The Afghan Martyrs — Page 62
a written debate with the Sahibzada. The King asked for a report to be submitted to him which must clearly state whether the beliefs held by the Sahibzada were Islamic or Un-Islamic and if they were found Un-islamic, would it be appropriate to pronounce a verdict of death or being stoned to death? It would appear that the Sahibzada proposed a written debate as he felt that it would be advantageous to have all the written arguments on record and then whoever read the proceedings may accept the truth of the claims and teachings of the Promised Messiah (PBUH). This was how the obligation of Tableegh could be discharged. The proceedings of this debate have reached us through three different sources. 1. Through the book Tazkira-tush-Shahadatain written by the Promised Messiah (PBUH) in 1903 soon after the martyrdom of the Sahibzada. In this book, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses who had come from Afghanistan, the events of his imprisonment, the written debate and his death by stoning have been recorded. 2. In 1924, spread over a number of issues a newspaper named 'Amaan Afghan' published some details concerning the Ahmadis who were martyred in Afghanistan. We have not been able to procure the original papers but some Urdu papers published from India printed translations of the relevant articles. Due to expediency in their translation they have indulged in a lot of editing. In the Daily Alfazal dated 30th April 1935 an article was reproduced from the 12th October 1934 issue of 'Seyasat' published from Delhi. It was meant to be an Urdu translation of an article published in the 'Amaan Afghan' in Kabul. The detailed accounts suffer from the prejudiced stance of the opponents. 62