Life of Ahmad — Page 393
as DEBATE WITH ATHIM 393 at 9:30 a. m. but could not finish it within the time allowed. Five more minutes were given to him with the consent of Ahmad as in which it was completed. The papers were signed by the presidents and certified copies were handed over to the parties. Ahmad as laid down a fundamental principle in the beginning of his paper, viz. the advocate of a religion should, as such, put forward its claims with reasons from the recognised scriptures of that religion. Then he referred to the Quranic verse (Al-An‘ a m 6:15), which refutes the divinity of Jesus as with an appeal to human experience and inductive truth. He explained that from the beginning of this world all Messengers of God have been human beings. Never has any son of God been sent to the world. There is on record no single instance of that kind, which is a clear proof of the fact that such a thing is not possible at all. To illustrate it: We know by observation and experience that man has only two eyes and that he does not eat with his eyes. Now, if someone claimed that he could eat with his eyes, no one would believe him. There has been no man who has had twenty eyes, nor has there ever been a man who ate with his eyes. Therefore it is absolutely correct to draw the inference that a man cannot have more than two eyes and that he cannot eat with his eyes. He emphasised the point that unless and until it was shown that there has actually been any instance which definitely contradicted general human experience, the mere claim of Jesus to divinity could not be accepted as