The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 140
THE PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI. A MUBAHLA CHALLENGE g. In June 1988, Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the present head of the Ahmadiyya Movement (the fourth Successor of the Promised. Messiah) challenged the leaders of opposition and persecution of. Ahmadis in Pakistan with Mubahla. This group included leading opponents among Ulema (religious leaders) and from other professions who indulged in vile abuse of holy founder of the. Ahmadiyya Movement and spread a totally false and distorted picture of Ahmadiyya beliefs. Mubahla is a sort of voluntary prayer contest in which both parties pray to God for judgment, saying that may God punish the party, which is lying and is wrong and deceitful in such a way that it should stand out as a sign and not be the result of any actions taken by the two parties. Those who accepted this Mubahla challenge among the opponents of the Ahmadiyya Movement and declared it in their public statements, suffered dire consequences. . Some died untimely death and others suffered punishment and disgrace of various kinds. This Mubahla was for a period of one year and we cannot relate all the incidents which occurred as a result but will only give the example of General Zia-ul-Haq, former President of. Pakistan. He was a bitter enemy of the Ahmadiyya Movement who led the persecution of Ahmadis with his promulgation of anti. Ahmadiyya ordinance of April 1984. The Mubahla challenge was sent to him but he kept silent about it. He had declared Ahmadiyyat to be a cancer among the Muslim world and he resolved to destroy it. . Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad declared that he will suffer consequences as he continued to lead the persecution of Ahmadis, and thus accepted Mubahla by his actions. On the last Friday before. August 17, 1988, Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad declared in his Friday sermon, on the basis of knowledge granted by Allah on the night before, that the time of Allah's punishment had arrived and Allah's decree will blow him into bits unless he repented and stopped the persecution of Ahmadis. Only a few days later on August 17, 1988 140