The True Nature of the Mahdi — Page 24
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 24 tion, claiming that it was I who wouldn’t do Mubahalah. This is the reason why I published the Mubahalah- An - nouncement on 21 November, 1889. After this Muham - mad Husain bought a knife 3 with the intention of defam - ing me, as if I had desired to kill him. However, one should reflect on that the person who had already issued the fatwa that I should be killed, what does then his buy - ing the knife indicate! One should consider that in my Announcement I had clearly mentioned that the death, etc. , of no one was meant by my Prophecy. On the con - trary, it meant only that the liar would be disgraced in the eyes of Ulama [the Muslim scholars of theology] and the just. And there is no law relating to defamation [in the statute of the Government]. However, even then some people, who have an axe to grind, had, with the objective of making me a target of the law, so to speak, brought this matter to the notice of the Government. If two or three persons, who knew Arabic, were asked on oath the meanings of this revelation, and first of all if a deposition of a few such persons were taken in front of me, then this lawsuit against me would not have been prolonged at all, because the Government has no con - cern with whether anyone [of the Mullahs] is disgraced in consequence of the very fatwa of the Mullahs them - 3 As if for self-defence. [Publisher]