The Advent of the Promised Messiah — Page 30
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 30 trate and so he understood this point. The superinten- dent of post offices exerted his best efforts but the magistrate paid no heed and acquitted me. 1 1 Badr records this incident in detail as follows: Approximately 27 or 28 years ago or perhaps even earlier, I dispatched an article in support of Islam against the Aryas for printing in a press owned by a Christian named Ralia Ram, a lawyer residing in Amritsar. He was also the proprietor of a newspaper. The article was sent in a postal packet open on both sides and I also placed a letter in the packet. This letter contained statements in support of Islam and the falsity of other faiths, as well as an emphatic request for the article to be printed. For this reason the Christian [editor] became inflamed on account of his religious opposition. It so happened that on this occasion, he found an opportunity to make a hostile attack against me, as the postal law stipulated that it was an offence punishable by a fine of up to 500 rupees or with up to six- month imprisonment, to place such a letter in a postal packet. However, I was utterly unaware of this. He acted as an informant to the postal authorities and had a case filed against me. Before I received intimation of this case, Allah the Exalted revealed to me in a dream that the lawyer Ralia Ram had sent a serpent my way to bite me but I fried the serpent like fish and sent it back to him. I am certain that this was an indication that the decision given in court on this case might become a precedent for lawyers. In short, I was summoned to Gurdaspur (the headquarters of the district) to defend this charge. All the lawyers that were consulted regarding this case, advised that the only way of escape was to lie, and suggested for me to plead that I had not put the letter in the packet, and that Ralia Ram himself must have placed it therein. The lawyers assured me that in such case a verdict would be issued on the basis of testimony.