Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 232
232 AHMADIYY AT concept of their functions and beneficence; he believed in all d~vinely revealed Books; he believed in all Divine Mes- sengers, without any distinction between them; he believed in the resurrection after death and he believed in the Divine determination of all good and ill. He had full faith in the acceptance of prayer to the degree of the miraculous. He had a true concept of miracles but gave no credence to legerde- main. This was his concept of Islam and all his activities must be viewed against this background. On one occasion Maulvi Sanaullah Sahib of Amritsar, a bitter opponent of the Movement, challenged him in the following terms: You claim to be the Khalifa of a Prophet, whom I do not accept. I am an ordinary divine and make no particular claim. I propose a very simple method of determining which of us is in the right, which I trust you will accept. We should both travel together from Amritsar to Calcutta by train, and we shall see which of us is pelted with stones and which has flowers thrown at him. The test will be that he who is pelted with stones is in the wrong and he who has flowers thrown at him is in the right. Thus let the matter be determined by the reaction of the people. To this the Khalifatul Masih retorted: It is not necessary for the Maulvi Sahib to incur all the expense and spend all the time needed for a journey by train from Amritsar to Calcutta. I confess readily that if we were to adopt his suggestion he would be the one at whom flowers would be thrown and I would be the one who would be pelted with stones. But that is not a true test of righteousness. Maulvi Sahib well knows who was pelted with stones during the Meccan period of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, whether the Holy Prophet himself or his opponents. That silenced Maulvi Sanaullah Sahib for the time being. On another occasion Sufi Hasan Nizami Sahib of Delhi challenged him in the following terms: 'I invite you to climb to the top of the Qutub Minar, outside Delhi, along with me.