The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 415
Repeated Challenges 415 present to them in print. It will be the duty of Christian priests to present, from the Torah, the Gospel and all their other books, truths, insights and characteristic qualities of the Divine Word, which match the ones I will sent from Surah Al-Fatihah. The attributes referred to must be extraordinary wonders that cannot be found in any human composition. If they do so, and if three umpires, chosen from among followers of other religions, certify that the qualities that have been established in the case of Surah Al-Fātiḥah are also contained in the passages presented by the Christian missionaries, the amount of five hundred rupees, which shall be in deposit to their satisfaction, shall be handed over to them. . Now does any Christian minister have the courage to come forward for such a contest? [Siraj-ud-Din 'Īsā'ī ke Chār Sawāloń kā Jawāb, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 12,. Open Challenge to All Christians pp. 360-361]. There is nothing in the Gospel that establishes the godhood of Jesus. . . . If his godhood can be established by the words of the Gospel, then the revelations vouchsafed to me connote my godhood to a greater degree than do the revelations of Jesus in his case. If the Christian ministers are not capable of determining this matter by themselves, then let them submit the revelations and words of Jesus set out in the Gospel, which are supposed to establish his godhood, to three umpires who may be mutually agreed upon from among non-Muslims and non-Christians, and if they decide and state on oath that the godhood of Jesus is established more clearly from his reported words, I would hand over one thousand rupees to the Christian ministers as a penalty. The umpires should state on oath, in the name of God Almighty, that they have made the