Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 17
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 17 Thereafter Mirza Ghulam Ahmad challenged every state- ment that was published in an article or book which was in conflict with the fundamental teachings of Islam and refuted every such statement so effectively that every intelligent person was convinced of the correctness and rightness of his views. One out of many instances might be mentioned by way of illustration. In the issue of Vakil, Amritsar, of 7 December 1877, a statement was published on behalf of the Arya Samaj, on the authority of Swami Dayanand, founder of the Arya Samaj, to the effect that the number of human souls was infinite and was not known even to God, so that however many of them might attain salvation their number would not be exhausted. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote a series of articles refuting this position which were published in the Safeer Hind of Amritsar from 9 February to 9 March 1878. Swami Dayanand was touring in the Punjab at the time. In his article Mirza Ghulam Ahmad challenged the Arya Samaj to vindicate, its position and offered a prize ofRs 500 to anyone who would establish the correctness of the statement mentioned above. The arguments put forward by him were so conclusive and convincing that Lala Jiwan Das, Secretary of the Central Samaj of the Punjab, issued a state- ment that the doctrine refuted by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad did not form part of the basic principles of the Arya Samaj. He added that the members of the Ayra Samaj were not blind followers of Swami Dayanand. They did not accept all that the Swami said unless it was found reasonable. Swami Dayanand himself put forward no refutation of the articles of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and declared that the number of souls was not in fact infinite, but through perpetual transmigration their number was not exhausted. He invited Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to a debate on the point in a letter addressed to him. The invitation was accepted by him in an open letter dated 10 June 1878 published in Brother Hind of Lahore, edited by Pandit Shiv Narain Agni Hotri, who commented on the letter as follows: