Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 235
235 Ahle- H ad i th sect, who exceeded all bounds in his opposition to the Promised Messiah as. The Promised Messiah as , therefore, chal - lenged him to a mub a halah (prayer duel) in keeping with the Quranic verse: ْنَمَف َكَّجٓاَح ِهْيِف ْۢنِم ِدْعَب اَم َكَءٓاَج َنِم ِمْلِعْلا ْلُقَف اْوَلاَعَت ُعْدَن اَنَءٓاَنْبَا َو ْمُكَءٓاَنْبَا َو اَنَءٓاَسِن َو 8 ْمُكَءٓاَسِن َو اَنَسُفْنَا َو ْمُكَسُفْنَا١۫ َّمُث ْلِهَتْبَن ْلَعْجَنَف َتَنْعَّل ِهّٰللا ىَلَع َنْيِبِذٰكْلا Now whoso disputes with you concerning him, after what has come to you of knowledge, say to him, ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our people and your people; then let us pray fervently and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie. ’ Maulaw i Than a ull a h saw that this mub a halah did to augur well for him and so he declined to accept it despite repeated invi - tations. The Promised Messiah as then wrote out a prayer and proposed that the Maulaw i Than a ull a h should publish it in his Ahle- H ad i th publication. In this prayer, the Promised Messiah as invoked Almighty God to decide between him and the Maulaw i in such a way that the liar should die in the lifetime of the truthful one. Even this was refused by Maulaw i Than a ull a h. Instead, he started writing in his publication that this was no criterion for judging the truth of anyone. He said that even the Holy Quran says that the liar is given a longer respite and that Divine law also testified to this because Musaylimah lived on after the Holy Prophet s as. The result of this announcement was that God held the Maulaw i culpable by his own criterion. God gave him a long life so that he outlived the Promised Messiah as. Thus, in keeping