The Holy War , A Debate

Jang-e-Muqaddas (The Holy War) documents the daily debate proceedings held between Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^(as), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, and Deputy Abdullah Atham, an Indian convert to Christianity. The event’s origins date to 1893, when a prominent Christian missionary, Dr. Henry Martyn Clark, penned an open letter challenging the Muslims of Jandiala to a decisive debate—which he named The Holy War—declaring that if Muslims shy away from this contest or suffer a crushing defeat, they would forfeit their right to confront the scholars of Christianity, or to boast of Islam’s truth. When the leader of the Muslims petitioned the Promised Messiah^(as) to defend Islam, he readily accepted the challenge.

Since the very planning of the event, the Promised Messiah^(as) laid down two fundamental principles as his conditions for the debate. First, all claims and arguments should be sourced strictly from the respective party’s scriptures. Secondly, he emphasised that a living religion must demonstrate Heavenly Signs in its favour. The Christian side, however, proved thoroughly inept in both areas.

The debate took place from 22 May 1893 to 5 June 1893, and thirteen papers were published in total. All across India, Muslims were inspired by the innovative arguments of the Promised Messiah^(as) and the outcome of the debate had far-reaching consequences for advancing the spread of Islam and arresting the growth of Christianity.