The Holy War — Page xvi
Foreword xv reached by existing methods of work. … There they were, influ- ential wealthy men, Government servants and what not—men, as a whole, quite beyond ordinary reach—sitting hour after hour for a couple of weeks, listening most attentively to exposi- tions of Scripture… ( The Church Missionary Intelligence —1894, p. 98). A total of thirteen papers were published containing a word-for-word record of the daily proceedings—attested by both sides—no debate having taken place on the two Sundays, 28 May and 4 June, 1893. Dr. Clark took note of the immense public interest: An enterprising Mohammedan publisher in Amritsar issued the verbatim reports daily, and it was a sight to see how the papers were bought up. The street in which the press is situ- ated was a mass of heads, waiting for the daily issue ( The Church Missionary Intelligence —1894, p. 100). Since the very planning of the event, the Promised Messiah as laid down two fundamental principles as his conditions for the debate. First, all claims and arguments should be sourced strictly from the respective party’s scriptures. Secondly, he emphasised that a living religion must demonstrate Heavenly Signs in its favour. The Christian side, however, proved thoroughly inept in both areas. The outcome of the debate had far-reaching consequences for the spread of Islam and arresting the growth of Christianity. Muslims were inspired by the innovative arguments put forth by the Promised Messiah as. But apart from this victory was the triumphant fulfilment of the prophecy of Abdullah Atham’s death within fifteen months unless he repented. When Abdullah Atham died in 1896, after he was openly informed by the Promised Messiah as that he would fall victim to God’s wrath, it became manifest that Islam was the faith supported by Heavenly Signs.