A Great Victory (Sign 196) - Dr. John Alexander Dowie—the False Prophet of America

Dr. John Alexander Dowie—the False Prophet of America—Dies in Accordance with My Prophecy

196. One Hundred Ninety-Sixth Sign34—Let it be clear that the man whose name is mentioned in the title was a bitter enemy of Islam. He also made a false claim to prophethood, and considered the Chief of Prophets, the Most Truthful of the True, the Best of Messengers, the Leader of the Pure, Bearer of Holiness, Muhammad, the Chosen One of God, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to be a liar and an impostor. Because of his evil nature, he used foul and obscene language about the Holy Prophetsa. In brief, because of his malice towards Islam, extremely evil traits were found in him. Just as swine see no value in pearls, so did he view the Islamic [concept of ] Tauhid [Oneness of God] with contempt and wanted to destroy it. He believed Hadrat ‘Isa to be God and had such a passion for spreading the doctrine of Trinity in the world, that though I have read hundreds of books by Christian clergymen, I have not seen such passion in anyone else. His newspaper, Leaves of Healing dated 19 December 1903, and 14 February 1907, contain the following sentences:

I pray God for the day to come when the Crescent shall dis- appear. May God grant it! May God destroy it [i.e. Moslem Abomination].

Again, in his newspaper dated 12 December 1903, considering himself to be a true Messenger and a true Prophet, he wrote:

In addition, he was an avid polytheist and used to say that he had received revelation that Yasu‘ Masih [ Jesus Christ] shall descend from heaven in twenty-five years. He believed that Hadrat ‘Isa was indeed God. Moreover, the one thing which caused great grief to my heart, as I have written, was that he was an extreme enemy of our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I subscribed to his newspaper Leaves of Healing and was constantly aware of his foul and abusive language. When his insolence had reached the limit, I sent him a letter in English in which I invited him to a mubahalah [prayer duel] so that God may cause the liar among us to die during the lifetime of the one who is truthful. This invitation was sent to him twice, in 1902 and again in 1903, and was also published in some well-known newspapers in America. Their names are written in the footnote 5.

In the text of this mubahalah, I had also invoked the curse of Allah upon the liar6 and had prayed to God Almighty to give His decision and thus expose the falsehood of the one who is lying. The text of this mubahalah, as I have just pointed out, was well publicized in some well-known American dailies. These newspapers belonged to American Christians and had no affiliation with me. The reason for my publishing this mubahalah in the American press was that Dr. Dowie, the false Prophet, did not answer me directly. So, as a last resort, I got that text of the mubahalah published in the well-known daily newspapers of America, which are distributed all over the world in large numbers. It is only by the grace of God that the editors of these American news- papers—despite being Christians and hostile to Islam—published my article about the mubahalah so widely and with such enthusiasm that it became widely known throughout America and Europe, and its news even reverberated back to India. The gist of my mubahalah was that Islam is the true faith and the Christian doctrine is false, and I am the same Messiah from God who was to come in the Latter Days and was promised in the Scriptures of the Prophets. I also wrote that Dr. Dowie was false in his claim of prophethood, as well as in his doctrine of Trinity, and that if he accepted the mubahalah he would die within my lifetime in great pain and misery. Even if he did not accept the challenge, he would still not be able to escape divine punishment. In response to this, the ill-fated Dowie published the following lines in English in one of the issues during December 1903, and also in the 26 September 1903 and other issues of his newspaper:

There is one foolish man in India, a Mohammedan Messiah, who persists in writing to me saying that the body of the Christ is buried at Cashmir, in India, and can be found there. People some- times say to me: “Why do you not reply to this, that and the other thing?” Reply! Do you think that I shall reply to these gnats and flies? If I put my foot on them I would crush out their lives.

My part is to bring out the people from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, and settle them in this and other Zion Cities, until the time shall come when the Mohammedans are swept away. May God give us that time.

In short, this man became more and more impudent after the publication of my mubahalah, which had been published in Europe, America, here in India, and virtually throughout the entire world. For my part I only waited, for I was sure that God would decide between us as I had beseeched Him to do, and His decision would distinguish between the liar and the truthful.7

I kept praying to God asking for the death of the liar. Hence, God Almighty informed me anumber of times that I would be victorious8 and the enemy would be destroyed. Then, just fifteen days before Dowie’s death, God Almighty informed me once again of my victory through His revelation which was published by me on the second page after the title page of the book, Qadian kay Aryah aur Hamm [‘We and the Aryas of Qadian’] about a fortnight prior to Dowie’s death, which is as follows:

1 In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. [Publisher]

2 We praise Him and invoke blessings [on His Noble Messenger]. [Publisher]

3 In the Epilogue, the Signs began to be numbered by mistake from Number 1 when they should have started from Number 189. Thus up to this point, adding the eight Signs mentioned so far in this Epilogue, the total Number has reached 196 (Number 5 had been used twice by mistake). This is why this Sign has been assigned the Number 196. (Author)

4 As noted by the Promised Messiah(as) there is a numerical mistake in number- ing. In the Epilogue there are nine Signs after Sign Number 187. [Publisher]

No.	Newspaper	Date	Summary of News
1	Chicago Interpreter	28 Jun. 1903	The newspaper ran the headline, ‘Will Dowie come out for this contest?’ Printing my photograph side by side with that of Dowie’s, it reported that Mirza Sahib says that Dowie is an impostor, and that he prays for God to destroy and annihilate him in his lifetime. Then the newspaper quotes me as saying: ‘The way of distinguishing between the one who is an impostor and the one who is truthful is that both should pray to God that from the two, the liar should die in the lifetime of the truthful one.’
2	Telegraph	5 Jul. 1903	The newspaper reports that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of the Punjab, India, has challenged Dowie, the claimant of prophethood, to a mubahalah, and that this is to be undertaken by praying to God that whosoever of the two is a liar should die in the lifetime of the one who is truthful.
3	Argonaut, San Francisco	1 Dec. 1902	The newspaper ran the headline, ‘Prayer duel between Christianity and Islam’ and gives a summary of my letter to Dowie in which I wrote to him: ‘You lead a Jama‘at and I too have a large following. To decide therefore who from among us is truly from God we can both pray to the God we believe in. Then the one whose prayer is accepted should be considered to be truly from God. And, the prayer should be: ‘May God cause the one of us who is a liar to die earlier than the one who is truthful.’ Surely, the paper says, this is a reasonable and just method to reach the truth.
4	Literary Digest, New York	20 Jun. 1903	The newspaper has printed my photo and elaborates on the issue of mubahalah saying that the two parties, Dowie and I, will pray to God that of the two of us whoever is a liar should die in the lifetime of the one who is truthful.
5	New York Mail and Express	28 Jun. 1903	‘Mubahalah between two claimants of Prophethood’ is the heading of the report published in the paper. The report then explains in detail what a mubahalah is.
6	Herald Rochester	25 Jun. 1903	The newspaper reports that Dowie has been invited to a mubahalah, and then describes in detail what a mubahalah is.
7	Record Boston	27 Jun. 1903	The newspaper published a news item about the mubahalah.
8	Advertiser Boston	25 Jun. 1903	Same as above.
9	Pilot Boston	27 Jun. 1903	Same as above.
10	Pathfinder, Washington	27 Jun. 1903	Same as above.
11	The Chicago Inter-Ocean	27 Jun. 1903	Same as above and then in its issue of 28 June 1903 the paper published both photos [my photo as well as that of Dowie] and gave details of the mubahalah.
12	Worcester Spy	28 Jun. 1903	〃
13	The Democrat Chronicle, Rochester	25 Jun. 1903	The newspaper has mentioned the mubahalah and published photos of Dowie and me. Underneath my photo appears the caption, ‘Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’.
14	A newspaper of Chicago: name and date torn		The newspaper mentions me as the Messiah of India who has invited Dowie to a mubahalah.
15	The Burlington Free Press	27 Jun. 1903	The newspaper carries a news item about the mubahalah.
16	The Chicago Inter-Ocean	28 Jun. 1903	〃
17	Albany Press	25 Jun. 1903	〃
18	Jacksonville Times	28 Jun. 1903	〃
19	Baltimore American	25 Jun. 1903	〃
20	Buffalo Times	25 Jun. 1903	〃
21	New York Mail	25 Jun. 1903	〃
22	Boston Record	27 Jun. 1903	〃
23	Desert English News	27 Jun. 1903	〃
24	Helena Record	1 Jul. 1903	〃
25	The Groomshire Gazette	17 Jul. 1903	〃
26	Nuneaton Chronicle	17 Jul. 1903	〃
27	Houston Chronicle	3 Jul. 1903	〃
28	Savanna News	29 Jun. 1903	〃
29	Richmond News	1 Jul. 1903	〃
30	Glasgow Herald	27 Oct. 1903	〃
31	The New York Commercial Advertiser	26 Oct. 1903	The newspaper quotes me saying that if Dowie accepts my challenge openly or even indirectly, he will die in extreme pain and frustration, but if he does not accept the challenge, even then the town of Zion, which he built, will suffer great calamity.
32	The Morning Telegraph of New York	28 Oct. 1903	The newspaper mentions the mubahalah and my prayer against Dowie.

No.

Newspaper

Date

Summary of News

Chicago Interpreter

28 Jun. 1903

The newspaper ran the headline, ‘Will Dowie come out for this contest?’ Printing my photograph side by side with that of Dowie’s, it reported that Mirza Sahib says that Dowie is an impostor, and that he prays for God to destroy and annihilate him in his lifetime. Then the newspaper quotes me as saying: ‘The way of distinguishing between the one who is an impostor and the one who is truthful is that both should pray to God that from the two, the liar should die in the lifetime of the truthful one.’

Telegraph

5 Jul. 1903

The newspaper reports that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of the Punjab, India, has challenged Dowie, the claimant of prophethood, to a mubahalah, and that this is to be undertaken by praying to God that whosoever of the two is a liar should die in the lifetime of the one who is truthful.

Argonaut, San Francisco

1 Dec. 1902

The newspaper ran the headline, ‘Prayer duel between Christianity and Islam’ and gives a summary of my letter to Dowie in

which I wrote to him: ‘You lead a Jama‘at and I too have a large following. To decide therefore who from among us is truly from God we can both pray to the God we believe in. Then the one whose prayer is accepted should be considered to be truly from God. And, the prayer should be: ‘May God cause the one of us who is a liar to die earlier than the one who is truthful.’ Surely, the paper says, this is a reasonable and just method to reach the truth.

Literary Digest, New York

20 Jun. 1903

The newspaper has printed my photo and elaborates on the issue of mubahalah saying that the two parties, Dowie and I, will pray to God that of the two of us whoever is a liar should die in the lifetime of the one who is truthful.

New York Mail and Express

28 Jun. 1903

‘Mubahalah between two claimants of Prophethood’ is the heading of the report published in the paper. The report then explains in detail what a mubahalah is.

Herald Rochester

25 Jun. 1903

The newspaper reports that Dowie has been invited to a mubahalah, and then describes in detail what a mubahalah is.

Record Boston

27 Jun. 1903

The newspaper published a news item about the mubahalah.

Advertiser Boston

25 Jun. 1903

Same as above.

Pilot Boston

27 Jun. 1903

Same as above.

Pathfinder, Washington

27 Jun. 1903

Same as above.

The Chicago Inter-Ocean

27 Jun. 1903

Same as above and then in its issue of 28 June 1903 the paper published both photos [my photo as well as that of Dowie] and gave details of the mubahalah.

Worcester Spy

28 Jun. 1903

〃

The Democrat Chronicle, Rochester

25 Jun. 1903

The newspaper has mentioned the mubahalah and published photos of Dowie and me. Underneath my photo appears the caption, ‘Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’.

A newspaper of Chicago: name and date torn

The newspaper mentions me as the Messiah of India who has invited Dowie to a mubahalah.

The Burlington Free Press

27 Jun. 1903

The newspaper carries a news item about the mubahalah.

The Chicago Inter-Ocean

28 Jun. 1903

〃

Albany Press

25 Jun. 1903

〃

Jacksonville Times

28 Jun. 1903

〃

Baltimore American

25 Jun. 1903

〃

Buffalo Times

25 Jun. 1903

〃

New York Mail

25 Jun. 1903

〃

Boston Record

27 Jun. 1903

〃

Desert English News

27 Jun. 1903

〃

Helena Record

1 Jul. 1903

〃

The Groomshire Gazette

17 Jul. 1903

〃

Nuneaton Chronicle

17 Jul. 1903

〃

Houston Chronicle

3 Jul. 1903

〃

Savanna News

29 Jun. 1903

〃

Richmond News

1 Jul. 1903

〃

Glasgow Herald

27 Oct. 1903

〃

The New York Commercial Advertiser

26 Oct. 1903

The newspaper quotes me saying that if Dowie accepts my challenge openly or even indirectly, he will die in extreme pain and frustration, but if he does not accept the challenge, even then the town of Zion, which he built, will suffer great calamity.

The Morning Telegraph of New York

28 Oct. 1903

The newspaper mentions the mubahalah and my prayer against Dowie.

These are the newspapers that have reached me. It seems from this multitude [of reports] that it must have been reported in hundreds of newspapers. (Author)

6 I published an announcement in English on 23 August 1903, opposing Mr. Dowie. It says; ‘I am about seventy years in age and Mr. Dowie, as he states, is a young man of fifty but I do not care for my age because this mubahalah will not be decided by our ages but God who is the Most Supreme Authority will decide it. If Mr. Dowie flees from this confrontation—even then, the calamity will certainly befall his Zion soon. Now I finish this discourse with this prayer: ‘O All-Powerful and Perfect God, who always reveals Himself to the Prophets and shall continue to do so, settle this matter soon and reveal the falsehood of Mr. Dowie to the people. I am certain that whatever You have promised me through Your revelation, shall be fulfilled definitely. O Almighty God, hear my prayer, You have all the powers.’ See English Announcement of 23 Aug. 1903. (Author)

7 Read page 3 of this Announcement. The gist of it is that on 23 August 1903, I had published an announcement in English, opposing Mr. Dowie. On receiving revelation from God Almighty, I had written therein that whether or not Mr. Dowie does a mubahalah with me, he will not escape God’s punishment and God will distinguish the true from the false. (Author)

8 Footnote: On 9 February 1907, I received this revelation meaning: ‘You shall indeed be victorious.’ And then on the same date I received the revelation meaning: ‘You shall be bestowed another Sign that shall cause happiness and by which you shall be granted a great victory.’ Its meaning that was bestowed upon me was that in the eastern countries Sa‘dullah of Ludhiana had died from pneumonic plague after my prophecy and the mubahalah in the first week of January. This was the first Sign, and the second Sign would be very much greater in which I would be granted a grand victory. So this was the death of Dowie which took place in the western countries. See the newspaper Badr dated 14 February 1907 and thus that prophecy of Allah the Exalted was fulfilled in which it was stated ‘I shall show two Signs.’ (Author)