Istifta’

An Inquiry

Background

Immediately after the death of Pandit Lekh Ram, the Aryah Smajists started making allegations, that it was the Promised Messiah(as) who had hatched a conspiracy to murder Pandit Lekh Ram. On April 8, 1897, the Police made a surprise raid on the house of the Promised Messiah(as) on the suggestion of some Hindus that some incriminating documents could be found which could lead to the discovery that the Promised Messiah(as) had a hand in the murder of Pandit Lekh Ram. By sheer coincidence the first paper that came to the notice of the Police authorities on the spot were the writings of Pandit Lekh Ram and the Promised Messiah(as) containing an agreement about the prayer duel which Pandit Lekh Ram had entered into with the Promised Messiah(as) during his 25 days visit to Qadian many years before. A few of these papers were published in the Istifta’.

The Book

The Promised Messiah(as) addressed a letter to a number of scholars on May 1, 1897, and in this, he explained the purpose and the object of the book. With this letter, he sent a number of publications free. The letter runs as follows:

I beg to enclose a copy of the pamphlet named Istifta’. The motive which has led me to write it is that the Aryah Samajists entertain a false notion that Pandit Lekh Ram was murdered at my instigation. I am inclined to excuse them for this as they are entirely ignorant of the supernatural origin of prophecies. According to their belief, inspiration and revelation from God belonged only to hoary antiquity and now they have become extinct. In other words, a Divine manifestation is not eternal, but only a thing of the past. Therefore, they cannot reconcile to the prophetic phenomena with the present age. However, after a study of the pamphlet, it is hoped that it will not only clear me of the charge of participation direct or indirect in Pandit Lekh Ram’s murder, but will also be useful to those who deny the existence of prophetic revelation in this age and who consider the power of foretelling future events inconsistent with the laws of Nature. At any rate, this pamphlet will be found interesting and instructive by those, who sincerely seek the truth and a reply to the questions:

• Is there a God?

• If so, does He reveal future events to His elite?

I have answered these questions by fully explaining such reasons as conclusively as possible that the prophecy about Pandit Lekh Ram was actually revealed by God and that it was altogether out of the province of man’s capabilities and devices to devise his murder. I have repeatedly said that Pandit Lekh Ram had challenged me to make the prophecy concerning himself which, if fulfilled, was to be the sole criterion of the truth or falsehood of Islam and the Aryah faith, and when the prophecy was made, both the parties agreed to give it a wide publicity and awaited its result most anxiously. At last, it has been most clearly and definitely fulfilled. The most curious phase of the prophecy which has been thoroughly discussed in these pages is that it was published in clear and unequivocal words in the Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya about 17 years ago when Pandit Lekh Ram was a boy of 12 or 13 years. The readers of this pamphlet must carefully consider this fact which, I believe, will improve their faculty of discernment and clearly show them the difference between the Divine and human prowess and satisfy their minds.1