An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 286
286 Background P i r Mehar ‘Al i Sh a h of Golarha produced a book against the Promised Messiah as entitled Shamsul-Hid a yah f i Ithb a te H a ya ti l-M as ih in support of the general belief that Jesus, son of Mary, is alive in heaven. This book, published in January 1900, was in fact the work of Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i 21 but appeared under the authorship of P i r Sahib. Hadrat Maulav i H ak i m N u r-ud-D i n saw a few pages of the book in the Mu st afi a Press, Lahore, where it was under print and asked P i r Sahib eleven questions and he wanted full references of the work of Ibn Jar i r and Ibn Kath i r, so that his contention could be fully refuted. P i r Sahib first avoided the subject but eventually acknowledged the fact that the book was not written by him but by Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i , who was not available and, therefore, the references asked by Hadrat Maulav i H ak i m N u r-ud-D i n could not be given. This was a very disappointing reply and exposed utter ignorance of the P i r Sahib. Thereupon, Maulav i ‘Abdul Kar i m wrote a crushing rejoinder in the al- H akam, which had started appearing in Qadian (April 24, 1900): To cover up his own ignorance of the Holy Quran and A ha d i th , P i r Sahib had the cheek to insinuate that the Promised Messiah as had no knowledge of the Holy Quran. To this, the Promised Messiah as replied through an Ishtih a r (July, 1900) and invited him to appear at a meeting with him to be held at Lahore where forty verses of the Quran may be selected by lots, in the presence of the audience and the parties concerned should write the commentary on the selected 40 verses in the meeting, without the help of books or assistance, within 7 hours. The paper must be in Arabic and written on the spot. And three judges from the audience will adjudge the paper. 21 Maulav i Muhammad Gh a z i was a disciple of P i r Mehar ‘Al i Sh a h of Golarha. This fact was revealed by the disciple himself in a letter dated March 28, 1900, addressed to Hadrat Maulav i H ak i m N u r-ud-D i n ra.