During the life of the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Ahmad, a person named Dr. Alexander Dowie founded Zion City, near Chicago. He established a great church and claimed to be the Elijah. He said he had come to destroy Islam before the second advent of Jesus. The Promised Messiah, on the other hand, claimed that the purpose of his advent was to remove doubts concerning Islam and to spread its message. In short, both of them claimed to be God-appointed, while pursuing contradictory objectives. It is obvious that one must have been an imposter. The Promised Messiah challenged Dr. Dowie in 1902 and repeated this challenge in 1903:

“I am about seventy years of age, while Dr. Dowie (as he himself states) is about fifty-five and thus, as compared with me, is still a young man. But since the matter is not to be settled by age, I do not care about this great disparity in years. The whole matter rests in the hands of Him, Who is the Lord of heaven and earth and Judge over all judges. He will decide in favour of the true claimant.

“Though he may try as hard as he can to flee from the death which awaits him, yet his flight from such a contest will be nothing less than death to him; calamity will certainly overtake his Zion, for he must bear the consequences either of the acceptance of the challenge or its refusal”. (The New Commericial Adviser of New York)

This challenge was published in several English and American papers Dr. Dowie did not reply. The American papers questioned his silence. In Decenlber, 1903, he responded in his own paper, thus:

“There is Muhammadan Messiah in India who has repeatedly written to me that Jesus Christ lies buried in Kashmir, and people ask me why I do not answer him. Do you imagne that I shall reply to such gnats and flies? If I were to put down my feet on them I would crush out their lives. I give them a chance to fly away and live”.

But, as predicted by the Promised Messiah the hour of decision was destined. Whether he accepted the challenge or not, death hovered over the imposter. Dr. Dowie, who used to live like a prince suffered the pangs of a deserted and miserable life. His followers forsook him. His wife and son condemned him for having a hypocritical dual character for he publicly denounced and forbade wine, while in privacy he imbibed of it habitually. He was attacked by paralysis, and his feet, which he had said tauntingly, could crush the Promised Messiah, were themselves staggered and disabled.

The American papers commented on this great event. The “Dunville Gazette” pointed out its accuracy:

“Ahmad and his adherents may be pardoned for taking some credit for the accuracy with which the prophecy was fulfilled a few months ago”. (The Dunville Gazette, June 7, 1907)

The “Truth Seeker” of New York remarked at the grandeur of the fulfillment:

“The Qadian man predicted that if Dowie accepted the challenge, ‘he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment’. If Dowie declined, the Mirza said, ‘the end would only be deferred; death awaited him just the same, and calamity will soon overtake Zion.

This was the Grand Prophecy: Zion should fall and Dowie die before Ahmad. It appeared to be a risky step for the Promised Messiah to defy the restored Elijah to an endurance test, for the challenger was by 15 years the older man of the two, and odds, in a land of plagues and religious fanatics were against him, as a survivor. But he won out”. (The “Truth Seeker” June 15, 1907)

The “Boston Herald”, wrote about the victory of Hazrat Ahmad:

“Dowie died with his friends fallen away from him and his fortune dwindled. He suffered from paralysis and insanity. He died a miserable death, with Zion City torn and frayed by internal dissensions. Mirza comes forward frankly and states that he had won his challenge”. (The “Boston Herald”, June 23, 1907)

This wonderful work of the Living God, on one hand, provides a strong proof of His existence and power, and on the other, it establishes the truthfulness of Hazrat Ahmad.