A Great Victory

The Humiliating End of the Opponents of the Promised Messiahas

“Never sent We a Messenger or a Prophet before thee, but when he sought to attain what he aimed at, Satan put obstacles in the way of what he sought after. But Allah removes the obstacles that are placed by Satan. Then Allah firmly establishes His Signs. And Allah is All-Knowing, Wise”.[1]

At the turn of the 20th century, a seemingly indestructible obstacle was placed by Satan in the way of the Divinely Appointed Messiah of God, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas. His name was John Alexander Dowie.

Born on May 25, 1847 in Scotland, John A. Dowie was no miniscule obstacle of meager means, but was a man of great influence, recognized profusely throughout America. He possessed an abundance of worldly luxuries, having an estimated wealth of $25,000,000 in December 1903, and owning several auditoriums with capacities numbering in the thousands.[2][3] He purchased a land of 6500 acres on which sits the city of Zion, with the ambitious idea of establishing his own theocratic kingdom.[4] Not only a master of wealth, he had also established his position as a spiritual leader–a self-proclaimed Prophet, the third incarnation of Elijah, and wielder of divine powers of healing, with a following of more than a hundred thousand.[5]

Dowie was also a vulgar opponent of Islam, often heard hurling grave abuses and attributing fallacious criticisms to Islam and its Holy Founder, the Prophet Muhammadsa. He was adamant of its complete annihilation and frequently prayed to God for it:

“It is time that the Moslem Abomination was gone… let it slink away back into the deserts of Arabia whence the filthy thing emerged…Ugh! How one hates the whole thing, the slimy, filthy thing! May God destroy it!”[6]

But quite contrary to his desires, God had actually willed for his destruction rather than that of Islam and to remove this impudent obstacle placed by Satan with His own hands. And so He did. After reading of Dowie’s utterly grotesque views and extreme opposition against Islam, the Promised Reviver of Faith rose to defend the universal religion through a decisive challenge–a prayer duel.

On the 8th of August, 1902, the Promised Messiahas sent an open letter inviting Dowie to this duel of two Prophets, which was published extensively in various newspapers throughout the world.[7]

For example, the Harrisburg Telegraph, a daily periodical published in the United States quoted the Promised Messiahas as saying:

“Come thou, O self-styled Prophet, to a duel… the weapons shall be prayer. Let us kneel on our knees in the dust of the earth, you and I together, and petition the Almighty that of us two whoever is the liar shall perish first.”[8]

The Promised Messiahas also added that whether Dowie assumed silence or not, the Sign would most definitely occur. And it would not occur through human interference, but through natural means, like disease, snake-bite, etc.[9]

And so with this challenge, a transatlantic battle ensued of which the world was the audience and the weapon was prayer. As for the Prophet from the East, the conditions were quite far from favorable. The Promised Messiahas was an old man of 67, suffering from many ailments while Dowie was 12 years his junior. According to his own words in a statement made on December 14, 1902, just a few months after the challenge was issued, Dowie boasted enjoying “excellent health” with an “unwearied brain” and a “healthy frame”.[10]

On December 21, 1902, in front of his Sunday congregation, Dowie finally responded to the fatal challenge due to the persistent pressure of the people after months of complete silence. He impertinently remarked:

“There is one foolish man in India, a Mohammedan Messiah, who persists in writing to me saying that the body of the Christ is buried at Cashmir… ‘People sometimes say to me: “Why do you not reply to this…?” Reply! Do you think that I shall reply to these gnats and flies?... If I put my foot on them I would crush out their lives. I give them a chance to fly away and live.”[11]

Such was the colossal vanity of the so-called divinely elected Prophet, but such was also the beginning of a humiliating end–destruction by Divine Decree. And so it happened. The prophecy started taking effect with manifestly visible symptoms.

In 1905, Dowie was suddenly struck with paralysis while giving an address, and his “excellent health” began to dwindle.[12] He was forced to appoint his “loyal” follower, Wilbur Glenn Voliva (1870-1942) as the general overseer of Zion City, and in doing so, an internal dissension ensued.[13] Voliva took indirect possession of his church and with the changing attitude of the people towards Dowie, the Zionites almost unanimously agreed to dispose of him and make Voliva their leader.[14]

Dowie’s own newspaper, the Leaves of Healing, denounced him & exposed his financial & moral frauds, highlighting his blatant hypocrisy, embezzlement and criminal extravagance, spending the peo- ple’s money for personal luxury and leaving Zion in a state of debt.[15]

His own wife and son abandoned him too, as the New-York Tribune noted in an article headed ‘Zion Ousts Dowie - Wife & Even the Unkissed Son Join New Leader’.[16]

In the meanwhile, the Promised Messiahas was receiving recurrent revelations from God of his opponents’ imminent death:

“I [God] shall manifest a fresh sign which will contain a great victory [Fath-e-Azeem]. It will be a sign for the whole world and will be wrought by God’s hands and from heaven.[17]

And on March 7, 1907:

“I convey to you the news of a liar’s death. Allah is with the truthful.”[18]

Finally, just two days after this revelation, John A. Dowie met his miserable end on March 9, 1907. The self-proclaimed spiritual healer who had once sought to spread his name throughout the world, ended up not even having the name “Dowie” engraved on his gravestone.[19]

And thus another petty obstacle was blown away like dust, and proved true were the Glorious words of the Gracious God:

“I shall humiliate him who designs to humiliate you. We shall suffice against your scoffers. O Ahmad, God has blessed you.”[20]

And now, in a city which once utterly detested the existence of Muslims, stands most honorably a Mosque named Fath-e-Azeem, a living testament of the victory of prayer over force, truth over injustice.

Citations

[1] 22:53

[2] Dowie: Anointed of the Lord, pp. 370-372

[3] “Dowieism.” It.[Lawrenceburg]

27 Nov. 1902: 2. Chronicling America (The Library of Congress). Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] “Elijah’s Restoration Messages (February 8, 1903).” Leaves of Healing 12.17 (1903): n. pag. Rpt. in Leaves of Healing. Ed. John A. Dowie. 1st ed. Vol. 12. Zion: Zion Publishing House, 1903. 526. Print.

[7] Malfūzāt, vol. 3, p. 313 (1984 ed.)

[8] https://www.reviewofreligions. org/39996/a-tale-of-two-claimantstold-in-20-news-clippings/#ftoc-heading-4

[9] The Review of Religions, vol. 1, no. 9, September 1902, pp. 349

[10] Dowie, John A. “Elijah’s Restoration Messages (December 14, 1902).”Leaves of Healing 12.9 (1902): n. pag. Rpt. in Leaves of Healing. Ed. John A. Dowie. 1st ed. Vol. 12. Zion: Zion Publishing House, 1903. 272. Print.

[11] “Early Morning Meeting in Shiloh Tabernacle (May 31, 1903).” Leaves of Healing 13.23 (1903): n. pag. Rpt. in Leaves of Healing. Ed. John A. Dowie. 1st ed. Vol. 13. Zion: Zion Publishing House, 1903. 726. Print.

[12] Dowie: Anointed of the Lord, pp. 370-372

[13] “Dowie’s bubble has burst; all his bubbles have burst.” The Minneapolis Journal8 Apr. 1906: 16. Chronicling America (The Library of Congress). Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

[14] “”Elijah” Dowie is called by death.” The Salt Lake Tribune[Salt Lake City] 10 Mar. 1907: 1. Chronicling America (The Library of Congress). Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

[15] “Dowie’s downfall: official statement.” The Register[Adelaide] 26 May 1906: 12. National Library of Australia. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

[16] New-York Tribune, April 2, 1906

[17] Qadian kay Ārya aur Hum, p. i, Rūhānī Khazā’in, vol. 20, p. 418; also see Tadhkirah: English translation (2009 ed.), p. 920

[18] Al-Istiftā: Appendix of ‘Haqīqatul-Wahī’, p. 74, Rūhānī Khazā’in, vol. 22, p. 700, Tadhkirah: English translation (2009 ed.), p. 927

[19] “The late Elijah Dowie.” Traralgon Record8 Nov. 1907: 3. National Library of Australia. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

[20] Tohfa-e-Baghdād, p. 17, Rūhānī Khazā’in, vol. 7, p. 21; also see: Tadhkirah: English translation (2009 ed.), p. 307, 310