In his reference to Mistri Abdul Karim, Mr. Faruqi has also said that this man put forth a serious allegation against Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, and threw a challenge to him for a mobahila on the issue, which straight cut road to a heavenly decision, Khalifatul Masih II has been avoiding, under various pretexts.

We gladly take this opportunity to state the precise position. The Promised Messiah has held that recourse to mobahila is justified, exclusively, where i) a man who does not hold belief in Islam, likes to have the issue decided in a direct reference to Allah, by means of, prayer and supplication, that the party on the right path be upheld, the other put into distress and destroyed, ii) where a man raises a serious scandal against an innocent party, with intent to drag it into the mire.

We accept the view that a recourse to mobahila is justified in these two cases alone. There is no provision to support the challenge of a party to mobahila which flings a calumny against another party, then tops that allegation with challenge for mobahila. In a case of accusation the accused and the wronged party would be justified to propose recourse to mobahila, not the accuser. The Islamic Sharia does not envisage a mobahila at the instance of the party that manufactures a scandal, then tops it with a challenge for mobahila. So there is no question here of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II being evasive over a justified challenge. The true position is that the throwing out the challenge has no valid basis in the Islamic Sharia for the stand taken by it. The challenge being unjustified, un-Islamic, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih was never free to upset the principles of the Sharia by accepting this challenge.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II could not accept the challenge for mobahila given by Mistri Abdul Karim, since the Sharia did not permit him to do so. But from his own side, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih challenged him to come in for mobahila on the validity of his Khilafat. On this point Hazrat Khalifatul Masih spoke, very feelingly, to the following effect:

"I put myself on a solemn oath, in the name of God, Who holds my life in His hand; Who is the master in everything connected with punishment and reward; and from Whom proceed all kinds of honour and disrepute, that I am the Khalifa appointed by Him; and those who stand opposed to me, and demand that I should engage myself in a mobahila, they are acting in defiance of His wishes, and the laws coming from Him. In this if I am working a fraud of some kind - then, O Lord, make the truth clear by means of some unmistakable Sign. Now that I have taken this solemn oath, let whosoever believes he is justified in his opposition to me in this behalf, come forward to take a similar oath, on his own part, then leave the matter to be decided by Allah." (Letter dated October 21, 1927, addressed to Babu Abdul Hamid Shimlavi, published in leaflet entitled Jawab Mobahila, page 10, June 30, 1929)

It is needless to add that Mistri Abdul Karim did not have the courage to accept this straight forward challenge.