Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 156
156 MALFŪZĀT - ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF URDU VOLUME 8 9 NOVEMBER 1905 (In Amritsar) A speech was proposed in Amritsar on the morning of the 9th, for which the lecture hall of Mr Rai Kanhaiya Lāl, the lawyer, was obtained. The lecture hall was full of men. The Promised Messiahas began his speech after 8 o'clock. He ini- tially stated: Only a few men were with me approximately fourteen years ago when I came here. The maulawis pronounced a fatwa of kufr [disbelief] against me, and 'Abdul-Haqq Ghaznavi entered into a mubāhalah [prayer duel] with me; meaning that, he and I took oaths in which I affirmed that if I am a liar and a fabrica- tor in my claim, may God humiliate and destroy me. After this mubāhalah, God Almighty supported me immensely. Today, my followers number more than 300,000, and many sincere friends surround me. Furthermore, despite the opponents' strenuous efforts and machinations, God Almighty safeguarded me against lawsuits and granted me a great deal of wealth. In short, the Promised Messiahas spoke for about 45 minutes, and after that, he wanted to start mentioning the beauties of Islam. However, it is a pity that the opponents had come with plans hatched in advance to raise a clamour so no one could hear. Among them were the men of the Ghaznavi group and Maulawi Sanaullah's party. So there was a