Thread by @islam_et_media

Today, 27th of September 2022, marks the commemoration of the victory of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, peace be upon him, over an enemy of Islam, Dr John Alexander Dowie, a Scottish evangelist who founded the city of Zion, in Illinois, USA 🇺🇸.

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Dowie claimed to be Elijah, the Prophet. Dowie spoke viciously of Islam and Muslims.
In the Review of Religions of September 1902, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (pbuh), invited him to relinquish his claims.

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Dowie responded in “The Leaves of Healing”, dismissing the words of the Promised Messiah (pbuh) in a show of arrogance unbefitting of a person claiming to be from God.

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The Promised Messiah (pbuh) challenged Dowie to a prayer duel, to ask God to destroy whoever is the liar and establish the veracity of the true claimant. This was reported in a number of newspapers in the United States.

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The unusual nature of this challenge attracted the interest of the American press. It was widely circulated throughout the United States. Through this means, Americans got to know of the claims of the Promised Messiah (pbuh).

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Over and over, the prayer duel was reported in the United States.

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The message of the Promised Messiah (pbuh), a man of very humble means, living in a relatively unknown village in the Punjab, was reaching hundreds of thousands of Americans. God had previously revealed to him: “I SHALL CAUSE THY MESSAGE TO REACH THE CORNERS OF THE EARTH”.

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Dowie refused to admit he had made a false claim and persisted in his wicked assertions about Islam.

Divine retribution caught up with him; he died on 9th March 1907, after having been struck down by debilitating illness, disgraced and abandoned by most of his followers.

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The American press reported the victory of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (pbuh). His prayers had been heard and his prophecy had come true.

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Dowie’s house passed through several owners, until it was acquired by the Zion Historical Society. It stands as a reminder of the man who had falsely claimed to have been divinely appointed as Elijah and who had foolishly opposed the one truly sent by God.

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With his death in 1907, Dowie’s pretensions came to an end.

Today, the #Caliph of the #Ahmadiyya #Muslim community is inaugurating a mosque in #Zion city: a symbol of the great victory of the Promised Messiah (pbuh) over an enemy of Islam.

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This victory is proclaimed in the very name of the mosque: Masjid Fath-e-Azeem, which in Urdu means “Mosque of the Great Victory”.

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For more on the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him:

alislam.org/book/three-que…

On the tomb of #Jesus, peace be upon him, in #India:

alislam.org/book/jesus-in-…

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Photo credits and sources:

•alislam.org
•@KababirSharifod
•A N J Khan
•The Dowie Mubahilah, by Suman A. Mahmood

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Quotes of Dr John Alexander Dowie from “Leaves of Healing” (with thanks to @iftiswelt)

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https://twitter.com/iftiswelt/status/1574766990853656580

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