Life of Ahmad — Page 694
ADDRESSES RULERS AND THE RULED as 694 the truth that a living religion must show signs of life. There must be no compulsion in matters of faith. Reason and argument alone do not go very far. It is, therefore, heavenly signs which carry conviction with them and distinguish a true religion above all others. He then referred to the signs and prophecies which he himself had shown. Then he addressed the Muslims in particular and said that if any of them claimed to receive Divine revelation let him come forward and show a sign. Let a meeting be called, he said, for this purpose at Batala, Amritsar or Lahore. Such claimant should then pray along with Ahmad as that God should grant within a year a magnificent and conspicuous sign to the one who was really true in the sight of God. The sign or miracle must be superhuman and supernatural. The notice of such a meeting should reach Ahmad as ten days before the date fixed. It should not be a private letter. Let it be, he said, a printed leaflet giving the date, time and place of the proposed meeting bearing the witness of twenty honourable men to every respect. It was this supplement which delayed the publication of the book. The third supplement was the leaflet dated September 27th, 1899; and the fourth was another leaflet dated October 22nd, 1899. In the last Ahmad as published a revelation which he had received from on high on September 27th, 1899, to the effect that a great sign would be granted to Ahmad as. This revelation and the three other similar ones received in these days were beautifully written down and stuck up on a wall of the Baitudh Dhikr on September 16th, 1899. The fifth supplement dated November 5th, 1899, was a prayer and a request to God that He might grant Ahmad as a decisive sign within three years from January 1900 to December 1902, so that the truth of his mission might become manifest to the world.