Some Prophecies of Hazrat Ahmad - A Critical Study — Page 67
Alexander Dowie of Zion was at last forced into responding to Hadhrat. Ahmad'sas challenge. In December, 1903, Dowie announced: 'There is a Mohammedan Messiah in India who has repeatedly written to me that Jesus Christ lies buried in Kashmir and people ask me why I do not send him the necessary reply? Do you imagine that I should reply to such gnats and flies? If I were to put my foot on them, I would trample them to death. The fact is that I merely give them a chance to fly away and survive. ". Hence, Alexander Dowie had, with this statement, accepted Hadhrat. Ahmad'sas challenge, if not expressly, at least in an implied manner. No sonner had Dowie issued this statement, his affairs began to decline. His health showed signs of deterioration; his followers began to question his claims and he encountered financial difficulties. . The feet in which Dowie of Zion took such pride gave way and far from being able to trample the Muhammedan Messiah, Dowie could not even rest them on the ground. He suffered a series of severe stokes of paralysis in October and December 1905 and he was taken to Mexico and Jamaica, in search of a cure which was never found. . Dowie's followers discovered that he indulged in heavy drinking and had also misappropriated funds of the organisation as a result of which he was deposed from his position. His wife and children too, deserted him and he spent the rest of his mortal life in physical misery and mental anguish. . On the 7th of larch, 1907, Alexander Dowie died, abandoned and disgraced. . At the time of Alexander Dowie's death, an American newspaper which had foll wed the progress of this controversy between Hadhrat. Ahmadas and Alexander Dowie observed: 'Dowie died a miserable death with Zion city torn and frayed by internal dissensions. '8. While the critics of Hadhrat Ahmadas contend that he never prophesied the death of Dowie, American periodicals which witnessed the 7. Ibid: December, 1903 67 8. Boston Herald: 23rd June, 1907