Sheikh Muhammad Husain Batalavi, or any other malicious person, is appointed to pass the verdict on this issue. To deliver the verdict, this alone will suffice that Sheikh Batalavi read Maulawi Rusul Baba’s book as well as mine from start to finish and swear an oath in a public gathering. The content of the oath shall be: ‘Audience! I have seen both the books from start to end and I swear by Allah Almighty that, in fact, Maulawi Rusul Baba’s book definitively and conclusively proves the life of Jesus and the answers offered by the opponent in his book fail to demolish his [Rusul Baba’s] arguments. If I have lied or concealed in my heart anything contrary to this statement, then I pray that I may suffer from leprosy within one year, or become blind, or die of some evil affliction.’ At this, all those present should say out loud three times: amin, amin, amin. Thereupon, the gathering shall conclude.

Then, if the one who takes such an oath remains safe from these afflictions for one year, the appointed committee will respectfully return the 1,000 rupees to Maulawi Rusul Baba. For my part, I will also publish the declaration that Maulawi Rusul Baba has, in fact, proved the life of the Messiah, peace be on him. However, the prize money must remain with the committee for one year. And if Maulawi Rusul Baba does not deposit 1,000 rupees within two weeks after the publication of this book, his falsehood and lies will stand established. Everyone should then seek refuge with Almighty Allah from the evil of such liars and keep away from them. It should be clear that the opposing party has greatly hurt us and there is no scorn, insult, or abuse which they have not hurled at us. When they could not harm us through takfir [accusation of disbelief] and abuse, they turned to praying against us and started cursing us day and night. But how can the unjust curses of these miserly, dark-hearted people be accepted by Him who knows the secrets of the hearts? Ultimately, when their curses were of no avail, they despaired of God Almighty and turned towards the British Government, providing it with false information and writing slanderous books to the effect that my person represents a risk of sedition and Jihad. But this wise, shrewd, and perceptive Government is not so foolish as to be deceived by these cunning, spiteful people. The Government is fully aware that these are the people who themselves hold such beliefs and who have been saying for centuries that Islam should be spread through Jihad. Not only this, they also claim that when their imaginary Mahdi will appear or emerge from a cave, their supposed Jesus, too, will descend at the same time from heaven, carrying with him some sharp weapon to kill the disbelievers. Then, together, the two will kill all the disbelievers throughout the world and whoever refuses to accept Islam—be they Jews or Christians—will be put to the sword. Such are the beliefs that these people hold fast to! In case of doubt, let any maulawi declare his beliefs under oath in court so that the court may come to know whether such indeed are their beliefs, or whether I have erred in my statement.

We, however, on our part, emphatically inform the Government that to spread Islam through war and Jihad in this age is not our belief, nor do we believe in waging war like rebels against a government under whose protective shelter and refuge we live in peace and security and propagate our Faith with ease and comfort. Are we not living in peace and security under the British Government? Are we not free to propagate our religion as we please? Have we been barred from carrying out our religious injunctions? Not at all! On the contrary, the plain truth is that the effort and commitment and peace and freedom with which we can conduct Islamic preaching and exhortation in the streets and squares of this country and can convey the truth to every people, we cannot render all these services even in holy Makkah, let alone any other place. So, is it not incumbent upon us to be grateful for this blessing or should we start a seditious rebellion?

Although we consider this Government in great error in respect of religion and regard them as mired in a shameful belief, we deem it a grave sin and evil to even think of rebellion against such a benefactor. No doubt, as far as religion is concerned, we see these people indulging in a manifest error and human fabrication. That being the case, we seek their reformation through prayer and concern, and ask God Almighty to open their eyes and enlighten their hearts so that they realize that it is extremely unjust to worship a human being. Who is the Messiah, peace be on him? Only a humble human! If God Almighty so wills, He can create in a moment millions like him; nay, a thousand times greater than him! He has power over everything. He does—and is doing—what He pleases. It is no great feat for Him to enlighten a handful of dust. Whoever comes to Him with a pure heart and perfect love, He will undoubtedly include him among His chosen ones. Is there any limit to how far a person can go in achieving the stations of nearness [to God]? Absolutely not! O worshippers of the dead, the Living God indeed exists. If you seek Him, you will find Him. If you walk with the feet of truth, you will surely get there. It is the work of the impotent and eunuchs to worship a human being like oneself. If you consider someone perfect, then try to become like him—do not start worshipping him. But the man who, in his being and his attributes and his actions and through his spiritual and holy faculties, set an example of perfection, in knowledge and action, and in sincerity and steadfastness, and was called the perfect man, was certainly not the Messiah son of Mary. The Messiah was only an ordinary Prophet. Granted he was one of the millions of chosen ones, but he belonged to that common group, no more than that. Behold, it is written in the Gospel that he was a follower of Prophet John and was baptised like the disciples.

He came only to a particular people, and unfortunately, the world was unable to derive any spiritual benefit from his personage. He left such an example of Prophethood in the world as proved more harmful than beneficial, with trials and tribulations only increasing after it. A great many people of the world perished on account of it. But there is no doubt that he was a true Prophet and one of the elect of God. The man who was most perfect as man and as Prophet, and came with full blessings, and who, through a spiritual revival and resurrection, manifested the first judgement in the world and revived the dead world, that blessed Prophet—Khatamul-Anbiya’ [the Seal of the Prophets], the Leader of the righteous ones, the Seal of the Messengers, the Pride of the Prophets—is Muhammad the Exalted and Chosen One, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Our Lord, send down on that beloved Prophet that mercy and blessing that You have not sent down on anyone since the beginning of the world. Had that grand Prophet not appeared in the world, then we would have no proof of the truth of lesser Prophets, such as Jonah, Job, the Messiah son of Mary, Malachi, John, and Zechariah. Although they were favourites and honoured and beloved ones of God Almighty, it is by the grace of this prophet that they have been accepted in the world as true Prophets.

[O Allah, send down peace, blessings, and favours on him and on his people and on his Companions, all of them. Our last word is that all praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.]