Inviting All to Come and Witness the Signs — Essence of Islam Vol. 3

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Inviting All to Come and Witness the Signs, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 13: Repeated Challenges
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Repeated Challenges 341 lenge, as he is the foremost of the orthodox. Anyone else among the well-known Sufis, Pirzadas or hereditary divines who considers me a disbeliever, an impostor, a liar and a hypocrite, as do these others, may also join him.
If all of them should fail to accept this challenge and try to hide behind false excuses, then let it be known that I have fully discharged my obligation of conveying the message of God Almighty to them. I am the Appointed One. I have been given the tiding of victory and that is why I call these gentlemen to come forth in opposition to me. Will anyone come forward?… These four criteria that I have mentioned are so simple and straightforward that everyone who considers them carefully will acknowledge that there is no clearer and easier spiritual way of deciding the contest between us. I affirm on oath and promise that, if I am defeated in this contest, I shall publicly acknowledge my error, and Miań Nadhir Hussain Sahib or Sheikh Batalvi will have no more need to condemn me as a disbeliever or impostor. In this case, I shall deserve every kind of disgrace and humiliation and I shall acknowledge in an open gathering that God Almighty has not sent me and that all my claims are false. I am, however, certain and clearly perceive that God will not permit such a situation to arise and will never let me perish.
[Asmani Faislah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, pp.323-330]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 341]

There has been a continuous succession of signs with me from the very beginning, and anyone who spends some time in my company, provided he is sincere and steadfast, can see something of them. In future too, God Almighty will not leave this Movement without signs, nor will He withdraw His support from it. Indeed, according to His holy promises, He will continue to manifest His fresh signs at their appropriate times, until he has clearly established the distinction between truth and falsehood. In a revelation He said to me: A Warner came to the world but the world accepted him not; God will accept him and will establish his truth with powerful assaults. I can never believe that these great signs will fail to appear, although their occurrence is not within my power. I assure you that I stand on truth. And, O dear people, be certain that, unless a person has the support of the God of heaven, he cannot have the courage to stand firm against the whole world and claim to do what is beyond his power. Can anyone who stands against the whole world with such strength and hearty steadfastness do so on his own? Certainly not. Such a person has the support of the hidden hand of God, and is under the shelter of the Powerful One Who controls heaven and earth and every body and soul.
Then open your eyes and realize that God, Who honours me with His converse, has granted me this strength and steadfastness. It is under His clear direction that I have ventured forth with great courage and steadfastness against those who claim that they are leaders of the world’s religions and enjoy nearness to God, and some of whom claim to be recipients of Divine revelation and have condemned me as a disbeliever who deserves hell. I have come out into the field under Divine direction to challenge them all, so that God Almighty may demonstrate the distinction between the truthful one and the liars, and that His hand may degrade the false to the lowest Repeated Challenges 343 degree, and that He may help and support the one who is honoured with His grace and beneficence. Brethren! Please observe that the invitation I have extended to Miań Nadhir Hussain and his colleagues is a method of resolving the difference between him and me. If these clerics believe that I am a disbeliever, dajjal, impostor, and one stricken by Satan, as they allege, then why would they hesitate in confronting me? Have they not read in the Holy Qur’an that in a contest Divine help is bestowed on the faithful? Allah the Almighty, says in the Holy Qur’an: 234

‘O believers, do not be weary of the fight, nor have any apprehension. In the end, victory belongs to you, if you truly are believers.’ It further says: 235

That is: ‘God will never grant the disbelievers a way to prevail against the believers.’
[Asmani Faislah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, pp. 332-334]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 341]

The Promised Messiah has been described in Hadith as a Nabi’ullah [Prophet of Allah] which means that he will receive revelation from God Almighty. But here Prophethood does not mean complete and perfect Prophethood, for a seal has been set on such Prophethood forever. The Prophethood I speak of is confined to Muhaddathiyyat, which obtains light from the Muhammadi
lamp. This is a special bounty which has been bestowed upon this humble one. Although everyone partakes of

true dreams and visions to a certain extent, nevertheless, if my opponents are in doubt, they can test my claim that no other Muslims of this age has been bestowed such plentiful share of true dreams, visions, acceptance of prayers and true revelations that they approximate those of the Prophets, as I have been. This is indeed a great criterion to judge, for there is no method other than heavenly support for testing the truth of a claimant.
For a certainty, God Almighty supports one who comes from Him and guides him in an extraordinary way in the fields of contest. Therefore, I affirm with full confidence and perfect faith that if all the Muslims of the world, be they Punjabis, Indians, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Africans or others, and their clerics, sufis, leaders, and righteous ones, and all their men and women who consider me to be an impostor, should wish to see whether the signs of acceptance by God are found in me or in them, and whether heavenly doors are opened for me or for them, and whether the True Beloved by virtue of His special bounties and the bestowal of His special knowledge and spiritual insights is with me or with them, they would soon discover that the special grace and mercy which descends upon human heart are bestowed on me in much larger measure than on their respective leaders.
This should not be taken for an arrogant boast; it is only a declaration of God’s bounty. 236

This is also indicated by the revelations vouchsafed to me: 236 This is God’s grace, which He bestows upon whomsoever He wills. [Publisher] Repeated Challenges 345 237

“Anyone else in the world238” refers to the people of this age and of the future.
[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 478-479]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 343]

I say with full confidence that no one can match the blessings that God Almighty has manifested for people in consequence of my resolve, attention and supplications, and soon He will manifest many more signs till my opponents will have to accept my claim. I have often said that I have been bestowed two kinds of blessings: those of Jesusas and those of Muhammadsa. I know on the basis of knowledge bestowed on me by God Almighty that the degree of acceptance that can be achieved by my supplications on behalf of the problems of the world cannot be achieved by the supplications of others and the religious and Qur’anic insights, verities, and mysteries which I can set forth at the highest level of composition, cannot be set forth by anyone else. If the whole world were to combine against me for such a test, I would emerge victorious. If all people were to confront me, I would, by the grace of God Almighty, prevail over them. O Muslims! You have among you commentators of the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith, and those who claim knowledge and understanding of the Holy Qur’an, 237 Tell them, I have been commissioned and I am the foremost of those who believe. All praise belongs to Allah Who has removed from me all grief and has bestowed upon me that which has not been bestowed upon anyone else in the world. [Publisher] 238 The phrase in quotation marks is the last phrase of the revelation in Arabic quoted above. [Publisher] and boast of their learning and eloquence. There are others who style themselves as mystics of different orders like Chishti, Qadri, Naqshbandi, Suharwardi etc. Arise and bring them to confront me! If I am false in my claim that both these kinds of blessing, those of Jesusas and those of Muhammadsa are combined in me, and I am not the person in whom they were to be combined and who was to be Dhul-Buruzain [a manifestation of both] I will be defeated in this contest. Otherwise I shall emerge supreme. By the grace of God, I have been bestowed the capacity to exhibit signs of worldly blessings, like Jesus, and to exhibit Muhammadi signs in the shape of setting forth verities, insights, subtle points, and mysteries of the Divine Law. And I have been granted extraordinary eloquence to accomplish these matters. I am certain that, by the grace of God, and by virtue of His design, there is no one on earth today who combines both these capacities in him. It has already been foretold that the one in whom these two capacities are combined would appear in the latter days. One half of his person would reflect Messianic glory and the other half would display the glory of Muhammadsa. I am that person. Let him who so desires, look at me, and let him who wishes to test me, do so. Blessed is he who does not hold back, and most unfortunate is he who chooses darkness while there is light.
[Ayyam-us-Sulh, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, pp. 406-408]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 345]

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Introduction