It seems good logic to reason from the announcement published in a supplement of the Nur Afshań on 12 May 1893 that either Dr. Clarke has been taken in by the Shaikh’s contention that Islam’s recognized ulema have declared me an apostate, or that he himself wishes to mislead others. Therefore, to apprise the people, I deem it necessary to write that those ulema who are blessed with the knowledge and practice of religion and have been bestowed with the light of faith are with me and they are almost forty in number. The converse is true of the maulawis aligned with my opponents who are maulawis in name alone and are devoid of practical and scholarly excellences. If Dr. Clarke considers this a hyperbole, he should attend a gathering or a debate between those ulema who oppose me and those who follow me so as to formulate a fair and just opinion. Indeed, not long from now, on 15 June, 1893 such a debate is scheduled between one of my opponents, Maulawi Ghulam Dastagir, and with him the ulema of Lahore who share his temper and disposition, and a small number of my learned followers. Then the clergyman [Dr. Clarke] can judge for himself on which side of the divide stand the righteous and distinguished ulema and on which side stand those who carry the title of maulawi but are in actual fact inarticulate and nescient. As the old adage has it, seeing is believing. The partisan discourses of our miserly opponents are looked on with disdain by learned eyes. Truth is only manifested after being subjected to scrutiny.
Dr. Clarke is well aware that Mecca and Medina are home to Islam’s most distinguished ulema and are thus the cradles of Islamic learning. My Allah increase both Holy sites in glory, honour and grace. So in the very depths of these sacred cities reside such ulema who have joined me. By way of example, I have instanced three letters written to me by or with reference to such eminent personalities.
(The first of these letters speaks of the profound impression made on an Arab scholar by my book A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam and in particular the section entitled Tabligh. The gentleman in question teaches literature at one of the great institutions of the Arab world)
My respected brother Maulawi Hafiz Muhammad Ya‘qub Sahib writes from Dehra Dun:
I believe that you are the Imam of the age and one supported by God. No doubt, God will subjugate the ulema and make them your servants. Their efforts to oppose you will yield them no reward. I yearn for Allah to allow me to live and die as your servant. Lord! Let it come to pass. [As I write this] I am with an Arab scholar. He is from Syria, he is a Sayyed and a prodigious writer who has memorised many of the treasures of ancient Arabic verse. We spoke of you at great length. I, who am just a simple man, presented your interpretation of the word tawaffa before this erudite authority on Arabic. How he was dumbfounded! I showed him an excerpt from your Arabic work A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam. He was overawed by the beauty of its prose and exclaimed that no Arab could write this eloquently, much less an Indian. I gave him your Qasidah which drew tears from his eyes. As he read it he lamented the impoverished state of contemporary Arabic verse and swore an oath to the Lord that he would commit your poetry to memory. Then my learned friend exclaimed that even if an Arab were to claim to be your equal he would be like the false-prophet Musailmah. Thus ended our discussion. I am convinced that what you say is from the Lord and a miraculous sign of His support. Your words cannot have their origins in the imaginings of man. I hereby make you master over my life, property and children.