An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 166
166 reverence to the book and violation of this be made punishable under Section 298 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Promised Messiah as made a plea to the A ryah Sam a jists and Christians, that they should desist from attacking the noble personage of the Holy Prophet sa but the strangest part of this development was that other Muslims were the first to oppose this, simply because, the proposal had come from the Promised Messiah as whose sole aim was to shield the honour and reputation of the Holy Prophet sa. The plea was signed by 764 Ahmadis who conveyed their intention to proceed under Section 298 of the CPC. Specimen of Writing Of the other books that are accepted by us the S a hih of Bukh a r i ranks as the first. All its A ha d i th which are not opposed to the Holy Quran are in our view authoritative. Next comes the S a hih of Muslim. We accept its authority subject to the condition that it should not be opposed to the Holy Quran and the S a hih of Bukh a r i. Next to them are the compilations of T i rmadh i , Ibn-e-M a jah, the Mu’att a of Imam M a lik, Nis a ’ i , Ab u D a w u d and D a r Qu t n i , which we regard as authoritative so long as they are not opposed to the Holy Quran and Bukh a r i and S a hih Muslim. These are our religious books and these are the conditions under which we accept them. . . . Every critic must confine himself to these books and these conditions. ( A ryah Dharam , notes p. 8, R uha n i Khaz a’ in , vol. 10, p. 86)