An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 337
337 demanded. It was a grand fulfilment of a great sign, and it was clear that God had broken their pens, and their hearts had become dull. Within six months of the debate, a great sign appeared in favour of the Promised Messiah as. Mudd came in grip of a severe plague and half the population of the village was decimated by plague and the women folk of the village came out loudly lamenting and cursing Maulvi San a ull a h S a hi b. The Maulav i played another trick and that too after 21 years of the challenge by the Promised Messiah in 1923 he sneaked a publication, Shah a d a t-e-Mirz a , by putting simply October without mentioning any year and offered a prize of Rs. 1000 for a rebuttal within six months. Hadrat Jal a l-ud-D i n Shams ra when writing the introduction of H u du r’s book says: I came to know in December 1923 about the existence of this book, and when I came to Qadian I inquired whether anyone had received a copy of this book. As no one knew about it, I had to trace this book and wrote a strong rebuttal that appeared in the issue of April 1924 of the Review of Religions. Q adi Mu h ammed Z ahoorudd i n Akmal, the editor of Review of Religions, in an introductory remarks to the rebuttal, said that he received the manuscript on January 31, 1924. The daily al-Fa d l in its issue of April 8, 1924, carried the news that a copy of the issue containing the rebuttal of the book was sent to Maulav i San a ull a h under registered cover. ( R uha n i Khaz a’ in , vol. 19, Introduction to the book by Hadrat Jal a l-ud-D i n Shams ra , pp. 10-11) In a 3-day conference held in Qadian on April 1-3, 1924, by non-Ahmadis, Maulav i San a ull a h boasted about his challenge and his book and claimed that no one had written a rebuttal. M i r Q a sim ‘Al i Sa hib, who was present in this conference stood up and waved the receipt of the registry that was sent to Maulav i San a ull a h and said that the rebuttal has been sent to you. Maulav i Sahib was dumbfounded.