A Critical Review of the Pamphlet, 'Fateh-e-Qadian' — Page 11
i‘j a zul-Ma si h —A Miracle of the Promised Messiah as 11 It would be acceptable to me that P i r [Meher ‘Al i Sh a h] may select Maulav i Muhammad H usain Batalv i , Maulav i ‘Abdul Jabb a r Ghaznav i and Maulav i ‘Abdull a h, Professor of Lahore, or any other three maulavis who are not his disciples or elders. It shall be incumbent upon the three maulavis that they express their opinion, under oath, stating which commentary and Arabic composition is superior and shows signs of Divine support. This oath should be similar to the oath mentioned in the Holy Quran in reference to defamation of chaste women in which the declaration is repeated three times. It shall also be required that the above-mentioned commentaries be no less than twenty pages in length (where a page is determined to be of average size and in average print, as is to be found in thousands of existing printed copies of the Holy Quran in the Punjab and India). If, with this form of contest, together with the testimony of three such maulavis , it is decided that P i r Meher ‘Al i Sh a h had Divine support in his commentary [of the Holy Quran] and Arabic composition and I was not able to show the same or even that we both accomplished the task to the same degree, the whole world can be a witness that I shall admit that the truth is with P i r Meher Sh a h. I also give a solemn undertaking that, in this case, I will burn all my books about this claim, and shall consider myself forsaken and reprobate. However, if my God makes me victorious in this competition and Meher ‘Al i Sh a h remains tongue-tied; not being able to write in eloquent Arabic, or to express the subtleties and truths mentioned in the chapter of the Holy Quran, or if he altogether rejects this competition, then in all these cases it shall be