Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 433
1 September 1906 433 made him suffer, fabricated a case [against him], opposed him bitterly, and eventually put him on the cross. In the same way, during the time of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when Musailimah al-Kadhdh a b [the Great Liar] laid claim to prophethood, the disbelieving Arabs did not oppose him, nor did they persecute him, nor did he suffer; instead, hundreds of thousands of peo- ple joined him. As opposed to this, they severely persecuted the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and expelled him from the city. They made plans to murder him and remained intent on subjecting him to all kinds of harass- ment. This has always been the practice of Allah that one or two false claimants also arise along with the true claimant. A truthful person can succeed despite strong opposition, and a liar fails and dies in vain despite not having any opposition. Similarly, in my time also, along with my claim, many false claimants of ilh a m and wa hi from God have appeared. Some among them have died as utter failures, like the per- son in Lahore who claimed to be the Mahdi. No one opposes them. A person in Lahore, Mullah Muhammad Bakhsh, is also a claimant of revelation. He publishes his revelations. No one issues public announcements against him. He is neither troubled nor persecuted because he is a liar, but Satan sees his destruction in me. So, he encourages people to rise up in oppo- sition; this has been the practice of God Almighty since the earliest of times. A truthful one faces severe opposition, so his success should be a prominent advertisement. 1 1. Badr, vol. 2, no. 36, p. 4, dated 6 September 1906