The Descent of the Messiah — Page 34
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH Great Liar, but he was finished off in a single battle, whereas you have been fighting me for twenty years and have been frustrated each time. Are these the signs of the truthful and the believ- ers? Do you not observe that your numbers are decreasing while ours are increasing? If you were indeed upon the [side of] truth, should this have been the outcome of our contest? Who among you engaged in a mubāhalah [prayer duel] with me and did not taste humiliation or death in the end? Maulawi Ismail of Aligarh was the first among you to stand against me, and he said that the liar among us would die first. As you know, about ten years have passed since he died and you will not even find his bones in the soil anymore. Then, Maulawi Ghulam Dastagir of Qasur arose in the Punjab thinking very highly of himself. Addressing me in his book, he said that who- ever was false among us would die first; many years have passed since he died as well. His printed book is still available. Similarly, Maulawi Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi stood up and published an announcement against me in which he cursed the liar; he went blind after a few days. Look and take heed! Then, Maulawi Ghulam Mohy-ud-Deen of Lakhuke stood up and announced a similar revelation. He, too, passed away from the world soon there- after. Abdul Haqq Ghaznawi then came forth and announced a mubāhalah against me and prayed that whoever among us was the liar be cursed by God and deprived of blessings, and no sign of his acceptance remains in the world. You can observe yourself the result of those prayers and how he is faring and how I am faring. Behold how, after this prayer duel, God gave me progress in every field, demonstrated for me great signs in heaven and earth, and caused a whole world to turn towards me. When the mubahalah was held, I had barely forty followers. ¹ Today, 1 Abdul Haqq's prayer duel demonstrates that he cares not for God and His Messenger. Allah has explicitly stated that Jesus has died. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has testified that he 34