Arba'in — Page 46
46 should not be any dispute on this point. Obviously, when God would show a fresh Sign to the people of the present time, He would not assign a long period of fifty or sixty years for it to hap- pen. Reasonably it will be a short time similar to a date fixed for the hearing of court cases or business deals that concerned people mutually accept. Such a resolution can be reached when hearts are totally cleansed of any mischief and you really decide to accept the evidence provided by God. For this method [of resolution] it will be required that at least forty well-known maulaw i s, like Maulaw i Muhammad Husain of Batala, Maulaw i Naz i r Husain of Delhi, Maulaw i ‘Abdul-Jabb a r Ghaznavi, later Amritsari, Maulaw i Rash i d Ahmad Gangohi, and Maulaw i P i r Mehr ‘Al i Shah Golarhvi should publish a written statement in a newspaper with signatures of fifty noble Muslims that if such a Sign appears, which is, in fact, extraordinary in nature, then they will cease to oppose me, fearing God Who is the Lord of Glory, and enter into the Bai‘at. However, if this method is not acceptable to you, and you may be worried that to publish such a promise of making Bai‘at would be below your dignity, or to show such humility is not possible for everyone, then there is another easy way [to settle the matter], and there is no easier way beyond that, in which there is no harm to your dignity nor any fear of a dangerous outcome with loss of life, property, or honour by entering into a mub a halah [prayer duel]. And this is, that, while fearing God and having mercy on the Ummah of Muhammad, you hold a meeting in Batala, Amritsar, or Lahore, and in this meeting gather as many honour- able scholars and worldly men as possible, and I will also attend that meeting with the members of my Community. Then, all of