The Essence of Islam – Volume V — Page 63
'ABDULLAH ATHAM Among the great signs of Allah, the Almighty, is the sign He manifested with regard to Deputy 'Abdullah Ātham, a Christian. It was occasioned by a debate be- tween Islam and Christianity which took place at the urging of Dr. Martyn Clark in May and June 1893. The Christians selected Deputy 'Abdullah Ātham for this debate, and I represented the Muslims. A few days before the debate began, 'Abdullah Ātham had used the term Dajjal [Antichrist] with reference to our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), in his book Andrūna-e-Bible, as I have men- tioned on the last page of Jang-e-Muqaddas. His mischief and insolence during the entire debate is still fresh in my memory, and I earnestly wished that God should grant me some prophecy regarding his chas- tisement. It was with this in mind that I took a signed statement from Atham, so that when I announced the prophecy he should not rush to the court like other Christians and try to harm me. I was occupied in the debate for fifteen days and continued to pray privately for [a sign of] reprimand for Atham. When the debate was over, I was informed by God Almighty that if Ātham would not repent of his audacity and inso- lence, and would not retract the word Dajjal, which he wrote in his book with reference to the Holy Prophetsa, he would be cast in hāwia [hell] within a 63