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The disbelievers shall never find a way to lay blame upon the believers.

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The reality of the fatwa of heresy issued by Miyan Nadhir Husain; the true nature of his artificial victory, and an invitation to him and his followers to come to

THE HEAVENLY DECREE

Though Miyan Nadhir Husain is himself not immune to fatwas of heresy—and has been declared first among the heretics of India, he shows as much zeal in declaring other Muslims to be kafirs [non-believers] as is shown by pious people in converting others into Islam. He has a deep desire for unduly labelling Muslims as kafirs, even if there exists not a single reason for doing so. His faithful acolyte, Muhammad Husain Batalawi, who styles himself a Shaikh [a religious scholar and teacher], follows in his footsteps. In fact, the Shaikh excels his mentor in his passion for declarations of kufr [unbelief]. The creed of this teacher and his pupil seems to be that, even though they see ninety-nine clear proofs of faith in a person, and one proof [to the contrary] which they themselves fail to grasp because of their lack of understanding, they still find it appropriate to call such a person a kafir. I, too, have been subjected to such treatment by these gentlemen. Anyone who carefully reads my books Brahin-e-Ahmadiyyah and Surmah Chashma-e-Aryah, will clearly see the devotion with which I serve Islam and the passion with which I propagate the excellence of the Holy Prophet(sa). In spite of all this, Miyan Nadhir Husain, and his acolyte Batalawi, did not rest till they had declared me a kafir. [The state of] Miyan Nadhir Husain is particularly lamentable. In his old age, sitting on the very edge of the grave, he shows no fear for the hereafter and has completely abandoned honesty and fear of God to declare me a kafir. He has exposed a very ugly side of his nature when so close to his end.

It should be the duty of every sensible, virtuous and God-fearing person from among the clergy to refrain from pronouncing a person kafir unless they have factual, certain and categorical reasons whereby someone clearly admits—and does not deny—his statements on the basis of which he has been branded a kafir. Until this happens, they should not hasten to give the label of kafir to anyone. It is worth asking if Miyan Nadhir Husain has followed this righteous path or not. There can be no doubt that Miyan Nadhir Husain has completely abandoned the path of honesty and prudence.

I published three posters in Delhi, declaring, again and again, that I am a Muslim, and Islam is my faith. I conveyed the message under the oath of God Almighty that there is nothing in my speeches or writings which is contrary to Islamic beliefs—God forbid. This is merely a misunderstanding on the part of my opponents. I believe with all my heart and soul in all the tenets of Islam and abhor everything to the contrary. Hazrat Miyan Sahib, however, paid no heed to what I said and declared me a kafir without investigation or verification. Indeed, having heard my clear professions: [I am a believer, I am a believer], he still kept on saying: [You are not a believer]. Everywhere in his speeches and writings and in posters issued by his acolytes, he dubbed me a kafir, faithless and a Dajjal [Antichrist], and announced publicly that this person is a non-believer and devoid of faith. This incitement by Miyan Sahib stirred a furious storm among the common people, and the people of Punjab and India were greatly agitated. The people of Delhi were particularly fired up by these flaming words of Miyan Sahib. There are sixty or seventy thousand Muslims in Delhi, and it would be a rare person among them who has neither participated in uttering abuse, curse and ridicule upon me, nor heard such things. All this is to the account of Miyan Sahib who has accumulated it for the hereafter in his last days. He covered up true testimony and firmly instilled in hundreds of thousands of hearts the idea that I was in fact a kafir and accursed and outside the pale of Islam.

I was in Delhi at the time and when I saw all this commotion, I published a special announcement addressing Miyan Sahib, and also wrote some letters to him. With deep humility and modesty I made it clear that I am not a kafir; that Allah knows I am a Muslim, and I believe in all the articles of faith which the Ahl-e-Sunnah wal Jama‘at4 profess, that I believe in the Kalimah 5, that I face the Qibla when praying, that I am not a claimant to Prophethood and that, in fact, I consider such a claimant to be outside the pale of Islam. I wrote also that I do not deny the existence of the angels. I swear by the Lord that I believe in angels exactly as they have been described in the Sharia. I also said that I do not deny Lailatul Qadr [the Night of Decree], rather I believe in it exactly as detailed in the Quran and Ahadith.6 I also made it clear that I believe in the existence of Gabriel and in Prophetic revelations and do not deny them; that I do not deny Resurrection and the Day of Judgement; that I do not harbour doubts as to the greatness, the perfect power and signs of my Lord in contrast to the half-baked ideas of the naturalists, and that I do not reject miracles due to their improbability in the eyes of reason.

I have declared it many a time in public gatherings that I have complete faith in the limitless powers of God Almighty, and that I consider unlimited power to be an essential attribute of Divinity. If one believes in God but considers Him powerless in anything, such a god is no God at all. And if God is that weak— Heaven forbid—then those who believe in Him are doomed and all their hopes are frustrated. He is undoubtedly capable of doing everything, but it has to be worthy of His Majesty and His Holiness. It should not go against His perfect attributes, nor contradict His true promises.

In spite of all these proclamations, Miyan Sahib pronounced a confirmation of the fatwa of heresy against me and declared me kafir and faithless. In order to delay the date of 20th October 1891, which had been publicised in the aforementioned announcements, Miyan Sahib repeatedly put forward the excuse that I was not a Muslim. He asked me to first prove my faith in Islam, only then would he enter into a debate with me. I again submitted with all due respect that I was not a kafir, and that I believed in all the tenets which Allah—glorified be His name—has prescribed for Muslims. Furthermore, as mentioned in my announcement of 23rd October 1891, I also wrote a statement with my own hand that I believe in all the articles of Islam. Alas! Miyan Sahib still continued to consider me and refer to me as a kafir. The sole excuse for not entering into a debate regarding the life or death of the Messiah was his insistence that I was a kafir, and that there was no point in debating with kafirs. If only he had an iota of fear of God in him, he should have withdrawn this fatwa of kufr against me when I issued the announcement about my being a Muslim and declaring my Islamic beliefs. He should have owned up his error publicly and given clear testimony to my faith in Islam with the same zeal as he had shown while announcing me to be an apostate before the crowd, and could have saved himself from a false assertion. He would have created for himself an excuse before God Almighty by withdrawing an unfounded fatwa. But this he did not do. Instead, as long as I was at Delhi, I continued to hear reports that Miyan Sahib was using foul and unspeakable language against me and had not withdrawn his fatwa of heresy. Every effort was made to stop him from this ugly behaviour and stop his tongue, but he had grown so accustomed of calling me a kafir that he could not restrain himself from doing so. His Nafsi Ammarah7 had so overwhelmed him that no room was left in his heart for the fear of God.

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I do not wish to dwell further on his declaration of heresy. Everyone will be answerable for his own words and deeds; they shall be answerable for their deeds, and I shall be for mine.

But it is such a pity that he continued to dwell upon unjustified accusations and acts of slander, and paid no attention whatsoever to the truly debatable and controversial issue of the death of the Messiah(as). I wrote to him, time and again, that I do not oppose him in any of his beliefs except that of the Messiah(as) being physically alive. I most certainly believe him [the Messiah(as)] to be dead and among the dead. Why should I not believe him to be dead when my God and my Lord in His Glorious Book, the Holy Quran, counts him among the dead? Not even once does the Holy Quran speak about his extraordinary life or second coming. Rather, it calls him dead and says no more. Not only do I reject Jesus’ bodily existence and later return to earth in view of revelations vouchsafed to me, but I also consider this concept absurd and false in the light of the clear and categorical injunctions of the Holy Quran. If this statement of mine is a lie and a heresy, then come and let us have a debate about it. If you can prove the physical existence of Hazrat ‘Isa(as) from the Holy Quran and Hadith, I shall not only revoke my claim, but shall burn all my books containing this subject. If you are unable to discuss it, then come and declare upon oath that there is no mention of the death of the Messiah(as) in the Quran and only his life is mentioned. Or that there is a Sahih Marfu‘ Muttasil9 Hadith which testifies to the physical life of the Messiah(as) by offering a contrary interpretation to the word Tawaffa [died]. If no clear sign from Almighty Allah appears within one year which proves that your oath was false, i.e., if you do not suffer some great calamity, I shall instantly repent at your hand. It is indeed a pity that, despite repeated requests, Miyan Sahib neither came forward for the debate, nor took the oath, nor even did he desist from calling me 'kafir, kafir'. Albeit, in order to hide his humiliation for having avoided the debate, he published false announcements in which he wrote that he had kept inviting me for a debate till the end and had also been ready to take the oath, but it was I who had been afraid of him and had not come out to face him. Such falsehood from one calling himself Miyan Sahib and Shaikhul Kul!10 How should I say 11 with regard to him? May God Almighty have mercy on him.

Readers, if you possess the light of discernment, you can understand that all this is a baseless lie and depraved boastfulness of Miyan Sahib and his followers. I published announcement after announcement that Miyan Sahib should come forward and debate the death of Christ with me. And it was for this very purpose that I stayed on in Delhi for one full month at great cost and inconvenience. A discerning person can well understand that if Miyan Sahib was truly sincere in holding a debate, why should I have shied away? It is said that truth knows no fear. I am as ready for a debate on the death of Christ now, as I was then. If Miyan Sahib agrees to come to Lahore for the debate, I shall bear all his personal travel expenses. If he agrees to come, I can send him the amount in advance upon his written commitment. I myself do not wish to go to Delhi for the debate, because I have witnessed the clamour of the people of Delhi and have heard their malicious and vile talk.

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I can go as far as to say that if I avoid the debate on the death of Christ, may Allah curse me a thousand times for [being an obstacle in the path of Allah]. And if it is Shaikhul Kul Sahib who avoids the debate, let there be half the curse on him. Should he want to avoid coming in person, I can even allow him to hold the debate in writing from where he is, so that the truth can become manifest. In short, I am ready in every way, and all I await is Miyan Sahib’s formal reply. The reason for my special interest in relation to Miyan Sahib is that people consider him to be the superior-most in his knowledge, and he is like the root among the religious scholars of India. If the root is cut, the branches too shall invariably fall away. This debate will let the world know the arguments which Shaikhul Kul has regarding the bodily life of the Messiah(as), on the basis of which he has so inflamed the public. But do remember my prediction that he will never come out for the debate. And if he does at all come, he will be so humiliated that he will have nowhere to show his face. I feel so terribly sorry for him that, due to his love for the fame and popularity of this transient world, he has covered up the truth, abandoned righteousness and embraced falsehood. He knew well that the death of the Messiah(as) is clearly proven by the Holy Quran and Sahih Marfu‘ Ahadith13, and yet he dishonestly and deceptively held back his testimony in this regard. Acting as a sworn enemy of the truth, and through mere prevarication, he propagated among the people that it is written in the Holy Quran that Messiah, son of Mary, was lifted to the heaven alive in his physical body, and that there is no mention of his death whatsoever. But as he knew in his heart that he was wrong, and what he was saying was against the Book of Allah, he did not agree to an honest debate and warded off this short and clear method for discussing the death [of the Messiah(as)] by laying down inane conditions. It is simply outrageous that while the Gracious and Mighty Allah says that the Messiah, son of Mary, is dead, Miyan Nadhir Husain says, 'No, not at all. He was taken to heaven alive in his physical body.' Bravo, O Nadhir Husain! Well and truly have you followed the Quran! More astonishingly still, there is no mention at all in the Quran of the lifting to heaven. On the contrary, Allah mentions exalting the Messiah(as) to Himself after causing him to die. Just as all the pious persons who pass away are addressed with:

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the same elevation and exaltation towards Allah—for which death is a precondition—was granted to Hazrat Masih(as). Being elevated to the sky is nothing compared to this exaltation towards Allah. Alas! how these people have turned their backs upon the Quran, how completely its majesty has left their hearts and how they have come to love baseless form in place of the pure Word of Allah. They are loaded with books, but Allah has taken away their understanding. Considerations of victory and defeat have overcome honesty and faith, and vanity and pride have kept them from accepting the truth. I am not the least bit hurt that Miyan Nadhir Husain and his acolytes proclaimed a false victory—in total contrast to the facts—and concealed the reality. Neither have I any reason to feel hurt when the absolute truth and fact is that Miyan Sahib himself has been defeated and vanquished forever with great humiliation and his fall is such that he shall never rise up again, and shall pass away from this world in this very state of subjugation. If, in order to cover up public disrepute, he does conjure up a triumphant countenance to please himself for a few minutes, why should I mind it? In fact, if we look at it sympathetically, he even deserves it. For I know that he has had to bear a lot of grief and anger at being routed at my hands. In his last days, his heart has been gripped by such shame and embarrassment that if he had not drummed up a false victory to seek some solace, in such old age his weak heart could surely not have born the shock! So perhaps it was out of his need to preserve his life that he permitted himself such a great lie. Even now I had no need to destroy his false sense of joy by revealing the plain truth, since it is dishonourable to keep one’s eyes on victory or defeat. The lovers of truth seek the truth whether it is to be found in the mantle of victory or in the garb of defeat. People, however, are apt to be deceived by such false and hostile writings and, being impressed by false publicity, start to believe that these writings are true and authentic, and their faith is adversely affected. It was, therefore, incumbent upon me to reveal the truth, and it was a duty which I had no choice but to fulfil. But I am still sorry for having to refresh Miyan Sahib’s wounds in his old age.

It would not be out of place to mention that one of the injustices Miyan Sahib has inflicted on me is that he let loose Batalawi against me and was pleased to see him attack me with all kinds of abuse and slander. Having divined Miyan Sahib’s purpose, Batalawi exceeded all limits and cared not the least for the Quranic injunction:

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He resorted to such filthy abuse as to excel even the language of the gutter. This pious man went so far as to call me filthy names before hundreds of people in Delhi’s main mosque. One of those who heard him and was present at the occasion was my employee Shaikh Hamid ‘Ali, and there are others who have also testified to the same. Similarly, he told a gathering at Phalaur railway station that I would die the death of a dog. In his daily writings he has branded me a kafir and a Dajjal. In a postcard, dated 11th October 1891, which he addressed to Munshi Fatih Muhammad, a functionary of the Jammu state, and which I have before me now, he wrote nothing but abuse. Is this the way to please God, or can it be the way of a gentleman to heap filthy abuse upon someone in open letters, or to take one’s fury to such an extreme as to employ unbecoming language in postcards which can be read by everyone? In this postcard of 11th October, he has furiously written that I am in fact a kafir, a Dajjal, an atheist and a liar.

O my Lord! O my dear Lord! I leave it to You to respond to this man’s abuse, his excessive language and his curses. But if this is what You desire, then Your desire is my desire. I want nothing more than that You should be pleased with me. My heart is not hidden from You. Your gaze gauges the depth of my being. If there is any contradiction within me, be You pleased to remove it. If You see any evil in me, I seek the refuge of Your Countenance against it. O my Beloved Mentor, if I am on the path to destruction, do You protect me from it. Make me do that which pleases You. My soul declares that You are, and will always be, mine. Ever since You said to me: “I am with you”, as also You addressed me and said:

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and when, by way of encouragement and consolation, You said to me:

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from that very moment, fresh life was breathed into my soul. Your heart-warming words are balm to my wounds. Your love-filled addresses lift my grieving heart. I was immersed in grief; You gave me glad-tidings. I was calamity stricken; You lovingly consoled me. My Beloved, it is happiness enough for me that You are mine and I am Yours. Your attacks will shatter the enemy’s ranks. All Your holy promises shall come to pass and You shall be the Saviour of Your servant.

I now return to the topic under discussion and wish to make it clear to the readers that the harsh words of the Batalawi which I have quoted are but a mere sample, otherwise there is no limit to the foulness of this man’s tongue. In truth, all this goes to the account of Miyan Nadhir Husain, since the pupil dares not to go against the wishes of the teacher. Miyan Sahib himself resorted to foul language and got others to do the same. None of the foul words of the Batalawi seemed abhorrent to Miyan Sahib. It was under his roof that Batalawi wrote another announcement, full of conceit, in which he wrote this sentence about me: 'He is my prey who has been unfortunate enough to fall into my hands at Delhi. I am lucky that I have again found my escaped quarry.' Readers, be fair and see how base these utterances are! The truth is that even the cultured comedians and mimics of today observe some decency. Even people who have been low through generations do not display such meanness and boastful arrogance before one who knows their reality. If I had been Batalawi’s quarry, would I go to Delhi to seek out his mentor? Is the pupil greater than the teacher? When the teacher falls into my hands—birdlike—the readers can judge whether I fell prey to the Batalawi, or the Batalawi fell prey to my prey! Batalawi’s insolence has crossed all limits and his head is full of the worm of arrogance which God shall one day remove. Sadly, my opponents nowadays subsist on lies and calumny. They wish to establish their prestige through arrogance worthy of the Pharaohs. To the day that he was drowned along with his army, the Pharaoh thought of Moses(as) as his prey. Finally, it was left to the Nile to show who was the real prey. I regret that an unworthy opponent has compelled me to use harsh words, while I am by nature averse to using such language. I never wanted to say such things, but it was Batalawi and his master who compelled me to respond in kind. There is still time for the Batalawi to change his attitude and to restrain his tongue, or he will rue these days.

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It is purely for the sake of Allah that I wish to advise those who are rejoicing at the false announcements about Miyan Nadhir Husain’s false victory, not to take on the burden of these lies. I have detailed in my announcement of 23rd October 1891, that it was Miyan Sahib himself who avoided the debate, and it is a brazen slander to say that I got scared of him. God forbid, never did I fear him. And why would I, when by virtue of the insight granted me by heaven I consider these base mullahs to be totally sightless. By God, I do not consider them equal to dead vermin. Do the living ever fear the dead? You must understand that the knowledge of faith is a heavenly secret which can only be truly understood by him who receives heavenly grace. Only he who reaches God can reach the deep secrets of His word. He who dwells in perfect light is the one who possesses full insight. But if it is said that I became afraid of their filthy abuse and was scared of their putrid words, this would perhaps be true to some extent, for gentlemen are always a little wary of the foulmouthed, and the polite avoid the vulgar.

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The fact is that Allah intended to expose Miyan Nadhir Husain and to lay bare the reality of his false proclamations before the people. The mature of view know that this Divine intent was fulfilled, and the thin veneer of Nadhir Husain’s righteousness, worship, knowledge and insight was fully exposed. And he earned disgrace for abandoning righteousness. But there is another disgrace which is lying in wait for him and for those of his creed, and this I shall describe below.

Revelation from Allah the Exalted:

This is a book, which We Ourselves have certified

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The Heavenly Decree

Before I proceed to describe the Heavenly Decree, it is important to clarify that those who are true believers in the sight of God and whom He has chosen especially for Himself, cleansed them with His own Hand, given them a place among His chosen ones and concerning whom He has said:

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Such people must possess the signs of prostration and servitude because there is no error in Divine promises, nor are they self-contradictory. For this reason, it is a requirement of faith that believers should possess all the signs which are attributed to them by the Holy Quran and which are the touchstone and the perfect criteria for distinguishing between the believer and the one who has been dubbed as a kafir, a slanderer, a Dajjal and an atheist by the clerics of his nation. So, if someone calls his Muslim brother a kafir and is not convinced by the fact that this person professes faith and believes in the sacred Kalimah:

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and in all the other tenets of Islam, and that he adheres to the obligations, commandments and limits ordained by God and abides by them to the best of his ability, then the only way left is to test both sides in such signs as have been laid down by the Holy Quran to distinguish a believer from a kafir, so that, in keeping with His promise, God should absolve from all slander the one whom He considers to be a true believer, and show a clear distinction between him and his opponent and the daily dispute should thereby come to an end. Any reasonable person can understand that if I am indeed a kafir, Dajjal, liar, accursed and outside the pale of Islam—as Miyan Nadhir Husain and his acolyte Batalawi believe me to be—then at the time of contest Allah will show no sign peculiar to believers to testify in my favour. God never manifests the signs of belief in favour of disbelievers and enemies of the faith for they are faithless and accursed. And why should He do so when He knows them to be enemies of the faith and deprived of the blessings of faith. Hence, if I am indeed such a kafir, a Dajjal, and an enemy of Islam—as Miyan Nadhir Husain Sahib and Batalawi have described me in their fatwa—God shall never help me in this contest. On the contrary, by denying me His favour, He will humiliate me and punish me as a great liar ought to be punished. Muslims will thus be well rid of my evil and will be secure against my mischief. But if, through some marvel of Nature, Miyan Nadhir Husain and his associates, Batalawi for instance, are denied the signs of heavenly support, and I come to be the recipient of Divine succour, then the truth will become manifest to everyone and these daily disputes will come to an end.

Now, let it be known that in the Holy Quran Allah Almighty has promised four extraordinary signs of Divine support for the pious and true believers. These signs form the ideal criteria for identifying the perfect believer. And they are:

First, that the perfect believer frequently receives glad tidings from Allah, i.e., he is given good news of the fulfilment of his own desires or those of his friends.

Second, that such hidden matters are revealed to him as relate not only to himself and to those connected with him, but such a chosen believer is also made cognizant of the Divine decree that is going to manifest itself in the world, or of the things that are going to befall some eminent people of the world.

Third, that most prayers of the perfect believer find acceptance, and the news of their acceptance is often given beforehand.

Fourth, that the perfect believer is granted, more than anyone else, the comprehension of the finer points and deeper meanings of the Holy Quran, as well as its subtleties and wondrous characteristics.

In all of these four signs, the perfect believer enjoys relative preponderance over others. Although it cannot be taken as a rule that the perfect believer should always receive glad tidings from Allah, or that all his prayers should be accepted without exception, or that he should be informed of every event or calamity, or that the deeper meanings of the Quran should be revealed to him at all times; still—when compared to others—preponderance lies with the true believer in all these four signs. Although it is possible that other people, such as less perfect believers, be given an occasional portion of these bounties, yet only the true believer can be regarded as the true recipient of these blessings. It is true, of course, that the perfect station of the believer cannot manifest itself to the less-illumined and the short-sighted people unless it is viewed in comparison. Therefore, a contest is the simplest and clearest way of identifying the true and perfect believer. Even though these signs are generally shown by a true believer, their one-sided demonstration entails some problems. For example, some people who are fated not to succeed, and destiny’s hand has irrevocably written against them, sometimes request the perfect believer to pray for them. These ill-fated people may not experience the sign of acceptance of prayer with regard to the perfect believer and may be led into greater doubt. They cannot, due to their personal deprivation, witness the sign of acceptance [of prayer] at the hands of the perfect believer. Even though the perfect believer enjoys a high station in the sight of Allah, and many a complicated problem is set right for his sake and through his supplications, and some destinies that seem irreversible are also altered, yet the fate that is truly irreversible can never be altered even by the prayers of the perfect believer—not even if he is a Prophet or a Messenger. In short, the perfect believer, though he does not always prevail, is clearly set apart from his opponents in respect of all these four signs. Therefore, when it has been established that a true and perfect believer receives a much larger share of glad tidings, acceptance of prayer, revelation of the unseen and of the deeper meanings of the Quran, there can be no better way of testing the perfect believer and his adversary than holding a contest between the two. In other words, if there is any doubt as to who is a perfect believer in the sight of Allah and who is lesser in status, the two ought to be tested with regard to these four signs. In the contest, these four signs should be the standard for determining who measures up to them and who falls short.

Let people bear witness that I, purely for the sake of Allah and for the manifestation of the truth, agree to such a contest with all my heart and soul. Miyan Nadhir Husain Daihlwi [of Delhi] is the first amongst those who ought to enter the contest against me. For over fifty years, he has been teaching the Quran and Hadith, yet the practical demonstration of his learning is such that he issued a fatwa of heresy against me without any inquiry or investigation and misled thousands of savage-like people into uttering profanities against me. He let loose Batalawi against me as a demented beast, foaming at the mouth with curses and declarations of heresy, while he arrogated to himself the status of the perfect believer and Shaikhul Kul, and the Shaikh of Arabs and non-Arabs. He, therefore, is the first one whom I invite to the contest.

Of course, he may bring with him Batalawi—who now claims to have true dreams, as well as Maulawi ‘Abdul Jabbar Sahib, son of that good man Maulawi ‘Abdullah Sahib of late memory, and also Maulawi ‘Abdur Rahman of Lakkhukay, who has published a revelation declaring me forever misguided, and has issued a fatwa of heresy against me. He may also bring with him Maulawi Muhammad Bashir Sahib of Bhopal, who is one of his followers. And if—as is his custom—Miyan Sahib shies away from the contest, then these other personages mentioned above should come forward. And if they too should seek the path of escape, then Maulawi Rashid Ahmad Sahib of Gangauha should muster up the courage for this contest, since he is foremost amongst the party of [Miyan Sahib’s] followers. Anyone else—from amongst the famed and celebrated Sufis, saints and hereditary divines—who, like these religious scholars, considers me to be a kafir, an impostor, and an inveterate liar, is welcome to join him.

If all these people turn away from the contest and refuse to accept my invitation by means of lame and unreasonable excuses, then Allah’s argument shall be complete against them in all respects. I am the Appointed One, and the glad-tiding of victory has been given to me. I, therefore, call all the persons mentioned above to a contest against me. Is there anyone who dares to stand up against me?

A suitable arrangement for this contest would be to set up a Board at Lahore, the capital of Punjab. If the opposing party accepts this suggestion, the members of the Board can be appointed through mutual consent, and the opinion of the majority will prevail in case of disagreement. It will be appropriate that, in order to properly test the parties with regard to the four signs, both sides should keep sending in their dated writings to the Board for one whole year. The Board will send dated acknowledgements of the material record to the parties, along with the details of the subject matter contained therein.

The method for testing the first sign—that of giving glad tidings beforehand—will be that whatever is made known to the two parties by God through revelations or visions, etc., shall be dispatched to the Board, before its fulfilment, bearing the date and the testimony of four persons from among the Muslims. The Board will enter this communication into a register along with the date. All members of the Board or, at least, five of them will sign it. A receipt will then be sent to the sender as per stipulated details. Thereafter, it will only remain to be seen whether the prophecy comes true or not. When a result manifests itself, a memorandum, along with its proof, shall be entered in the register, and, as stipulated, the testimony of the members shall be entered thereupon.

The same procedure will apply to the testing of the second sign which pertains to foretelling of worldly calamities and tragedies. It may be remembered that the Board shall guard these confidential matters as a trust and shall swear on oath that it shall not disclose them to any unconcerned person till the time when these matters are laid open in a public meeting for the two parties to compare, unless such disclosure lies outside the Board’s ambit.

The method for testing the third sign—that of the acceptance of prayer—shall be that the same Board will publish a general announcement for the purpose of procuring people suffering from various afflictions, and these may include people from any religion. The adherent of every faith—whether he is a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew or of any other faith or thinking—if he is in the grip of a grave affliction and offers himself as one of the afflicted ones—shall be accepted without discrimination, since Allah does not differentiate between people of different faiths when it comes to granting corporeal benefits. The Board shall collect in a box the particulars of all such persons, including their names, parentage and addresses for a month, or as the Board deems fit. Then two balanced and name-wise lists of these persons shall be presented to the two parties—giving details of parentage, ethnic group, residence, faith, profession, and particulars of their afflictions. The two parties shall inspect these afflicted persons and divide the two lists between them by drawing lots. Should an afflicted person be from a far off country and unable to present himself before the two parties by reason of distance and lack of wherewithal, a subsidiary of the Board shall be set up in his town for dispatching the particulars of his affliction to the main Board. All the afflicted persons named in the list allocated to a party by the drawing of lots will be taken to belong to that party as if, through the drawing of lots, the list was allocated by God Almighty Himself. It shall be incumbent upon the Board to publish notices a few weeks earlier for making available the afflicted persons and for ensuring their appearance before the Board on a fixed date. I shall myself bear all expenses for these announcements.25 A copy of the two lists so prepared and bearing the names of the afflicted persons shall be kept at the Board’s office as well, and that very day will count as the first day of the appointed time of one year. Each party shall continue to pray for the afflicted ones who have fallen to its share and, as per the stated procedure, all the proceedings will be recorded in the Board’s register. If a party should die within the period of one year, before an estimate can be made of the plentiful acceptance of prayers and of clear victory, and should leave the entire matter of its contest unfinished, even then such a party shall be considered vanquished for the reason that Allah—through a particular intent— kept its work unfinished so as to prove its falsehood. Evaluation of a large number of afflicted ones has been made a condition, for it is only with such numbers that the acceptance of prayer can be tested.

Conversely, as afore-mentioned, it is possible that there are only a small number—two or three—in need of prayers and they may have been destined irrevocably to fail, i.e., it may be the irrevocable Divine will that they should never be delivered of their misfortunes. Many a time it has so happened that the prayers of great saints and even Prophets(as) have not been heard in favour of certain people because they had been irrevocably decreed to fail. Therefore, holding up one or two people suffering from calamities and misfortunes as the standard for a test would be misleading. If they turn to one whose prayers usually find acceptance, but remain unsuccessful due to their irrevocable destiny, then the power of acceptance of prayer of such a godly person shall remain undisclosed to them. Rather, by leading their imagination towards distrust, they may altogether loose faith in that godly person and thus ruin their hereafter along with their worldly life. This form of trial has caused some people to stumble even in the times of Prophets(as) and have led them to apostasy. It is a delicate question of deep knowledge that the station of those near to God is recognized through the acceptance of the majority of their prayers, which means that most of their prayers—but not all—find acceptance. Therefore, unless there is a large number of people seeking prayers, the power of their acceptance cannot be assessed. The full worth and grandeur of [the acceptance of] the majority [of prayers] only becomes manifest when a perfect believer, whose prayers find acceptance, is compared with his opponent. Otherwise, it is possible that even the many [i.e., accepted prayers] may seem few in the eyes of a foul-natured critic. Therefore, the number of accepted prayers is a relative matter whose correct, certain and final evaluation that shuts the mouth of a sceptic is demonstrated only through comparison.

For instance, if a thousand sufferers were allocated to each of two such men as claim to be the perfect believers whose prayers are answered, and if the prayers of one of them have the effect that fifty or twenty-five out of a thousand are such that they continue to suffer, while all the rest are cured, while out of the other group only twenty-five or fifty are spared and all the rest land into the abyss of failure, a clear distinction shall be established between the accepted one and the rejected one. The Naturalists of this age appear to suffer from doubts and misgivings that there is no such thing as acceptance of prayer, since nature has from the outset divided things between the possible and the impossible. Such apprehensions are totally baseless. The truth is that just as the All-Wise has imbued medicines with efficacy, in spite of the regulations of the laws of nature, so has He invested prayers with their effects that are always proven by actual experiences. The Holy Being and the Cause of all causes, Who has for ages set the acceptance of prayer as His wont, has also established the rule that sufferers who are destined to find relief shall do so by virtue of the holy breath, prayer, attention and the blessings of the bodily existence on earth of those who enjoy His nearness and are granted the honour of the acceptance of prayer.

There are many idolaters in the world who do not turn to perfect believers in times of affliction, and some who do not believe in the acceptance of prayer, and confine themselves wholly to worldly means and stratagems, and a look at their life histories may deceive an unscrupulous person into thinking that these people too find solutions to their difficulties. How then can it be clearly proved that the prayers of the accepted ones are mostly heard? The answer to such doubts, as stated in the Holy Quran, is that even though a person turns to idols, or other gods or to his own devices, still the holy law of God Almighty is that all such things happen through the influence and holy breath of His accepted ones. It is by their blessings that the world thrives; it is by their blessings that rains fall and peace prevails in the world, and epidemics are removed and strife and unrest is banished; it is by their blessings that worldly people succeed in their endeavours, and the moon comes out and the sun shines. They are the light of the world, and the world will remain illuminated as long as they continue to exist in it as a class, and with the end of their existence as a class the world shall also end, for they indeed are the real sun and the real moon of the world.

It is evident from this discourse that such persons are the objects of human existence, nay, they are the very core of life. What to talk of the human race, they are in fact the pillars for the survival and existence of all creatures. What use would be the idols and what would [human] endeavours avail, if it were not for them? This is a fine mystery which cannot be grasped through worldly wisdom alone; rather it requires the light that is given to the enlightened ones.

The fact is that all such doubts can be removed through a contest. For it is in a contest that Allah wills to demonstrate the honour of the one who is truly His chosen one and is granted true blessings. If an idolater stands in a contest against someone who believes in One God to determine whose prayers find acceptance, the idolater will suffer great humiliation and disgrace. As I have said earlier, it is for this reason that there is no simpler way to find out the perfect believer than a contest. All the stratagems of Europe and America, and the most fervent appeals to all the idols of the world and the supplications of the whole of mankind will not reverse a matter in which the prayer of a perfect believer has failed, and of which failure he has been Divinely informed. Although the beneficence of the perfect believer encompasses the whole world and through his blessings the world is moving on, and he is the hidden means of the realization of people’s desires and objects, whether they recognize him or not, yet those who turn to him with particular reverence and devotion attain not just mundane goals but also find guidance in their faith. They become strong in their beliefs and recognize their Sustainer and, if they are steadfast in their devotion to the perfect believer and do not veer off in the mid course, they witness a great many heavenly signs.

I have specified the inclusion of sufferers of all sorts so that Allah’s mercy may manifest itself in many different forms and so that every person of every nature and disposition may comprehend it. The following instances are likely to cover all the various types of sufferers. For instance, one may be suffering from some disease, another may be, or about to be wrongfully punished, and yet another person’s son may have gone missing or the person himself may be childless; someone might be lying in the pit of ignominy having once attained the pinnacle of rank and glory and may thus be deserving of sympathy; another may be in the clutches of a cruel captor, and yet another may be at death’s door and borne down by the burden of debt beyond his means, and there may be one whose very near and dear has turned apostate and another suffering from some other grief which have not mentioned.

The forth sign pertains to the deep understanding of the Quran. An excellent arrangement for it would be for each contesting party to write the deeper meanings, delicate and hidden truths, of a few verses of the Holy Quran and read them out before an open gathering. If it turns out that what the party has written is plagiarized from an earlier work of exegesis, that party should be publicly condemned as a plagiarist. On the other hand, if a party’s exposition of the deep meanings [of the Quran] is such that they are not only correct and flawless, but are also so new and original that no earlier scholar has ever conceived of them—being free from all ostentation and reflecting the miraculous nature, supremacy and majesty of the Holy Quran and possessing awe and majesty and the light of truth—then it should be concluded that they were revealed by Allah to prove the honour, acceptance and special ability of His chosen one.

The four signs that I have set out as criteria are so simple and transparent that anyone who considers them carefully will conclude that there can be no other simpler or easier spiritual method to judge between the opposing parties. I declare, and swear in the name of Allah, the Glorious, that if I am defeated in this contest, I shall myself publish my confession and say that I was in the wrong. Miyan Nadhir Husain Sahib and Shaikh Batalawi will need no longer to declare me a heretic and a liar. In such an event, I would be deserving of every insult, contempt and humiliation. I shall declare publicly in that very meeting that I am not from Allah and that all my claims are false. But I am certain—and I can see—that my God will never let this come to pass, and He will never allow me to perish. If the aforementioned scholars choose to evade this definitive test, it would not merely be unfair, in my view, they would invite upon themselves deep mistrust of the intelligentsia by taking recourse to silence or by relying upon misleading and false responses. If, in response to the one who is standing ready for the contest, they come up with some false and cunningly invented excuse, then remember that those who seek and love the truth will scorn such a response and all judicious persons will view it with regret. It is possible that some may ask, why doesn’t the person who claims to be the Promised Messiah unilaterally show such signs as can satisfy the people? The answer is that all these people are followers of religious clerics, and these clerics have propagated through public announcements that I am a kafir and a Dajjal and am not to be believed no matter how many signs I may show. Shaikh Batalawi has clearly written all this in a lengthy poster published after the debate in Ludhiana. He has written with great cheek and hostility that people should not pay heed to my invitations towards Heavenly signs, because even Ibni Sayyad showed signs, and the awaited Dajjal will do likewise, therefore, such signs cannot really be trusted. Moreover, I also hear and read announcements by my opponents in which they hold my unilateral signs in contempt. By way of sheer mischief, they say that even if I relate a true dream or a revealed prophecy, it proves no special merit, for even heretics have occasional true dreams, some of their prayers are answered and sometimes they even learn about events prior to their occurrence. Some of these people swear that they, too, have these powers. Little do they know that a mere penny does not make a beggar rich, nor can a glow-worm with its tiny light be called the sun. There is no way these people will understand, but through a contest. If they should feel too helpless about the contest, they are welcome to include ten or even twenty non-believers on their side. The long and short of it is that when the clerics do not accept my unilateral signs, and consider them to be a deception and hold them in contempt and also call me a kafir, where is the point in showing unilateral signs? And how can the people be convinced by such signs when their hearts and minds have already been poisoned by hostile propaganda? On the contrary, a contest for demonstration of the signs of faith is such a clear and manifest method that the clerics will not be able to fall back on excuses. Moreover, in no other way can the truth be made so clearly manifest, as in a contest. However, if these people are incapable of entering the contest, it will be incumbent upon them to publish a joint declaration, affixed with their stamps and seals, admitting that, 'We are unable to enter the contest, and we do not possess the qualities of the perfect believers.' They should also affirm therein that when they see my signs they will accept them without demur and will also advise the public to do the same. Furthermore, they will accept my claim, refrain from their devilish intrigues of declaring me a heretic, and will acknowledge me as the perfect believer. If they do so, I undertake to exhibit unilateral signs—by the grace and mercy of Allah, the Glorious, and I hope that the Mighty and Powerful God will show them His signs, will be the Help and Succour of His servant and will truly fulfil His promises. If they fail to make such a declaration, then a contest is the only preferred option which will nail their pretension to being the perfect believers, Shaikhul Kul, supreme guides and recipients of revelation and Divine discourse, while they consider me to be worse than a dog, a kafir and a Dajjal. A further advantage from such a contest would be that the matter which it would take a long series of unilateral signs on my part to prove, will be settled in a few days through a contest. A contest is thus the shortest and the easiest way to decide as to who is the true believer and who possesses the character of a kafir. This will bring the dispute to an end so quickly, as if a hundred miles had been reduced to a single stride. Thus God Almighty’s honour will quickly manifest the truth. A great benefit of the contest will be that the parties shall be left with no room for criticism, and lame excuses shall be of no avail, while in one-sided showing of signs faultfinding by an ill-disposed opponent can mislead the undiscerning public. Informed people know that many are the unilateral signs that I have shown till now and people who have witnessed them are yet alive, but will the clerics accept them even when I offer proofs thereof? Certainly not. It may be kept in mind that I have adopted these words and this method with the sole intent of arriving at a quick decision and in order to strike the opponents dumb, to fulfil my obligation towards them, to make the truth perfectly manifest and to deliver the message that has been given to me by Allah. Otherwise, the manifestation of signs is not conditional upon a contest. The manifestation of signs has been going on from the very beginning. Anyone who stays in my company can witness some of them upon the condition that he remains truthful and steadfast. In future, too, God will not leave this Jama‘at [Ahmadiyya Muslim Community] without His signs, nor will He withdraw His support. On the contrary, He will continue to show fresh signs at their proper time and in accordance with His holy promises. This He will do till He has made manifest beyond doubt the difference between good and evil. In His revelation He Himself said of me: 'A Warner came to the world but the world did not accept him, but God will accept him and will make manifest his truth through powerful onslaughts.' I can never doubt that these onslaughts will come to pass even though their manifestation does not lie in my power. I assure you that I am righteous. My dear people, know that unless someone has the support of the Lord of Heaven, no one can ever exhibit the courage to stand up steadfastly against the world. Nor can anyone make such claims as are beyond his power. Can anyone who steadfastly stands up to the world do so by himself? Never, unless he stands with the support of an Unseen Hand, and is under the protection of the Almighty in Whose power lies the heaven and the earth, and the body and the soul. Open your eyes and realize that this strength and this resolve has been given to me by God Who honours me with His converse. It was on His behalf and upon His clear command that I was emboldened to confront courageously and resolutely those who claim to be the guides, the leaders of Arabs and non-Arabs, and to be honoured with nearness to Allah. Amongst them are some who are said to receive revelations, and claim to have communion with Allah, and have declared me to be a hell bound kafir on the basis of what they imagine to be revelation. It is against all such people that I have entered the arena for a contest, by the will of Allah, the Exalted, so that He may distinguish the truthful from the liar, and so that His hand may dispatch the liar to perdition and grant His help and succour to the one who has been blessed with His grace. Look, therefore, my brethren, that the invitation I am extending to Miyan Nadhir Husain Sahib and his party is in reality the most clear and transparent way of deciding between them and me. This is where I stand, and if I am indeed a disbeliever, a Dajjal, a slanderer and a follower of Satan, then why should they hesitate to face me? Have they not read in the Holy Quran that when it comes to a contest it is the believers who invariably receive Allah’s help. Allah the Glorious addresses the believers in the Holy Quran and says:

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O believers, do not lose heart nor fear confrontation, for the final victory shall be yours, if indeed you are true believers.

Again He says:

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That is Allah will never make way for the disbelievers to prevail against the believers.

Look, Allah the Exalted has given the glad tidings of victory to the believers at the time of contest, and it is self-evident that God helps and supports the believers and not disbelievers. So, how can an unworthy one be blessed with special signs of faith in opposition to a believer, when Allah holds him for an enemy and knows him to be an impostor? How can it be that those who are Allah’s true friends, recipients of true revelations, perfect believers and Shaikhul Kul, are denied the signs of faith in a contest and disgracefully exposed and Allah purposefully sullies their honour, while the one who is accursed by heaven and, according to Batalawi Sahib, is like dogs and a kafir and Dajjal, and, according to Miyan Nadhir Husain, entirely shorn of faith, an atheist and the lowest of all creatures, is graced with the signs of faith and God awards him victory and success in the contest instead? Tell me truthfully, dear readers, is heavenly and spiritual succour meant for the believers or the non-believers? In the whole of this discourse, I have established that a contest is an absolute must for distinguishing the truth from falsehood, so that:

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I restrained myself in the face of excesses and use of filthy language by Shaikhul Kul Sahib and his acolytes. Now, in my capacity as the Appointed One, I invite Shaikhul Kul Sahib and his party to this Divine Call. I have full faith that Allah Himself will judge between us. He evaluates the innermost thoughts of the heart and scrutinizes what lies in the bosoms. He detests aggression and proclamations of evil. He is Independent of all. Only he is righteous who holds Him in awe. I am not demeaned if someone calls me a dog, or a heretic or a Dajjal. In fact, honour for man is nothing in itself, it is only the reflection of Divine Light that constitutes honour. If God is not pleased with me and if I am evil in His eyes, then what to speak of a dog, I would be a thousand time worse than a dog.

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In short, the Holy and All-Powerful God is my refuge, and I entrust all my affairs to Him. I do not wish to trade abuses, nor do I wish to say aught; there is One only Who will speak. Alas! how these people have complicated a simple matter and did not consider God Almighty powerful enough to do what He pleases, and to send whosoever He likes as the appointed one. Can man fight God? Or has the progeny of Adam the right to question what He does and what He does not? Does He not have the power to confer the potential and character of one upon the other and to make one resemble the other in hue and temperament, and to give the name of one to another? If man has faith in Allah’s limitless powers, he would reply without hesitation that the might of Allah the Glorious encompasses everything, and that He can fulfil His words and prophecies in any form and manner He pleases. Readers! consider for yourselves, is it written anywhere that the awaited Jesus would be the self-same Israelite, Nazarene, Bible-bearing Prophet? On the contrary, Bukhari—known as the most authentic book after the Holy Quran—describes him as: 30 and testifies to the death of Hazrat Masih(as). Let him who has eyes see. O men of justice! ponder and say if the Holy Quran contains any mention of anyone who would come to break crosses, or to slay the infidels, or to bring a new commandment to kill the swine, or to cancel some injunctions of the Holy Quran? Consider and say if the Quranic verses:

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will be cancelled? Is it possible for some new revelation to cancel the Quranic revelation? O people, O you who call yourselves the progeny of Muslims, do not turn into enemies of the Holy Quran; do not start a new order of prophetic revelation in the wake of the Khatamun-Nabiyyin,33 and show some regard for God in Whose presence you will be arraigned.

Finally, I wish to inform the readers that I shall, Insha’Allah [Allah willing], deal in a separate book with the issues on the basis of which Hazrat Maulawi Nadhir Husain and his party have condemned me as a heretic, a non-believer, and a Dajjal, and heaped upon me such abuse as a civilized person would hate to use even against a person of another community. He claims that all these things have been mentioned in my books Taudih-e-Maram and Izala-e-Auham. I shall, therefore, reproduce the passages that have been criticized, and ask fair-minded people to decide whether I have at all deviated from the tenets of Islam, or is it they [my opponents] whose eyes are veiled and hearts sealed and, despite their claims to knowledge, fail to recognize the truth. They are barring people’s way like a bridge that suddenly gives way and causes a flood all around. Mark my words, these people will eventually be silenced with humiliation and, having shamefully shunned their passion to declare me a kafir, they will become subdued as though someone had thrown water on a blazing fire. Man’s perspicacity and wisdom lies in understanding something before it is explained, in fathoming a secret before it is uncovered; of what avail is the understanding that comes after much cerebral labour? The time comes when those who vilify and abuse me shall repent, and shall think well of me after all their mistrust and suspicion. But this is a far cry from that [spontaneous acceptance].

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Therefore, my dear people, avail well of the present time. You are wrong to imagine that instead of sending a Mujaddid35 at the head of the century, the God of heaven and earth has instead sent a kafir and a Dajjal to spread mischief on earth. O people, show some regard for the prophecy of the Holy Prophet(sa), and fear Allah. Do not reject His bounty.

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