A Prayer Duel

The history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is filled with trials and tribulations which require immense patience and steadfastness.

On 26 April 1984, a momentous incident took place in the history of Islam: the dictator of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, issued an anti-Ahmadiyya ordinance that greatly increased the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims.

They were harassed and jailed for petty reasons; lawsuits were filed against Ahmadis for even such things as saying the Islamic words of greeting, Assalamo Alaikum and writing Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem,1 such as on wedding cards. By using this new law of the Pakistani government to their advantage, the enemies of Ahmadiyyat, including numerous members of the clergy, made life very difficult for Ahmadi Muslims and snatched away their lives and wealth from them.

These circumstances no only made it impossible for the Khalifah of the time to perform his duties, but his life was in danger as well. Zia-ul-Haq’s plan was also to arrest the Ahmadi Khalifah since he was well aware that the success of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was in its Khilafat. The Community’s entire structure, progress, and growt depended upon Khilafat. Therefore, by separating the Khalifah from the Community, he planned to put an end to Ahmadiyyat.

As the President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq thought he had all the power he needed to destroy the Ahmadiyya Jama’at, but he failed to realise that this Community was under the special protection of God. God had formed it, and He was going to protect it against all enemies. By fighting against the Jama’at, Zia-ul-Haq was actually fighting against God, but he refused to accept that.

Given this situation, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta) prayed to Allah the Almighty for protection and guidance and challenged all the leaders of the enemies to a prayer duel.

We learn from the Holy Qur’an that when a group of Christians refused to accept Islam after they were given arguments and evidence in its support, the Holy Prophet (sas) was ordered by Allah to challenge them to a prayer duel to settle the dispute. Both parties would leave the matter to Allah the Almighty. Each party prays to Allah the Almighty to help and assist the one who is true and they invoke the curse of Allah upon the liar. However, when the Holy Prophet (sas) offered the Christians the prayer duel challenge, they declined. The Promised Messiah (as) followed the same practice when he gave this very challenge to his opponents. Accordingly, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih IV (rta) also presented this challenge to all the leaders of the enemies of Ahmadiyyat. Allah the Almighty demonstrated astonishing results from this prayer duel.