Life of Ahmad — Page 505
as PLEADINGS WITH SCRIBES 505 would have accepted Ahmad as , for the former had spoken of Ahmad as. Ahmad as came in God’s name but they received him not. He was therefore convinced that they had not the love of God in their hearts. He sought not his own will, but the will of God Who had sent him. Therefore he invited them all to a Mub a hala. Woe unto the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for they shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men, for they would neither go in themselves, nor suffer them that were entering to go in. Therefore they should receive the greater damnation. Ahmad as issued a pamphlet in which he published the revelations that he had received from God and invited the mullahs and Sufis to Mub a hala. It was sent to each one of them. The pamphlet was addressed by name to 58 mullahs and 48 P i rs and Sufis who resided in all parts of India. It was a wholesale invitation, but he wanted at least ten of them to come forward. Ahmad as also recapitulated in a separate leaflet the various suggestions that he had made on different occasions to establish the truth of his mission. Any of his opponents should (1) produce within the next two months a work in Arabic like that of Ahmad’s as ; (2) write in competition with him and in his presence a commentary within two months on any seven verses of the Quran; (3) stay with Ahmad as for a year and witness for himself a heavenly sign in favour of Ahmad as ; (4) some of them should publicly declare that they would believe in Ahmad as if they witnessed a sign within one year of their declaration; (5) have a