Fulfilment of a Grand Prophecy - Hazrat Ahmad’s Challenge to John Alexander Dowie — Page 19
Fulfillment of a Grand Prophecy writes from Qadian in the Punjab. . . He has issued a challenge to Elijah III to make good his pretensions, but so far Zion city's own and special Messiah has failed to reply. "In support of his claims to divinity the. Indian Messiah declares that when the. Lord saw how badly things were being managed on earth, He raised him in the land of Punjab for His works are wonderful. "I am the true Messiah who was to come in the last ages: thus has Almighty God spoken to me,' he announces: 'I do not claim to be the Promised Messiah" simply by my own assertion, but Almighty God who made the earth and heaven has borne witness to the truth of my claim. The evidence of God has been manifested in hundreds of heavenly signs shown in my support. I say it truly that Almighty God has poured His grace upon me in far greater abundance than upon the Messiah who has gone before me. In the looking glass of my person the face of God is revealed to a far greater extent than in that of Jesus' person. If these are simply my own assertions, and there is not other authority for them, I am a liar: but if. Almighty God bears witness to my truth, no one can give the lie to me. Thousands of times I should say times without number - has He borne witness to the truth of my claim. "A sign of the evidence of God in my favor will appear on the death of Mr. . Pigott, the arrogant pretender to Divinity, who shall be brought to destruction within my life-time. Another sign will appear on. Dr. Dowie's acceptance of my challenge. . If the pretender to Elijahship shows his willingness by any direct or indirect means to enter the lists against me, he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment. These two signs are particularly for Europe and America; ah!. That they ponder over them and benefit by them. "It should be borne in mind that Dr. . Dowie has not given any reply to my challenge sent to him in September last, nor has he even so much as mentioned it in his paper. For an answer to that challenge, I will wait for a further period of seven months from this day the 23rd of. August 1903. If he accepts the challenge within this period and fulfills all its conditions as published by me previously and makes an announcement to that effect in his paper, the world will soon see the end of this contest. I am about seventy years of age, while Dr. Dowie is about fifty-five, and therefore, compared with me, he is a young man still. But since the matter is not to be settled by age, I do not care for this great disparity in years. The whole matter rests in the hand of Him who is the Lord of heaven and earth and Judge over all judges, and He will decide it in favor of the true claimant. "But if Dr. Dowie cannot even now gather courage to appear in the contest against me, let both continents bear witness that I shall be entitled to claim the same victory as in the case of his death in my lifetimes if he accepts the challenge. The pretensions of Dr. Dowie will thus be falsified and proved to be an imposter. . Though he may try as hard as he can to fly from the death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a contest will be nothing less than death to him, and calamity will certainly overtake his Zion, for he must take the consequences of either the acceptance of the challenge or its refusal. ' 19