Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 167
3 March 1907 167 sidered what benefit does Islam gain by accepting Hadrat ‘ I s a as [ Jesus] to be alive except that the false god of Christians attains a distinction, and the Christians make ‘ I s a [ Jesus] a God and convert ignorant Muslims into Christians by deceiving them. It is the result of believing Yas u ‘ [Christ] to be alive that a 100,000 Muslims have apostatised and become Christians. This formula [of believing Jesus as to be alive in the heavens] has been tried. Now it behoves that they should try the other formula for a few days that I propose that Jesus had passed away. It is a rule that when one remedy yields no benefit then man ought to use another. I have observed that to eradicate Christianity there is no better weapon than this that the being they make into God is proven to be among the dead. Previously, Christian priests used to come to Qadian often, camp in tents and preach, but ever since I made this claim, they have stopped coming to Qadian altogether. Similarly, the Lord Bishop had tried to prove the superiority of Mas ih [ Jesus the Messiah] over the Holy Prophet s as , by giving a grand lecture to a large gathering in Lahore on Hadrat ‘Mas ih being alive and the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, having died. At that time no Muslim could respond to him but Muft i Muhammad Sa diq from our Jam a ‘at stood up and replied. He said, ‘It is proven both from the Holy Quran and the Gospel that Hadrat ‘Mas ih as has died whereas the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is alive because such individuals are still present who display miracles by gaining blessings from him. ’ The Bishop was rendered helpless by this, 1 1. From al- H akam : ‘Finally, he responded, “You seem to be a Mirza i [Ahmadi]. ” At that time, the Muslims who oppose us said, “These people are indeed k a f- irs [disbelievers], but they benefitted us, came to our aid, and protected our honour. ”’ ( Al- H akam , vol. 11 , no. 9, p. 10 , dated 17 March 1907)