Hazrat Ahmad — Page 30
30. HADHRAT AHMAD. The officers of Police, perceiving the gravity of the situation, ordered the constables to disperse the crowd, and announced that no discussion would be held. The gathering thereupon dispersed. . The police made a ring round the Promised Messiah and led him out of the mosque. Reaching the gate there was a short delay in getting a carriage. Immediately a crowd gathered and showed signs of excitements. An assault was imminent. Just then the officers put the Promised Messiah into a carriage, got it moving, and then busied themselves in dispersing the crowd. After this the people of. Delhi invited Maulvi Muhammad Basheer of Bhopal and a discussion took place between him and the Promised Messiah, a detailed report of which has been printed and published. Some time later the Promised Messiah returned to Qadian. After staying there for a few months he set out on another Journey. First he went to. Lahore where he had a discussion with Maulvi Abdul Hakim of. Kalanour. From there he proceeded to Sialkot, thence to Jullunder and next to Ludhiana, whence he returned to Qadian. . A Debate With the Christians. In 1893 a debate was arranged with the Christians. Their spokesman was Abdullah Atham, a retired Extra Commissioner. . The debate was held at Amritsar and continued for 15 days. An account of it has been published under the name of Jang-iMuqaddas (Holy War). In this debate, as in all others, victory remained with the Promised Messiah, and a very salutary effect was produced upon the public. The debate was carried on in writing. The parties sat confronting each other and wrote out replies to each other's papers. The original papers have been published in book form. It was apparent that the powerful arguments of the Promised Messiah frequently pushed the Christian advocate into a corner, and compelled him to shift his ground continually. Sometimes he indulged in unjustifiably strong language. The Promised Messiah put forward the salutary principle that claims made on behalf of a faith and arguments presented in support must be adduced from the scriptures of recognized authority of the faith. . A Curious Episode. A curious episode occurred in the course of the discussion which made friends and foes alike admit the transcendent nature of