Appendix to the Book Nuzulul-Masih

Dated: Saturday, 6 Sha‘ban 1320 AH, i.e., 8 November 1902 CE with an Announcement of a Prize of Ten Thousand Rupees3

O our Lord, decide between us and our people with utmost truthfulness and You indeed are the One who is the Best of those who decide.

Worthy Readers! May Allah guide you! Let it be clear that the need to pen this treatise arose as two of my sincere companions took part in a debate at Mudh, District Amritsar, at the insistence of Munshi Muhammad Yusuf. I, therefore, appointed Maulawi Muhammad Sarwar as my representative, while the other party called upon Maulawi Sanaullah from Amritsar to represent them. The need to pen this treatise would not have arisen had Maulawi Sanaullah not employed deceit and falsehood during the debate. But since Maulawi Sanaullah considers it a duty of his to tell lies in denying my prophecies, God Almighty drew my attention towards writing this treatise,

[in order to heap disgrace upon all liars].

O Fair-minded ones! It must be known to the readers of my book Nuzulul-Masih, wherein as many as 150 heavenly Signs have been recorded along with the testimonies of hundreds of people, that God’s perfect and pure Signs are pouring down like rain in my support. If the number of people who have witnessed the fulfilment of these Signs were to be counted, it would, I believe, exceed six million. But, sadly, prejudice and worldliness together make up such an accursed disease as does not allow one to see despite being able to see, and does not allow one to hear despite being able to hear, and does not allow one to understand despite being able to understand.

I declare in the name of that God in whose hands my life rests that if the witnesses to the Signs, which were demonstrated in my favour and manifested in my support, were to be assembled in one place, they would outnumber the army of any ruler on earth. However, the world is so fraught with sins that people deny Signs of even such magnitude.

Heaven testified in my favour, and so did the earth, yet a greater portion of mankind did not accept me. Indeed, I am the one in whose time camels have been abandoned, a fact that fulfils the prophecy mentioned in the verse:

And then a hadith—which states, 6

[i.e. then the she-camels shall be abandoned, and no one will ride them]—showed the truth of its purport with full lustre, so much so that in Arabic and other languages of the world, editors of various newspapers and periodicals emphatically raised the point that the railway track being laid between Makkah and Madinah is undeniably the fulfilment of the prophecy made by the Holy Quran and Hadith in the above-recorded words, which is a Sign for the age of the Promised Messiah.

Similarly, all divine scriptures had also prophesied that in the time of the Promised Messiah the plague will break out; restrictions will be imposed on Hajj; a comet will appear; and at the turn of the seventh millennium there will appear the promised one whose appearance is destined to take place towards the east of Damascus and who is to appear at the turn of the century when the Cross will have achieved great dominance. As such, today, all these prophecies have been fulfilled and, in order to support me, God has demonstrated extraordinary Signs at my hand.

The death of Atham was a grand Sign, which appeared as foretold in the prophecy. An indication towards it was also given in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya twelve years earlier. What is more, a tradition of the Holy Prophet(sa) also spoke of this event. But the wicked people treated it with ridicule and refused to acknowledge it. The time frame given for the fulfilment of the prophecy was subject to certain conditions. Moreover, the prophecy was made not because Atham was a Christian; rather, as has been stated in the book in which the proceedings of the debate were recorded and which has been titled by the Christians as Jang-e-Muqaddas, the reason for this prophecy was that he had, in his book Andrunah Bible, called the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, a dajjal [deceiver]. My prophecy was read out to him in the presence of around seventy men and it was explained to him that the reason why this prophecy was being made was that he had labelled our beloved, the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as a dajjal. Therefore, he was warned that if he failed to repudiate this word, he would die within a period of fifteen months. Consequently, Atham recanted in that very gathering, saying: ‘God forbid! I have not uttered any such word about his honoured self.’ He then raised both his hands and held out his tongue while he was shaking with fear and then verbally denied to have said any words to that effect. The witnesses to this event include not only Muslims; rather, it can also be testified to by more than forty Christians as well. Does this not constitute repudiation on his part? Did his fear and abandoning totally, during the pronounced time-frame of the prophecy, the argumentation he always used to engage in with me and with the late Sheikh Ghulam Hasan, who was the Grand Chief of Amritsar, and Miyan Ghulam Nabi, the brother of late Miyan Asadullah, a lawyer from Amritsar, not furnish the proof that Atham surely had certainly become frightened? Does his moving away from Amritsar and living in seclusion and spending most of his time crying and weeping not establish that a terrible fear had gripped his heart?

Does his aversion to taking an oath while he had been offered a sum of four thousand rupees for this purpose—and while it had been proved to him that the Christian faith allowed the taking of oath and that the Messiah himself took an oath and so did Paul—not establish that he had become frightened? Has it still not been established that he recanted the word he had spoken, i.e. dajjal? What is more, who can prove that he ever labelled the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as dajjal after this, during the time-frame given for the fulfilment of the prophecy?

So, show me where Atham is today if the prophecy has not been fulfilled. He was as old as I was, i.e. about sixty-four years. If you have any doubt about this, you may take a look at his pension documents lying in the government offices to confirm at what time and age he began to receive his pension. If the prophecy was not true, why did he die earlier than me? May God’s curse be on those people who tell lies! When a person has become shameless, he may blabber as he likes, as no one can hold him back.

Consider the prophecy about Lekhram, wherein it was stated clearly that he would be murdered within six years on a day next to the day of Eid. How manifestly was that prophecy fulfilled! Testifying to this, Fateh Ali Shah, the Deputy Collector, as well as many other notables who number close to 4,000, prepared an attested petition bearing out the manifest fulfilment of the prophecy, despite the fact that they belonged to the party of our opponents. Yet the impious people, who are maulawis only in name, refuse to acknowledge the fulfilment of the prophecy. The hand-written testimonies of their own elite are on record and the petition has been signed by several Hindus as well.

Prejudice, however, is such a thing as renders people blind [to the truth]. Otherwise, such are these prophecies that listening to them would make the eyes of a righteous person run with tears. But still these people insist that not a single prophecy has been fulfilled. They do not consider that one day they too will meet their death. If the Signs that have been shown to these people had been shown to the people of Nuh [Noah], they would not have drowned. If the people of Lut [Lot] had been apprised of these Signs, stones would not have rained down upon them. But these people say it is night while seeing the sun; they have outdone even the Jews. To reject the Signs of Almighty God is not a trivial matter. It never resulted in anything good in any age. How then will it result in anything good now?

Atheism has, however, become rife in this age. Hearts have hardened and have no fear [of the Almighty]. Who should I liken these people to! They are like that blind man who denies the existence of the sun but is unaware of his own blindness. These people are like those Jews and Christians who fail to appreciate hundreds of incidents of divine support in favour of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the miracles he showed, and keep citing the stories of the Battle of Uhud and the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. The same is the case of the Jews regarding Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus] also.

A Jewish man has recently published a book, which is with me at this time. It reads as if it has been written by Muhammad Husain or Sanaullah. He writes in his book that this man, i.e. Jesus, did not show even a single miracle and that none of his prophecies were fulfilled. ‘He used to say that he would be given the throne of Dawud [David], when did he get that.’ ‘He used to say that the twelve disciples would attain to twelve thrones in Heaven, when did the twelve get those thrones. Judas Iscariot betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver and was thus cut off from the disciples. And Peter cursed him three times, so was he then worthy of the throne.’ ‘He used to say further that he would return to the world while the people of his time would still be alive, but did he so come back.’ This Jewish person then writes that for this person [Jesus] to be proven false it is sufficient to see the prophecy recorded in the book of Malachi wherein we were informed that the true Messiah who was to come among the Jews would never come until the prophet Ilyas [Elijah] comes again into the world. So where did Ilyas descend from the heaven.’ And then he [the Jewish Author] raises a great clamour at this point and appeals to the people, that look, this was the prophecy in the book of Malachi, that Ilyas would himself come back into the world again, but this man [Jesus] says that Yuhanna (who is known as Yahya [John] among the Muslims) is Elijah—that is to say declares him to be his likeness. But God did not give us the tidings of the coming of a mathil [likeness]. He had said clearly that Elijah himself would come again. And even if we are asked on the Day of Judgment we would put before God this very same book and question Him where it was stated by Him that someone in the image of Ilyas would be sent before the Promised Messiah. Having said this, the author goes on to use extremely uncivilized language about Jesus. The book is here, whosoever wishes may see it.

Now, do tell whether the heart of this Jew and the heart of Maulawi Muhammad Husain and that of Miyan Sanaullah resemble each other or not! In opposing any prophecy of mine they speak so much falsehood concerning it, despite the fact that not a single prophecy of mine has proven to be false. Instead, all my prophecies have been most manifestly fulfilled. Those subject to certain conditions have been fulfilled accordingly and will continue to be fulfilled, and those not subject to any condition, such as the one regarding Lekhram, were fulfilled as they were foretold. This indeed is the truth regarding my prophecies.

In contrast to this, the objections raised by the said Jewish scholar against the prophecies of Jesus, may peace be upon him, are extremely damaging. Even I find those objections too difficult to answer. I will confer a cash prize of 100 rupees to Maulawi Sanaullah, Maulawi Muhammad Husain or anyone from among the Christian clergymen, who succeeds to aptly refute these objections. This is the state of the prophecies while he is called God—I am also amazed by this. Regarding such prophecies one cannot even make the excuse that the prophecies were abrogated so one could think that they were annulled. The fulfilment of the prophecies of wa‘id [warning], however, such as my prophecy regarding Atham or the one about the son-in-law of Ahmad Baig, may be deferred according to the Holy Quran as well as the Torah, for a delay in their fulfilment does not render them false. The reason for this is that God has the authority to withhold the punishment, as both Muslims and Christians believe. Although there was no condition attached to the prophecy made by Prophet Yunus [Jonah] concerning the chastisement [of his people], the punishment was still revoked. No Muslim or Christian can raise the objection that Jonah was false. See the Book of Jonah and Durr-e-Manthur.

It is indeed surprising that my opponents raise against me such objections as render them liable to lose even their faith in Islam. If they feared Allah, they would never have raised such objections that apply even more strongly to other Prophets. What is even stranger is that they overlook thousands of the prophecies that were fulfilled most manifestly. If, however, due to their own folly, they fail to understand a prophecy, they say repeatedly it has remained unfulfilled. Is this fair on their part? Had they really been in search of truth, an easy method for this would have been to settle the matter by personally visiting Qadian. I would have even paid for their to and fro travel expenses and looked after them as my guests. In this way, they could have investigated the matter to their hearts’ content. To make allegations from afar without conducting a thorough investigation can only be due to stupidity or prejudice for what else could be its cause?

At one time about 500 such foolish people had renounced Hazrat Masih [Jesus, the Messiah] saying this person’s prophecies have not been fulfilled. And, as a matter of fact, Judas Iscariot also turned apostate for this very reason because weapons had been purchased openly, yet nothing really happened and the prophecy regarding the Kingdom of David remained unfulfilled. Disillusioned, Judas ultimately lost his faith. Jesus, the Messiah, failed even to be informed that he would turn apostate and thus unduly promised Judas the Kingdom of God. Likewise, some of the opponents [of Islam] criticized the journey towards Hudaibiyyah saying that the prophecy related to this journey was not fulfilled. To them, the marathon journey had established that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, firmly believed that he would be allowed to perform tawaf [circuits] around the Ka‘bah as was mentioned in the prophecy. As a result, some of the ill-fated became apostates. The incident even put Hazrat ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, in a trial for a few days and, as is evident from his own statement. He then performed many good deeds seeking repentance for his error of judgment. These examples are there for the wicked to consider. Yet, the ignorant people who are opposing me today continue to treat me iniquitously. Overwhelmed by callousness, they ceaselessly fabricate absurd allegations against me. For instance, they say that prior to my claim to be the Promised Messiah, I had admitted in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that Jesus, may peace be upon him, would appear. To this I would only say: O Ignorant ones! Why do you ruin your afterlife? May I ask that while making this pronouncement, where did I write that my statement was based on divine revelation, or that I possessed knowledge of the unseen? I held the same belief as you did, until God drew me away from it and repeatedly impressed upon me that I am the Promised Messiah and that Jesus is dead. This is indeed why, in complete simplicity, I wrote in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that Jesus, the Hazrat Masih [Jesus] would come again. However, when God revealed to me the real truth, I disavowed this belief; but I did not abandon this commonly held creed until perfect conviction overpowered my heart and enlightened me to the brim. What is more, I made the above-mentioned statement despite the fact that in the same Barahin I had been called ‘Isa and named Khatamul-Khulafa’ [the Seal of the Successors] and declared to be the one who was to break the Cross. Also, I was told that the Holy Quran and the Hadith contain the tidings of my advent, and that I am the one to whom the following verse refers:

Divine wisdom, however, caused this revelation, which was recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya in unambiguous terms, to remain hidden from my eyes. Therefore, despite the fact that I had been clearly and categorically declared to be the Promised Messiah in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, it was due to this obliviousness that had been imposed upon my heart that I set out in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya the belief regarding the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa. This is, therefore, a proof of my complete innocence and obliviousness that while divine revelation recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya accorded me the status of Promised Messiah, yet I wrote down this customarily held belief in the Barahin. I personally am amazed at how, despite the manifestly clear revelation in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that declared me to be the Promised Messiah, I wrote down the customarily held creed in this very Book.

Then, for as many as twelve years, which is quite a lengthy period of time, I remained absolutely unmindful and unaware of the fact that God had so emphatically declared me to be the Promised Messiah in Barahin; I continued to hold the traditional belief regarding the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa. Then, after as many as twelve years had passed, the time finally came for the reality of the matter to be made clear to me and Divine revelations began repeatedly to apprise me of the fact that I indeed am the Promised Messiah.

In short, when the revelation of God in this regard reached to their maximum—and I was commanded,

, that is, ‘Proclaim openly that which you are commanded’—and many Signs were granted to me and my heart was filled with manifest conviction; only then was it that I preached this message to the people. In fact, such planning on the part of Almighty God was to serve as proof of my truthfulness and a Sign of my innocence and simplicity. Had this scheme been initiated by a man with its roots in human planning, I would have claimed to be the Promised Messiah during the very days when Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya was published. But God caused me to overlook the [true purport of the] revelation recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya and I failed to realize that it called me the Promised Messiah. This happened due to my innocence, and this forms a great proof of my truthfulness. If this is not true, I urge my opponents to tell me why I did not make the claim for twelve long years while I had already been declared to be the Promised Messiah in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya and why did I write words that clearly contradicted divine revelation recorded in Barahin? Is it not worth considering how events unfolded? Is it not dishonesty on the part of those people that they quote the words of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya where I have mentioned the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus] as a commonly held traditional belief, but withhold the fact that the same Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya proclaims me the Promised Messiah? In fact, this was going to be a profound argument in my favour, which Almighty God had already prepared for my sake earlier on in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya. Even he who is an enemy of mine would testify that while Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya was being written, I did not know that I was the Promised Messiah. This is the reason why I did not make any such claim at that time. Hence, the revelations that declared me to be the Promised Messiah while I was unaware of it cannot be doubted as human fabrications. If I had fabricated those revelations, I would have exploited them in my favour when Barahin was being written and therefore announced my claim. Besides, how could I have written in the same Barahin that Hazrat ‘Isa, may peace be upon him, would come again into the world? The fact that the two contradictory statements were recorded in the same book and that I did not claim to be the Promised Messiah at that time leaves a fair-minded judge with no other option but to affirm that indeed I remained unmindful of the revelation of Allah that had been recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya concerning my status as the Promised Messiah. This, in fact, was the reason why I combined two contradictory statements in Barahin.

If Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya had stated only that the very same old ‘Isa, may peace be upon him, would come back into the world, and if it had not spoken about me as the Promised Messiah, an impetuous person might have taken advantage of the statement and raised an objection, asking why the belief recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya twelve years earlier was renounced later. This too, however, would have been an absurd objection, since Prophets and other recipients of divine revelation are responsible only for the authenticity of the revelation. They cannot be held accountable if their inferences turn out to be false or contrary to the facts, because these are their own views and not the Word of God; though the ordinary people could fall prey to such a mistake. But as things stand, now there is no room left for one to make such an absurd objection, for in the same Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya I had been declared the Promised Messiah twelve years before I actually made the claim. For a reasonable person, this furnishes an evident proof of my truth.

The mention in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya of the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa could have misled an ignorant person only if there had not been any mention of myself being the Promised Messiah. But this was so clearly recorded that the maulawis in Ludhiana, such as Muhammad, Abdul Aziz, and Abdullah, had raised objections at that very time accusing me of naming myself ‘Isa and ascribing all those prophecies that referred to ‘Isa to myself. Responding to the objections, Maulawi Muhammad Husain wrote in his review that the objections were uncalled for, as the same Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya contained my endorsement of the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa.

May I be sacrificed at the wisdom of Almighty God! With what profundity, He prepared the means of my exoneration beforehand. If there had simply been no mention in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya of the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa, and had the book spoken only of me as the Promised Messiah, the agitation which began after several years and the edicts of disbelief that were prepared later would have been prepared right at the time of the publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya. Conversely, if Barahin had mentioned only the second coming of Hazrat Masih without citing the revelations that declare me to be the Promised Messiah, ignorant people would have raised the objection that while I had admitted in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that Hazrat ‘Isa would come again, what was it that forced me to deny this twelve years later? However, those who are wise would agree that the fact that, on the one hand, divine revelation declared me to be the Promised Messiah in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya and, on the other, I, with my own pen, recorded my endorsement of the traditional belief of the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa, clearly proves that this happened under the extraordinary planning of Almighty God.

In short, by allowing me to commit the error whereby I affirmed the second coming of ‘Isa in the same book in which I was declared as the Promised Messiah, divine wisdom caused my innocence and truthfulness to become manifest. Otherwise, all those revelations recorded in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that declare me to be the Promised Messiah would have undoubtedly been regarded as imposture. What is more, wisdom simply cannot accept that the claim to be the Promised Messiah, which was made as many as twelve years after the publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, was fabricated such a long time ago. The affirmation of the second coming of Hazrat ‘Isa, therefore, in the very book that speaks of me as the Promised Messiah is living proof of my innocence and truthfulness.

Sadly, my opponents have become senseless to the extent that they pay attention to only one aspect of every matter and ignore the other. While speaking about the Christian man, Atham, they blatantly ignore the condition [contained in the prophecy]. They never mention the fact that he died in accordance with the prophecy and entered the grave, nor do they speak of the events that establish that Atham recanted from declaring the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as dajjal. They avoid mentioning all of the facts and try to conceal them altogether. What is more, when they speak of the son-in-law of Ahmad Baig, they never tell the people that a part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled within the stipulated period; i.e. Ahmad Baig died within the given time-frame and that the second part of the prophecy awaits fulfilment. They also withhold the fact that it was a prophecy of wa‘id [warning] and was subject to certain conditions as is evident from the revelation:

Which had been published a number of times. It was obviously natural to be overcome by fear after witnessing a death like that of Ahmad Baig, and it was this fear that caused the deferment of the fulfilment of the second part of the prophecy. For indeed such is divine practice regarding the prophecies of wa‘id. However, the malicious opponents of mine never mention these facts; instead, like the Jews they distort facts and make speeches that create doubts in the hearts of ignorant people. They have indeed put to shame even the Jews by being guilty of fabrication in every matter, just as Maulawi Sanaullah did during the debate at Mudh. He deceived the people by saying that I had written in one of my prophecies that a boy would be born to me; however, only a girl was born after whom a boy was born who died, and, therefore, the prophecy turned out to be false.

Someone should ask these wicked people that if what they state is true and not intended to mislead others, they should put forth the published revelation about which I stated that God disclosed to me that a boy would definitely be born at that time, or that the boy born after the girl would unquestionably be the promised son and none other. Moreover, suppose I had thought that the said boy would be the promised one; my own thinking is of little importance unless supported by a clear revelation of Almighty God. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in his own estimation, believed that he would migrate to Yamamah, but that never happened and ultimately he migrated to Madinah. Besides, if the prophecy required for the promised son to be born of the first pregnancy, divine revelation must have had words to that effect. But can anyone point out any such words in the revelation? Keep in mind that many Israelite Prophets made prophecies regarding the birth of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, but it was after the appearance of numerous other Prophets, at the very end, that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was sent. Should one now raise the objection that the prophecies of the said Prophets proved false because the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was born 2,000 years after Musa [Moses]? The Jews, in view of the prophecy in the Torah, believed that the said Prophet would be born in the near future; however, it did not happen accordingly and a number of Prophets appeared in between Musa and the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Hence, only he who is insane or wicked and has no fear of God would raise such objections.

Similar statements were made by Maulawi Sanaullah during the debate at Mudh, from which a God-fearing person can understand how corrupt these so-called maulawis have become. Overwhelmed by prejudice, they fail to take into account the Signs of prophethood and the criterion set for the recognition of the Prophets. This is why all their allegations are utterly false and made as a diabolical plot. If they are in the right, they should personally visit Qadian and disprove any one of my prophecies. For disproving each of such prophecies they will be rewarded 100 rupees, in addition to their to and fro travel expenses. While making these investigations, they should, however, judge the truth and falsehood on the criterion set by the events in the lives of the past Prophets. I state firmly that if they believe my miracles and prophecies to be untrue, they will have to reject all Prophets and will ultimately die as disbelievers.

Sadly, these people do not fear God. Their laps are filled with heaps upon heaps of the filth of falsehood. They follow in the footsteps of the Christians and the Jews. The Christians used to object that if the Holy Quran had already prophesied the victory of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, why did he resort to wars and kill his enemies through various means and methods. Similar objections are being raised today against me by these people. For instance, regarding the daughter of Ahmad Baig, they object as to why efforts were made to win the hearts [of that family] and why letters to that effect were written to Ahmad Baig. Sadly, both of the above-mentioned parties, i.e. the Christians and these present-day ‘Jews’, do not realize that nowhere has the use of legitimate means been declared unlawful so as to cause a prophecy to be fulfilled. The one who has been informed by God about the recovery of a sick person is not forbidden from administering medicine to the patient as recovery might have been ordained to occur by using the medicine. In short, to make such an effort is not considered unlawful—neither by the Christians and the Jews, nor by Islam. During the debate at Mudh, Maulawi Sanaullah also raised the objection that the prophecy regarding the humiliation of Muhammad Husain, Ja‘far Zatalli, and one of their other friends has not been fulfilled. To me, if such objections had not been raised by these people, how could they have come to resemble the Jews? Hence, in my opinion, such objections were inevitable on their part.

O Wicked man! Maulawi Muhammad Husain’s article, which goes against his own allegations of disbelief against me, was discovered during the proceedings of this very case. Pray tell whether it has not brought disgrace and humiliation upon him—if considered from the standpoint of his scholarly position? It was merely to oppose me that in his periodical, Isha‘atus-Sunnah, he declared the denial of the appearance of the Promised Mahdi to be an act of disbelief, and propagated against me that I stood opposed to an established tenet of Islam, and [he said] that the Promised Mahdi would surely appear and the Messiah would descend from Heaven. Later, however, he simply denied the coming of the Mahdi to ingratiate himself with the government. The said copy of his periodical was thus exposed and his own peers issued a edict of disbelief against him.

Now tell whether this act of hypocrisy brought him honour or disgrace! The term ‘disgrace’ does not mean only to be thrashed publicly upon the head with shoes; rather, if a person, who claims to be a religious scholar and a pious man is proved hypocritical in his conduct, he would suffer the worst possible disgrace. Indeed, no one is more ignoble than a hypocrite.

How disgraceful it is for a person to proclaim that the Mahdi shall come, that to deny him is an act of heresy, and that wars will be fought; to then, on the other hand, turn away from all these statements to please the government! If this is not called disgrace, then I am bound to say that perhaps the edifice of your self-proclaimed dignity is stronger than even a building made of mortar, for no matter how immoral an act you commit, it is not going to undermine the edifice of your so-called dignity.

As for the prestige of Ja‘far Zatalli, he and his ilk are not acting independently. They are all under the influence of Maulawi Muhammad Husain since he is their advocate. Therefore, when the advocate himself has suffered disgrace, his dependants too have been disgraced. The shadow invariably follows the object from which it is created. How can the shadow of the tree exist if the tree has fallen? Still, if someone has doubts, I have with me both statements made by Maulawi Muhammad Husain, one which he made to please the public and the other which he made to seek the pleasure of the government. One can look at both the statements and decide whether to commit such act of hypocrisy, while he desires to be called a religious scholar and styles himself as a representative of the believers, has bestowed upon him honour or disgrace.

I have thus witnessed the Jews of this age and, therefore, have come to believe that the verse, 9

refers to the very fact that the Jews who would incur divine wrath would be born among this ummah as well. So it happened accordingly and the prophecy of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was fulfilled. But is this ummah so unfortunate that it had been ordained to resemble the Jews alone? We cannot say that when it came to cursing someone, the Benevolent God cursed this ummah, but when He desired to send a Messiah, He sent one from among the Israelites. Indeed, such an act on the part of God would be a disgrace to this ummah, as it will render it unworthy of the title of ‘Blessed Ummah’. Therefore, in order for this ummah to resemble the Jews—as is understood from the verse,

—it would be desirable that just as the Messiah had appeared to confront the Jews who had become worthy of divine wrath, similarly, there should also appear a similitude of the Messiah in this ummah. The following verse alludes to this:

Sadly, the hadith which stated that the religious scholars at the time of the Messiah would be the worst of all mankind on earth has also been fulfilled in this age. Why then lament the condition of the Jews of the past alone? They at least quoted from the Book of Allah when raising objections, though they did not understand its meaning. Contrarily, the people [of this age] present only fabrications. The Jews have such strong objections concerning ‘Isa [Jesus] and his prophecies that even I find myself astonished in trying to refute them. All I can say is that surely ‘Isa is a Prophet since the Holy Quran has said so. There is no other argument to establish his Prophethood. Whereas several arguments to negate his Prophethood are established. It is a favour of the Holy Quran upon him that it listed him among the Prophets. This is why we believe him to be a true Prophet, a chosen one of God, and innocent of the allegations levelled against him and his mother. It can be established from the Holy Quran that there were two principal allegations against him:

And it was written in the Torah that he who is born of an adulterous relationship is accursed and that such a person shall never enter Paradise and shall not be raised to God. Similarly, it is also written that the one who is hanged on the wood—i.e. the one who dies on the cross—is also accursed and will not be raised to God. Both these allegations were very serious. God refuted them both in the Holy Quran in the one and same place, and it is this:

This verse refutes both the allegations. The implication of the verse in a nutshell is that neither was ‘Isa born illegitimately, nor did he die on the cross; rather, it was believed mistakenly that he had died [on the cross]. Hence, he was an elect of God and was raised to God like other Prophets. Now, where do those maulawis stand who hold that ‘Isa has ascended physically to Heaven? The whole controversy as stated here was regarding the spiritual station held by his soul. The body was never a part of the discussion.

In short, the Holy Quran has declared Hazrat Masih to be true. However, it is sad that one has to admit that the Jewish allegations against his prophecies are so strong that they cannot be refuted in any way. It is solely on the basis of the Holy Quran that we believe in him and do so with sincerity of heart. Otherwise, we have no argument in favour of his Prophethood. The Christians fret about his divinity, while there is hardly any evidence to establish even his Prophethood. Alas, before whom shall I lament the fact that three prophecies of Hazrat ‘Isa (peace be on him) clearly turned out to be false? Who is there on earth today to help solve this riddle?

As far as I am concerned, I can only bemoan those who, when it comes to my situation, are declaring the truth to be a lie. Indeed, it is an overwhelming grace of Almighty God upon our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that the one who truly follows him shall never suffer humiliation before the people. But what title shall I bestow upon these ignorant people and how shall I instil the love of truth in the hearts of those who go about like comedians and have adopted the habit of derision and ridicule and made mockery their hallmark?! Hundreds of Signs are shining forth like the sun, but they insist that no Sign has ever appeared.

I have heard, rather, I have seen, the document signed by Maulawi Sanaullah of Amritsar in which he has stated that he wishes sincerely to see the matter decided in such a manner whereby both parties, i.e. he and I, should pray to God that out of the two of us, the one who is a liar shall die in the lifetime of the one who is truthful. He has also expressed his desire to write a book comparable to I‘jazul-Masih in terms of eloquence and fluency and fulfilling the same objectives. Therefore, nothing can be better, if Maulawi Sanaullah has expressed this desire sincerely and not as a show of hypocrisy. Hence, by becoming the valiant soldier who decides between truth and falsehood in both these ways, he will be doing a great service to this ummah in this age of discord. He has indeed put forward an excellent proposal. But it will be productive only if he remains committed to it.

If a liar was to depart from the world and those remaining were to become guided, the person who contends such a liar will be rewarded like a Prophet. But I cannot initiate a challenge to a prayer duel seeking someone’s death, for the agreement with the government prevents me from issuing this kind of challenge. However, Maulawi Sanaullah and the other opponents of mine have not been barred from asking me to respond to such a challenge, be it from Maulawi Sanaullah or from some other renowned maulawi who is from among the reputed scholars or is a person who is revered by members of his community and in whose favour at least fifty honourable men put their signatures to the announcement prepared by him, so as to testify to his credibility. And since Maulawi Sanaullah, in light of his tract, seems to be well-prepared for such a challenge, I have no objection if he actually issues one. In fact, I hereby give my consent to it, as his challenge itself would be sufficient to decide the matter. However, it will be subject to the condition that no death should occur by way of murder; rather, it should occur in consequence of some disease, such as the plague or cholera or some other similar ailment, so that it does not unnecessarily disturb the authorities. I will also pray for both parties to remain safe from deaths [caused by murder], and that only the death that is caused by a physical ailment should befall the liar. The same course of action will have to be adopted by the other party as well.

Remember though that my prophecy predicting murder was a special prophecy which pertained specifically to Lekhram. In that prophecy, God had made it clear that Lekhram would die as a result of murder, and therefore it was published accordingly. And I believe that the secret behind his murder was that he had used extremely foul language about the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and all other Prophets. When God observed that his verbal abuse had exceeded all limits and he had vilified every Prophet, the dagger of his own abusive tongue fell upon him. This was an extraordinarily great Sign and a grave sin was committed upon the earth that the fulfilment of such bright and shining prophecies were denied by the people of the world.

Therefore, if Maulawi Sanaullah is prepared for such a challenge, a mere handwritten letter by him will not suffice. He should rather publish a printed announcement containing the following words:12

I consider this man (here, he should clearly write my name) to be a liar, a dajjal, and a disbeliever. I firmly believe that all his claims of being the Promised Messiah and a recipient of divine revelation and inspiration are false. O God, I pray to You that if I am wrong in this, my belief, and if this man is truly the Promised Messiah and if Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus], on whom be peace, has indeed passed away, cause me to die before the death of this man. But if I am justified in my aforementioned belief and this man is truly a dajjal, a disbeliever, a kafir, and an apostate, and Hazrat Masih is alive in Heaven and will return at some unknown time to the world, then cause this person to die so that disorder and discord may come to an end, and so that Islam remains safe from suffering harm at the hands of a dajjal and a misguided person who may misguide others as well. Amin, again amin.

Formerly, Maulawi Ghulam Dastgir Qusuri had also challenged me to a mubahalah [prayer duel] of this kind on page 27 of his book, Fath-e-Rahmani. Within a few days after the challenge, he entered into the grave well within my lifetime and thus testified to my truth through his death. Still, if Maulawi Sanaullah also wishes the same, he may try out the same method for himself. What should he have to do with Ghulam Dastagir because he appears willing himself to have this contest with me.

The challenge, which, in fact, would be tantamount to a mubahalah, is to be written verbatim following the sample I have given above. Not even a single word should be omitted from or added to the above-mentioned paragraph. If, however, some specific amendment is required, it will have to be decided through private correspondence. After this, the announcement of the mubahalah should bear the signatures of at least fifty notable persons and at least 700 copies of the announcement, which should contain the aforesaid wording, should be published across the country, and twenty copies of the announcement should be sent to me by registered post.

I do not need to challenge him to a mubahalah or to engage in a mubahalah with him. His own mubahalah, for which he has expressed his willingness, furnishes adequate proof of my truth. The reason for this is that from the very days of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, which was written approximately twenty-three years ago, God had declared it to be a Sign in my support. Therefore, I announce hereby that if I end up defeated in this duel, my community, which currently numbers more than 100,000, would be allowed to leave me disdainfully and dissociate itself from me. If God declares me to be a liar and destroys me, I will not desire any leadership or Imamate. Rather, in such a case, I would be worse than a Jew and a cause of shame and ignominy for all.

And the name of the person who will stand up to dispel disorder through issuing a challenge like this—provided he turns out to be true in his stance—will be remembered with great honour in the world. And the death of the one who will be proven to be a dajjal, a disbeliever, and an imposter will result in peace for the rest of the world, as goes the famous adage:

[the lesser the evil, the purer the world].

What more can I write; and if I have missed any important requirement warranted by justice, I should be made aware of it. I will fulfil it readily, provided it is not absurd and does not reek of subterfuge or lame excuses and provided it is based on righteousness and not coloured by the kind of trickery which is peculiar to worldly people. Almighty God knows that I desire truth be manifested in one way or another. Although I see the Signs of Almighty God as clearly as one sees the sun; and I believe in the revelation of God that has been vouchsafed to me just as I believe in the Holy Quran, yet I wish to establish my argument from every angle against those who deny me.

O my Lord! You are a witness to our actions. You can see what is in our hearts, and our secrets are not hidden from Your penetrating vision. Pray decide between me and my opponents and let not ruin come to the one who is truthful in Your eyes, for a whole world will perish if he who is truthful is ruined.

O My All-Powerful Lord! Draw close and hold Your court and bring to an end these ongoing daily disputes. Our statements are well-known to the public, while the truth of our hearts is evident to You. How shall I express my point of view and how shall my heart ever come to accept that You will allow the truthful to enter into the grave disgraced? How can those who live self-indulgent lives end up victorious? I swear by Your Being that You will nover let this happen!

Before God alone do I put forth all my complaints regarding the insult I have suffered at the hands of Maulawi Sanaullah, for he made false allegations against me and took false oaths during the debate at Mudh. I am not at all saddened by his denial. People like him declare even Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus], peace be upon him, to be a liar. So, why shall I lament their remarks if they also declare me to be one? According to their statement, ‘Isa told a lie, as it were, when he was asked by God whether it was he who had commanded that he and his mother be worshipped as gods. In other words, He gave a completely false answer, as he argued that he was a witness over his people as long as he remained with them; but since God caused him to die, God alone was the Watcher over them and that he knew nothing about what happened after him. Evidently, there cannot be a liar worse than the one who will tell lies even before God, when God will hold His court on the Day of Judgment. Can one tell a lie worse than the one told by a person, who returns to the world before the Day of Judgment, stays in the world for as long as forty years, fights battles with the Christians, breaks the Cross, kills the swine, and converts all the Christians to Islam, yet denies knowledge of all these events on the Day of Judgment and insists that he is unaware of what happened to the Christians and their faith after God caused him to die?! Just consider how contemptible a lie it is and then say whether or not Hazrat Masih [Jesus, the Messiah] would be held a liar before God on account of this? Open the Holy Quran and read the verse 13

to the end and then decide whether or not you have declared Hazrat ‘Isa to be a liar or not!

But why should I lament this when you consider even God to be guilty of falsehood! In the verse 14

God has stated clearly that Hazrat ‘Isa, peace be upon him, is dead and then vividly recorded the excuse made by him, that it was only after his death that his people went astray. Hence, here God seeks to make you understand that if Hazrat ‘Isa is not dead already, then the Christians too have not yet gone astray. This is because the Christians were to stay on the right path only while Hazrat ‘Isa(as) lived, and his death was to serve as a Sign of their fall into misguidance. Tell me how, according to your own stance, God can end up truthful in this matter while you are not willing to accept His statement to be true?

God had clearly established the death of all the Prophets by using a comprehensive term,

[khalat], and by not using any distinctive term for Hazrat ‘Isa alone. In your opinion, this too is, God forbid, a lie told by God. Remember that this is the same verse by reciting which Hazrat Abu Bakr(ra) argued that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had passed away. Strange indeed is the logic applied by Abu Bakr that in spite of the fact that ‘Isa was alive in Heaven, he recited this verse before the people! What kind of assurance did he mean to offer them by doing this? Did he not know that ‘Isa was alive in Heaven and would return to the world and spend forty years in it?! Alas, such a long life for ‘Isa and such a short one for the Chief of all the Prophets!

Further, the Companions [of the Holy Prophet(sa)] would be deemed very weak in reasoning since they became silent when they heard this verse and none of them confronted Abu Bakr by asking him why he was reciting a verse which made them feel even more miserable, for ‘Isa was alive in Heaven and would return to the world and their beloved Prophet had left them forever! If ‘Isa was exempt from this law of nature and could live up to thousands of years and then make a return to the world, why was our beloved Prophet not granted this privilege?! The truth is that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and all other Companions who were all present on that occasion—and none was absent—interpreted the verse to mean that all Prophets have died. It seems that one or two Companions, whose understanding was not perfect, used to believe—as they might have heard the statements made by the local Christians—that Jesus was alive in Heaven. One such person was Abu Hurairah, who was a man of poor understanding. However, when Hazrat Abu Bakr(ra), whom God had granted knowledge of the Quran, recited the above-mentioned verse, the Companions came to know for a certainty that all Prophets had died. As a result, the Companions were heartened by this verse, and the sense of grief that had overtaken them due to the death of their beloved Prophet was dispelled and they went about happily reciting the aforesaid verse in the streets of Madinah.

It was on this occasion that Hassan bin Thabit wrote for the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, the following mournful couplets:

That is: You, O Prophet(sa), were the pupil of my eye. Your departure has made me blind. Now, no matter who dies, be it ‘Isa [Jesus] or Musa [Moses], I cannot care less for them, as it was your passing that I feared most.

In other words, it was due to your passing that the Companions came to believe that all Prophets had died; hence they cared not in the least for anyone else.

Wonderful indeed was the love occupying that heart. Indeed, such should be the condition of love.

Then, in a way, you determine God Almighty to be a liar, because God says that after the event of the cross He settled ‘Isa and his mother on an elevated piece of land with pristine running water, i.e. springs flowed in it; it was a place affording great comfort and quite like Paradise, as God says:

That is: After the episode of the cross, which was a great calamity, We granted ‘Isa and his mother refuge in a great elevated land, which was a place of great comfort with pleasant tasting water; i.e. the land of Kashmir.

If you have even the slightest knowledge of the Arabic language, you would be aware that the term

[awa] is used only on such an occasion where one is provided refuge after having been rescued from a disaster. This usage can be found throughout the Holy Quran, Arabic sayings, and the ahadith. In addition, the Word of God Almighty proves that during the entire life of Hazrat ‘Isa, peace be upon him, the cross was the only calamity that befell him. And it is proven from the hadith that it was this very incident which aggrieved Maryam [Mary] the most during her entire life. Hence, this verse proclaims loudly that after the incident of the cross, God rescued Hazrat ‘Isa from this calamity and took him away from that dangerous country and settled him in some other country where springs of clear water flowed and which was situated on elevated ground. The question now is whether there is a highland in Heaven where springs of clear water flow and where, after the incident of the cross, God Almighty caused Hazrat Masih and his mother to settle. Reflect upon the life history of Hazrat Masih and cite an example where having suffered a misfortune he was provided refuge in a country that was as calm and serene as Paradise and situated on elevated ground above the rest of the world and having springs flowing in it.

Hence, according to your belief, God Almighty turns out to be, God forbid, a blatant liar, for He speaks of an elevated land wherein ‘Isa and his mother were settled after the episode of the cross, while you seat him in Heaven for no reason or purpose. Would you now care to tell why, in spite of being a Prophet, he has been sitting idle for such a long time? What is more, you and Maulawi Sanaullah—who, due to having denied this verse, take him to the second Heaven—cannot come up with an answer as to why a living person joined the souls of the dead. Those people had all departed from this world and arrived in the next. Has he too then reached that next world?

Again, yet another lie attributed by you to God is that He might not have understood the objection of the Jews and therefore replied in an ambiguous manner. The Jews’ objection was that the spirit of Messiah was not raised to God, and God replied that He had raised him alive in his physical body to the second Heaven, and that He would cause him to die sometime in the future. What kind of answer is this on the part of God? The charge was that ‘Isa was not raised to Heaven after his death and, therefore, God forbid, became accursed. The right answer to this question was: ‘ ‘Isa [Jesus] has not died as of yet. When he dies, I will raise his spirit18 to Myself.’ But the evasive answer given above this has nothing to do with the point at issue.

Likewise, you believe that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, told a lie when he said that he had seen ‘Isa among the souls of the dead who had already left this world. May I ask you how a man in his physical body can sit among the [heavenly] souls and reach the next world without having been dispossessed of his earthly life? I wonder what kind of faith you have; for God, by His word, bears witness that ‘Isa is dead but you do not accept His testimony. The Prophet(sa) also gave his testimony through his action, i.e. through his eyewitness account. He saw him among the souls of the dead; however, you reject this testimony as well. And yet you claim to be Muslim and take pride in being ‘Ahl-e-Hadith’. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not even speak with ‘Isa on the night of Mi‘raj [spiritual ascension to Heaven]. Instead, it was Musa [Moses] with whom he had a discourse. The Holy Quran says that one should not be doubtful about the meeting of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with Musa. Hence, what an extremely repulsive lie it is that you have ascribed to both God and His Messenger.

pertains to ‘Isa. Indeed one should fear people who have such gross misunderstanding of the Holy Quran, for an incompetent religious scholar can put a person’s faith in danger. O Wicked people! Is the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, himself not

while he has stated that:

Then how obnoxious a folly it would be on the part of the people to interpret the term

[sa‘ah—the hour] here as the Day of Judgment! Now, allow me to explain that the term

[sa‘ah] that has been used here refers to the punishment inflicted upon the Jews at the hands of Titus, the Roman Emperor, after Hazrat ‘Isa had left them. God Himself spoke of this

[sa‘ah] in the Holy Quran in Surah Bani Isra’il. This verse is elaborated further by another one:

That is, during the time of Hazrat ‘Isa, the Jews were given a taste of the Day of Judgment by being afflicted with a severe chastisement which could be likened to the

[sa‘ah] for them.

In the Quranic idiom, the term

[sa‘ah] means punishment. This is why it had been foretold that the

[sa‘ah] would strike the Jews as a result of their rejection of ‘Isa. Consequently, the Sign appeared as foretold and the

[sa‘ah] befell the Jews. What is more, they were also stricken severely by the plague in those days. These events served as Doomsday for them, since the

[sa‘ah] resulted in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of Jews. Besides, thousands died of the plague and the remaining became dispersed in utter disgrace. The Last Day will be a great affliction for the whole of humanity. This, however, was an affliction meant specifically for the Jews.

This argument is supported further by the Holy Quran when Allah, the Exalted, says:

This means: ‘O ye Jews! With the advent of ‘Isa, you will experience the horror of the Day of Judgment as you will be afflicted with a similar calamity, i.e.:

which means that an affliction akin to the Day of Judgment will befall you; hence, you must not have any doubt about it.’

It would clearly have been out of place for God to have urged the Jews not to doubt the occurrence of the actual Last Day, saying they would surely witness it. The Jews of that time all passed away and they never witnessed the Last Day, which is actually yet to come. So, did God tell a lie?! What they did witness, however, was the destruction brought about by Titus, the Roman general.

Therefore, the term

[Qiyamah] here refers to the calamity the Jews suffered at the hands of Titus, the Roman emperor, in Jesus’ time and which they then witnessed again as a result of the plague. Since the ancient times, divine Scriptures contained the promise of the punishment that finds mention in the Bible on a number of occasions. In the Holy Quran, a verse was revealed specifically in this context. Hence, the same promise is recorded in the Holy Quran as was recorded in the previous scriptures with a view to warn the Jews. Otherwise, who would have cared for the distant Doomsday?! Do the present-day maulawis fear the Day of Judgment? Surely, they do not! As I have just explained, the term

[sa‘ah] is not peculiar to the Day of Judgment, nor has the Holy Quran used it specifically in relation to the Day of Judgment. It is appalling that men of imperfect knowledge, who are destined to be ruined, make such interpretations as are clearly contradictory to the purport of the terms themselves. What fear did the Jews have of the Last Day! The promise of an imminent punishment, however, would surely have left their hearts in distress.

Sadly, the maulawis, who are mere simpletons and remain, for most of the time, confined to their chambers, are very narrow-minded. They do not know that the promise recorded in the previous scriptures was related to that very

[sa‘ah] that struck the Jews during the reign of Titus, and that the Holy Quran has stated explicitly that the Jews were punished due to the curse invoked upon them by ‘Isa [Jesus].

Besides, to apply the term

[sa‘ah] to an instance of extraordinary punishment is not only a Quranic idiom, it is found in the previous revealed Books as well and is found in abundance. I wonder from where and whom these simpleton maulawis have come to hear that the term

[sa‘ah] applies only to the Day of Judgment. Unfortunately, these people have become senseless like animals. In spite of suffering humiliation step after step due to their mistakes, they are still not willing to give up their errors. Is there no limit to their mistakes! They most certainly do not understand the meaning or intent of the Quran. They have raised ‘Isa bodily to Heaven, but failed to address the accusation levelled [against him] by the Jews. God responds to the Jews, who made the claim,

and says in reply that it is not true; rather, We raised him. Pray tell what does God intend to refute by this statement? Does He mean to deny only that Jesus was killed [or there is something else that He wants to convey]?

Therefore, listen! By raising the clamour that they had crucified ‘Isa, the Jews wanted to assert that he was accursed and that unlike Musa(as) or Adam, his soul was not raised to God. Hence, the appropriate answer on the part of God should have been that this was not true, for the soul of ‘Isa had indeed been raised to Him. Whether the physical body was raised to Heaven or not was never the point of contention. Based on this, the reasoning attributed to God is, God forbid, very weak, as it was the ascension of the soul to God that was being denied [by the Jews], yet God refuted this allegation by stating He had caused ‘Isa to be seated physically in the second Heaven. What an answer! The death and the possession of the soul by God are yet to take place, so who knows whether his spiritual ascension would take place or not— the matter on which the whole controversy rests.

In the same vein, having presumed some of my prophecies to be false, these benighted people argue that when some prophecies have proven to be false or have been misunderstood, then how can one believe that the claim of being the Messiah is credible, as this claim too may be false. The foremost answer to this argument is:

[The curse of Allah be upon the liars].

Maulawi Sanaullah had asserted, during the debate at Mudh, that all my prophecies were established to be false. I therefore invite him to pay a visit to Qadian and I ask him in the name of God to thoroughly investigate the matter and scrutinize all my prophecies. And I promise under oath that I will give him 100 rupees for each of the prophecies that turns out to be false in light of the precedent set through the circumstances faced by the previous Prophets; otherwise, if none of the prophecies is proven false, it will be as if he is wearing a special medal of accursedness around his neck. What is more, I will even pay him his to and fro travel expenses, and it will be incumbent upon him to scrutinize all of my prophecies, so there remains no further dispute. The payment will be subject to the fulfilment of this condition and the onus of proof will lie with me.

It must be remembered that I have recorded as many as 150 prophecies in my book Nuzulul-Masih. If they turn out to be false, Maulawi Sanaullah will receive 15,000 rupees; and he will be freed from having to go begging door to door. In fact, I will put before him some more prophecies as well, along with the proofs of their fulfilment and then, in keeping with the promise above, go on giving him 100 rupees for each of the prophecies he proves to have been false.

At present, the number of my followers is in excess of 100,000. If I raise only one rupee per head from them to be given to the said maulawi, the amount will reach 100,000 rupees, which will all be given to him. Compared to his current financial position— whereby he is obliged to go door to door to collect a paltry sum of money and is thus stricken with divine wrath as he is living on the earnings made from funeral rites and sermons—to be in receipt of 100,000 rupees would be like having entered Heaven for him. But, if he does not pay heed to this announcement of mine and avoids paying a visit to Qadian to investigate the matter in accordance with the above-mentioned terms of reference—which include his [agreeing to give] testimony in favour of the prophecies if they are proven to be true, or denouncing them as untrue if they turn out to be false—then woe betide upon the bragging which Sanaullah engaged in during the debate at Mudh, and most shamelessly uttered blatant falsehood.

But Maulawi Sanaullah denounced me publicly as a liar without really being aware of the truth of the matter and without having conducted a thorough investigation. Is this how a believer should act? Indeed, he who speaks virulently without any justification is worse than dogs, and accursed indeed is the life spent in such shameless pursuits.

There are some who think that if a mistake is made in understanding some revelation then the assurance of safety, security and protection is lost, and a suspicion is created that perhaps that Prophet or Messenger or Muhaddath [a recipient of divine converse] might also be mistaken in his claim. This thought is totally sophistic and those people who are on the verge of insanity are the ones who say precisely such things. If this is indeed their belief they should wash their hands from believing in the prophethood of all Prophets, as there has not been a single Prophet who did not make an error of judgment at one point or another. For instance, Hazrat Masih(as) [Jesus, the Messiah], who has even been deified, most of his prophecies are full of mistakes. For example, the claim that he will be given the throne of Dawud [David]. What else could such a claim mean than that relying upon some revelation that needed interpreting the thought arose in his mind that he would become a king; he was clearly a descendent of Dawud and was called a prince. His words show that he had a keen desire for the throne and kingdom and the Jews, for their part, were also expecting someone to be born among them to restore the kingdom to them and set them free from subjugation to the Romans. Thus, in reality, such a claim that the throne of David would again be re-established was the very wish of the Jews and, therefore, initially many of them—overjoyed at this statement of his— had gathered around him. Later, however, as a result of certain incidents, the Jews came to understood that such fate or fortune was not the lot of this man, and hence they left him. What is more, some mischievous people even reported to the Roman governor that this man was a claimant of the throne of David. At this, Hazrat Masih forthwith changed his stance and said that his kingdom was heavenly rather than earthly. However, the Jews, to this very day, raise the objection that if it was a heavenly kingdom, then why did he order his disciples to sell their clothes to buy weapons? So, there is no doubt that it was an error of judgment on the part of Hazrat Masih. Or another possibility is that it was a satanic whispering from which he subsequently turned away, as Prophets are not left to stay in error for long. I have called it a satanic whispering only because of the text in the Gospel, for it is proven from the Gospel that at times he received satanic revelations27 but that he rejected those revelations and God Almighty would save him from the influence of Satan, as the corpus of Hadith in Islam records these attributes of his and says that he always remained safe and never followed in the footsteps of Satan.

An evil-minded Jew has written in his book that once [Hazrat ‘Isa(as)—Jesus] fell in love with a woman who was a stranger. But the statement which issues forth from the mouth of an enemy is not reliable.28 He was an elect and beloved of God, and depraved are those who utter such calumnies against him. He did cherish a desire for the throne of David due to an error of judgment he made, but that desire was not fulfilled. A famous adage goes:

[Everthing goes to him who wants nothing]. So he remained deprived of the Davidic throne but God bestowed kingdom upon the person He Himself had elevated, i.e. the Chief of all the Prophets, who had denied himself the earthly kingdom and said:

i.e. I take pride in being poor. He said willingly that he would be happy to go hungry one day and eat one day. But God safeguarded him against hunger and poverty. That was a special grace of the Almighty!

Perhaps the reason why most of the interpretations of Hazrat Masih turned out to be wrong was that his initial ambitions failed to materialize. Nonetheless, this does not do any harm to his prophethood. A Prophet comes with hundreds of bright Signs by which he is recognized and the truth of his claim is manifested. So, if some interpretation is proved wrong, it brings no harm to the claim itself. For instance, if the eyes misconceive a man to be a bull from afar, it cannot be said that the eyes are of no use or that their ability to see cannot be relied upon.

Hence, in the case of a Prophet, his claim and teachings can be likened to the eye looking at things from very close and does not err in identifying them correctly. And, the misjudgement on their part regarding certain matters can be likened to the eye that at times makes an error in recognizing the objects lying at some distance. On this very basis, we can say that—since Hazrat ‘Isa(as), for the sake of the well-being of the Jews, thought of becoming a king—Satan, as mentioned in the verse,

succeeded in deceiving him by putting into his heart a desire for the throne of David. However, as he was close to God and dear to Him, those satanic delusions could not prevail and he soon came to realize that his kingdom was heavenly rather than earthly.

In summary, this interpretation of Hazrat Masih turned out to be wrong. The actual revelation was surely true, but he erred in understanding it. It is sad that the extent to which Hazrat ‘Isa erred in his interpretations, the like of it is not to be found among any other Prophet. Perhaps this was also a pre-condition to attaining divinity. However, can we say that, on account of his many wrong interpretations and wrong prophecies, his prophethood became doubtful? Certainly not. The fact of the matter is that the conviction that is instilled in the heart of a Prophet regarding the authenticity of his prophethood is reinforced by the Signs that shine forth like the sun and pile up so consistently that his prophethood becomes a self-evident reality. And, after this, if an error of judgment occurs on his part regarding some insignificant issues, it is not detrimental to the conviction granted to him. For instance, the human eye would not err in identifying the objects brought closer to a person or to the eye itself. In this case, the eye is sure to comprehend the nature of the objects and their size, and this understanding is invariably correct. Further, the courts of law accept the testimony based on such eyewitness accounts.

However, when an object is not lying nearby, for example, if a person is asked to identify an object of white colour from some distance, which is of a half or quarter of a mile, the person might mistake a man clad in white clothes to be a white horse; or for that matter, he might confuse a white horse with a man dressed in white clothes. Likewise, the Prophets and Messengers are enabled to perceive their claim and teachings so clearly and consistently that there remains no doubt about them. But, matters of lesser significance, which are not related to the chief objectives of the Prophet, are viewed by the spiritual eye in a way as if they are lying at some distance. What is more, they are not disclosed quite often. And, this is the reason why the spiritual eye at times misperceives them. The misperceptions on the part of Hazrat ‘Isa, on whom be peace, were in reality of this very kind. However, he had no misperception regarding his claim of being a Prophet, for its authenticity had been impressed upon him from a close distance and repeatedly.

Maulawi Sanaullah is involved also in this other mistake that he puts contradictory traditions before everyone. The very same fault lies with his mentor, Maulawi Muhammad Husain. And at every place where the issue of the life and death of Hazrat ‘Isa is raised before them, they forthwith begin to quote a huge assortment of traditions from Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Jami‘ Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Nasa’i, Musnad Imam Ahmad, Tabarani, Mu‘jam Kabir, Nu‘aim Ibn Hammad, Mustadrak Hakim, Sahih Ibn Khuzaimah, Nawadir-ul-Usul Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud Tayalisi, Ahmad, Musnad al-Firdaus, Ibn ‘Asakir, Kitab al-Wafa Ibn Jauzi, Sharh as-Sunnah Baghawi, Ibn Jarir, Baihaqi, Akhbar al-Mahdi, Musnad Abu Ya‘la, and certain other books of Hadith saying they all mention that ‘Isa will descend. Whether it would take place in Jerusalem or Damascus or on Mount Afiq or among an army of the Muslims is, however, still not decided. They cite this as the most complex issue today.

What is even more surprising is that some of the books mentioned above are so rare that even the fathers of these esteemed gentlemen would not have seen them. Yet, they keep mentioning these books so that the people may at least think of them as learned, scholarly men familiar with such a large corpus of literature. Alas, they act perfidiously. I now feel embarrassed to invoke the name of the Jews, for ‘Jews’ such as these are found only in Islam.

Only a few days have passed since Maulawi Muhammad Husain tried to ingratiate himself with the British Government by presenting to them a book regarding the Mahdi. The book says that not even a single hadith regarding the Mahdi can be proved as authentic. The author has also received a piece of land as reward for his services. I do not know what services he has rendered. But, one service that he has surely rendered to the government is that he has straight away rejected the very idea of the appearance of a Mahdi. May I ask him among whose army the Messiah would descend if there were to be no Mahdi at all? The assortment of the books listed above is mentioned only to establish that the Messiah would descend to support the cause of the Mahdi. But, why would he ever appear if there were to be no Mahdi at all? The Khalifah had to appear from among the Quraish, but this does not seem to be the case anymore.

I state justly that the traditions in the above-mentioned books are bipartite. One, which Maulawi Muhammad Husain has ruled out as inauthentic, pertains to the Mahdi. As for the second part, that pertains to the advent of the Messiah from Heaven. I will prove it inauthentic. When one of the two interdependent parts is rendered inauthentic, the other one necessarily becomes liable to revocation. ‘Isa [Jesus] cannot be the Khalifah as he is not from the Quraish; as for the Mahdi, the Maulawi has himself done away with him. So why then should ‘Isa be burdened with returning to the world? For about 2,000 years now he has become accustomed to remaining idle and has become disposed to inaction. It would now be improper to bother him needlessly.

What is more, these ahadith contradict each other so greatly that if you were to try and find a hadith to oppose another, you could find it at once with no delay. Hence, to abandon the decisive statements of the Holy Quran thereby, and to ruin one’s faith by following such contradictory traditions, can only be the work of a fool, not of a wise person.

If ahadith held any weight despite being inconsistent with the Holy Quran, the traditions regarding Salat should have been given prime importance and should have had an unbroken chain of narrators. However, you have your differences and dissensions in this case as well. It is also not firmly established where exactly to position one’s folded arms [during Prayer]; further, the disagreements over whether or not to raise the hands, or to recite Surah al-Fatihah behind the imam, or to say amin aloud, and so on, continue to this day with different groups rejecting the traditions supporting the view held by others. If a Wahhabi were to practice rafa‘ yadain [i.e. raising both hands during various movements in prayer] in a Hanafi mosque and recite Surah al-Fatihah behind the imam and fold his arms against his chest and say amin aloud, he would definitely emerge therefrom beaten and thrashed, even if he were to present four hundred authentic traditions in support of his action. This proves that from the early times, the Hadith has not been accorded great prominence. Imam A‘zam [Imam Abu Hanifahrta], who lived before Imam Bukhari, does not care at all for the ahadith of Imam Bukhari. His was an age that was closer [to that of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him]. It should have been the case that those ahadith should have reached to him. It is, therefore, quite appropriate that the Quran not be abandoned for the sake of the Hadith. To do so would put one at risk of losing one’s own faith:

Besides, if the verdict of the Hakam [Arbiter] is not to be accepted, then of what exactly is he the Hakam?

On the other hand, even if I am highly accommodating, I would bestow only the status of conjecture to these ahadith, and the same viewpoint is held by the Muhaddithin [scholars of the Hadith]. A conjecture is a statement that might have an element of falsehood in it. So what kind of prudence and righteousness would it be to have one’s beliefs based on conjecture and to do away with the authentic and categorical Word of God? I do not say all ahadith should be set aside like mere rubbish; rather, I say that you should accept those from among them to be authentic that do not oppose or contradict the Holy Quran, lest you be ruined.

It is not proven from any hadith that ‘Isa(as) would live up to two or three thousand years. Instead, it is recorded that he lived for 120 years. Now tell me, have those 120 years come to an end yet or not? In which hadith—that can be traced directly to the Holy Prophet(sa) and has an uninterrupted chain of narrators—can you find recorded that Hazrat ‘Isa, having torn apart the roof [of his house], ascended to Heaven, and that one of his disciples, or an enemy, was crucified in his place to become accursed? If the person was a disciple of ‘Isa, then, in view of the Torah, this believer became accursed as he was crucified. Can such an abominable act be ascribed to God? On the other hand, if the person was a Jewish man, why did he remain silent when he was being crucified? Had his wife and other relatives already passed away? Or was he dumb that he was unable to say anything to prove his innocence?

Further, Maulawi Muhammad Husain, who is called an advocate for those who believe in the Unity of God, has written in his journal Isha‘atus-Sunnah—in which he penned a review of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya—that those who are granted an audience with the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in a vision, are not bound to follow the opinion of the Muhaddithin. By way of their visions, they declare certain ahadith to be maudu‘ [inauthentic], despite the fact that the Muhaddithin consider them to be sahih [authentic]. And they consider certain ahadith to be authentic based on the testimony of their visions, whereas they are maudu‘ according to the Muhaddithin. When this is the case, why is Maulawi Muhammad Husain so angry with the person who has claimed to be the Promised Messiah and the Arbiter, as to not even consider his vision to be equal to the vision of others even though it is in accord with the Quran? The statement of the latter should be accepted as his vision is consistent with the Holy Quran and is also supported by certain ahadith. Otherwise, of what benefit is it to name the Promised Messiah Hakam [Arbiter]?

Some cunning maulawis go so far as to say that even if someone descends from Heaven and declares inauthentic this or that hadith which they consider to be sahih, they will never accept his verdict; rather, they will slap him in the face. In answer to this one can only say: ‘Yes! This is what is expected of you!’ However, I would hereby like to politely ask such people to explain to me the meaning of the term Hakam that has appeared in Sahih al-Bukhari regarding the Promised Messiah. I have always understood the term ‘Hakam’ to refer to a person whose verdict is accepted to settle differences, and whose decision is seen as final even if he has to dismiss thousands of ahadith as maudu‘.

The one who will come from God will certainly not come to be slapped around by you. God Almighty will Himself open the way for him. The person who is blessed by God with visions and revelations, and at whose hands God has manifested very great Signs, and whom God has shown a certain course that is in accord with the Holy Quran, why should he abandon such a bright and certain path on account of a few conjectural traditions? And is it not incumbent upon him to act upon what God has bestowed upon him, and reject the ahadith that he finds inconsistent with the pure revelation of God, especially when the revelation received by him is in accord with the Holy Quran and when he also finds some other ahadith in support of his viewpoint? And will he not acknowledge only those ahadith to be true as are in line with the Holy Quran and are not contradictory to the revelation received by him?

Indeed, I am amazed at the kind of disposition possessed by the worthy advocate: He acknowledges that in the past there have been auliya’ [friends of Allah] who, based on their meeting the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him [in their dreams], rejected certain so-called sahih traditions as inauthentic, and accepted inauthentic ones as sahih; however, he is reluctant to bestow this status upon the Promised Messiah as well, who is Hakam. And, I am amazed at the kind of followers he has. They do not question him that while other auliya’ were entitled to such authorities, why then does he hold the Hakam to be a kafir for [ruling on] these differences, and why does he not fear Allah. It is surprising that Maulawi Muhammad Husain lost his memory in this manner due to old age.

He has forgotten what was recorded in Isha‘atus-Sunnah and is now proclaiming something entirely different. My dear fellow! No judge is willing to hear dissent after consent. You have acknowledged that those to whom God shows visions and who have discourses with God occupy a lofty station and are not bound to follow the research made by Muhaddithin. The Muhaddithin relate from those who are dead, while those who are blessed with divine visions hear from the Living and Self-Subsisting God. Hence, how would you like to describe the status of the one who has been named Hakam? Don’t you think he has been granted the status that you assign to others?

Further, Maulawi Sanaullah asks me why I have taken into account the prophecy regarding the Promised Messiah asserting that surely this must have been done so on the basis of ahadith. This is why he then asks me why I do not accept other signs given in ahadith. These simpletons either say this on the basis of sheer fabrication or rank stupidity. In reply to this I swear by Almighty God that I have not based my claim on the Hadith; rather, I have based it on the Holy Quran and the revelation that has descended upon me. I do, however present in my favour those ahadith that are in accord with the Holy Quran and which do not oppose the revelation I have received. Other ahadith I discard as worthless. Even if there been no such thing as the Hadith in the world, my claim would not have been harmed in the least. But yes, God has presented the Holy Quran in His revelations to me in a number of places. Thus you will see in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya that no hadith is quoted regarding my claim; rather, in my revelations Allah, the Exalted, has presented the Holy Quran on numerous occasions.

I believe that I have now provided sufficient answers to the deceptive objections raised by Maulawi Sanaullah in the debate at Mudh. However, I remember that he had also put forth the notion that the hadith that speaks of the solar and lunar eclipse being a Sign of the appearance of the Mahdi, which is recorded in Dar Qutni and Ikmalud-Din, pertains to a lunar eclipse that will take place on some day before the 13th of the lunar month and on a day when the moon can be labelled as qamar. It has to be remembered that this interpretation too is a kind of interpolation committed by the Jews. God has appointed three nights, in accordance with His practice, for the eclipse of the qamar. Similarly, there are three days appointed for the eclipse of the sun. The hadith mentions categorically that at the time of the advent of the Mahdi, the qamar would be eclipsed on the first of the nights appointed for it in the law of nature, while the sun would be eclipsed on the middle day of the days appointed for it by the practice of Almighty God. To discard such a straight-forward meaning and wander around lost in other directions—if this is not misfortune what is it?

Apart from this, according to the Arabs, the night in which the hilal is called qamar is not any one specific night concerning which there should be no disagreement. Some say that the moon is hilal for only one night and that on the next night it becomes qamar. Some call the third night moon qamar. While to some the term hilal is applicable for as many as seven nights. Hence, while this is the situation, one cannot specify one specific night for the fulfilment of the prophecy.

And to say that the occurrence of the solar and lunar eclipse, in accordance with the practice of Almighty God, is not any extraordinary phenomenon is yet another act of stupidity. The actual purpose of this prophecy is not to promise the occurrence of an extraordinary phenomenon; the actual purpose is to set forth a Sign which no one else shares [with the Promised Messiah].

Hence, the Sign that has been mentioned in the Hadith is that at the time when the true Mahdi would make his claim, the qamar would be eclipsed in the month of Ramadan on the first night of the nights of the eclipse, and that such an incident would not have taken place ever before. Indeed, never in the time of a false Mahdi has a lunar or solar eclipse taken place on the said dates in the month of Ramadan. If it has taken place, it must be brought to light. Otherwise, while this situation is in itself extraordinary when seen in its entirety, why shall we interpret the prophecy to mean what is contradictory to the practice of Almighty God? What was intended was to show one Sign of the fulfilment of the prophecy, so that was fulfilled. If it has not been fulfilled, you ought to present a precedent of the occurrence of such an event from the annals of history. And, I would like to remind you that you will never be able to do so.

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

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

3 The preparation of this essay was delayed as I had been summoned to give a testimony in Batala on 7 November 1902. (Author)

4 Surah al-A‘raf, 7:90 [Publisher]

5 And when the she-camels, ten-month pregnant, are abandoned (Surah at-Takwir, 81:5). [Publisher]

6 See Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Kitab Baqi Masnadul-Mukthrin. [Publisher]

7 He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religions (Surah as-Saff, 61:10). [Publisher]

8 The hypocrites shall surely be in the lowest depth of the Fire (Surah an-Nisa’, 4:146). [Publisher]

9 ...not those who have incurred Your displeasure... (Surah al-Fatihah, 1:7) [Publisher]

10 Guide us in the right path. The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your blessings (Surah al-Fatihah, 1:7). [Publisher]

11 And because of their disbelief and their uttering against Mary a grievous calumny, and their saying, ‘We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah;’ whereas they slew him not, nor killed him by crucifixion, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified (Surah an-Nisa’, 4:157–158). [Publisher]

12 He should also write that he himself is initiating the challenge and that he strongly backs such a challenge. Otherwise, an absurd and dubious round about statement alone will not be able to elicit any response. (Author)

13 Surah al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

14 Surah al-Ma’idah, 5:118 [Publisher]

15 Muhammad is only a Messenger. Verily, all Messengers have passed away before him (Surah Al ‘Imran, 3:145). [Publisher]

16 That indeed is an unfair division (Surah an-Najm, 53:23). [Publisher]

17 Surah al-Mu’minun, 23:51, [Publisher]

18 The Jews did not know that Hazrat Masih had become unconscious. This was the uncertainty that they was inflicted upon them. And since they thought that ‘Isa had died on the cross they did not believe in his spiritual ascension, nor do they believe in it until now. In order to refute them, the only matter that needs to be addressed is the spiritual ascension, as they do not believe that salvation depends upon physical ascension. (Author)

19 Verily, He was a Sign of the Hour (Surah az-Zukhruf, 43:62). [Publisher]

20 ‘I and the Last Hour are like this...’ Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitabur-Riqaq, p. 546, Mausu‘a al-Hadith, Darus-Salam Pub. Riyadh. [Publisher]

21 The Hour has drawn nigh, and the moon is rent asunder (Surah al-Qamar, 54:2). [Publisher]

22 Surah az-Zukhruf, 43:60. [Publisher]

23 Surah az-Zukhruf, 43:62. [Publisher]

24 Surah az-Zukhruf, 43:60. [Publisher]

25 We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary... Surah an-Nisa’, 4:158. [Publisher]

26 And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge (Surah Bani Isra’il, 17:37). [Publisher]

27 Note: Three German clergymen have given exactly this meaning to the dialogue [of ‘Isa] with Satan mentioned in the Gospel. (Author)

28 Note: The Christians also make such vile statements about the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And, an allegation of this kind was once levelled at Musa(as) [Moses] as well. (Author)

29 When he sought to attain what he aimed at, Satan put obstacles in the way of what he sought after (Surah al-Hajj, 22:53). [Publisher]

30 Surely, conjecture avails nothing against truth (Surah Yunus, 10:37). [Publisher]