The Church Missionary Society established its first Indian mission in 1799 with a plan to expand missions throughout the subcontinent. Within a span of a mere thirty years, the number of Christians in India more than quadrupled, growing from less than 100,000 in 1851 to over 400,000 in 1881. This explosive growth set British India aflame in a fiery atmosphere of theological debate, particularly between Islam and Christianity.
It was against such a backdrop that a man by the name of Dr. Henry Martyn Clark appeared and founded the Amritsar Medical Mission in 1882. In 1893, he penned an open letter challenging the Muslims of Jandiala to a decisive debate, declaring that if Muslims shy away from this contest or suffer a crushing defeat, they would forfeit their right to confront the scholars of Christianity in the future, or to boast of Islam’s truth. When the challenge was brought to the attention of the Promised Messiah(as) and he was petitioned to represent the Muslims, he happily agreed and dispatched his disciples to Henry Martyn Clark to agree upon the conditions of the debate. He stated:
Since I have been commissioned for such religious contests and, on account of divine revelation, know for certain that I shall be victorious in every field; therefore, Dr Clark has been forthwith informed through a letter that it is my earnest desire to take part in this contest so that the distinction between truth and falsehood may be clearly manifested (Hujjatul-Islam, Ruhani Khazā’in, Vol. 6, p. 44, ed. 3; English translation, A Conclusive Argument in Favour of Islam, p. 5, edition 1, printed in 2016, published by Islam International Publications Ltd.).
Though the conditions of the debate had been agreed to and Deputy Abdullah Atham had been appointed to represent the Christians, Dr. Clark held some reservations. This was evident from his public announcement to discontinue the planned debate on the basis that the Promised Messiah(as) could not truly represent Islam when numerous edicts of disbelief had been charged against him by his fellow Muslims. The Promised Messiah(as) published an in-depth response to this in two booklets by the names of Hujjatul-Islām (A Conclusive Argument in Favour of Islam—April 1893) and Sachchā’ī kā Izhār (The Truth Revealed—May 1893). We urge the reader to study both books alongside Jang-e-Muqaddas (The Holy War) to fully understand the sequence of events leading up to the debate as well as its historical context.
The debate continued as planned and took place at the residence of Dr. Henry Martyn Clark. It began on the 22 May 1893 and lasted for fifteen days, ending on 5 June 1893. The proceedings took place every morning from six o’clock to eleven o’clock, each side allotted 50 audience admission tickets. The great renown of the Promised Messiah(as) drew large crowds and men of great dignity, as acknowledged by Dr. Clark:
On the day appointed the verandah was filled in no time by the lucky ticket-holders, while the police turned away hundreds not so provided at the compound-gate. For some time a surging mob filled the road in front, very quiet, orderly, and intensely anxious to get in … In addition to the disciples of the Mirza, there was a very large attendance of orthodox Mohammedans, men mostly of affluence and position, and, as such, not usually reached by existing methods of work … There they were, influential wealthy men, Government servants and what not—men, as a whole, quite beyond ordinary reach—sitting hour after hour for a couple of weeks, listening most attentively to expositions of Scripture … (The Church Missionary Intelligence—1894, p. 98).
A total of thirteen papers were published containing a word-for-word record of the daily proceedings—attested by both sides—no debate having taken place on the two Sundays, 28 May and 4 June, 1893. Dr. Clark took note of the immense public interest:
An enterprising Mohammedan publisher in Amritsar issued the verbatim reports daily, and it was a sight to see how the papers were bought up. The street in which the press is situated was a mass of heads, waiting for the daily issue (The Church Missionary Intelligence—1894, p. 100).
Since the very planning of the event, the Promised Messiah(as) laid down two fundamental principles as his conditions for the debate. First, all claims and arguments should be sourced strictly from the respective party’s scriptures. Secondly, he emphasised that a living religion must demonstrate Heavenly Signs in its favour. The Christian side, however, proved thoroughly inept in both areas.
The outcome of the debate had far-reaching consequences for the spread of Islam and arresting the growth of Christianity. Muslims were inspired by the innovative arguments put forth by the Promised Messiah(as). But apart from this victory was the triumphant fulfilment of the prophecy of Abdullah Atham’s death within fifteen months unless he repented. When Abdullah Atham died in 1896, after he was openly informed by the Promised Messiah(as) that he would fall victim to God’s wrath, it became manifest that Islam was the faith supported by Heavenly Signs.
This translation of Jang-e-Muqaddas was performed by Waseem Ahmad Sayed of the English translation section of Additional Wakalat-e-Tasnif, who referenced an earlier translation carried out by Tahir Ahmad Khalid, a student of Jami‘ah Ahmadiyya UK in 2015. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Bushra Shahid, Naser-ud-Din Shams, Qadir Malik, and Mirza Abdul Wahab who reviewed the final manuscript, along with many others who contributed towards that end. May Allah the Almighty reward all who participated in this noble endeavour for their sacrifices, and may He bless them abundantly in this world and the Hereafter. Āmīn.
I sincerely hope and pray that this book will be a source of enlightenment for all readers.
al-Haj Munir-ud-Din Shams
Additional Wakil-ut-Tasnif
London, November 2020