John Alexander Dowie was an American who proclaimed that God has sent him in the ‘Spirit and Power of Elijah’. He set forth to spread Christianity.
Dowie also stated that he intended to wipe out Islam. He made insulting remarks about the Prophet of Islam (sa) and hurled invective at Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). When Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) came to know of this, he challenged him to a prayer duel and said:
“The best way to determine whether Dowie’s God is true or ours is that Mr Dowie should stop making prophecies about the destruction of all Muslims. Instead, he should keep me alone in his mind and pray that if one of us is fabricating a lie, he should die before the other.” (Review of Religions, Sept. 1902, Vol I, No 9).
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) further said:
“If Dowie runs away from this challenge, be sure that a great catastrophe is about to befall on Zion”. (Haqiqatul Wahi, p. 71)
When Dr Dowie was told of this challenge, he boasted:
“Can you imagine me answering to these gnats and flies. If I were to put my foot on them, I could crush them to death.” (Leaves of Healing, 27 December 1903)
Eventually, he was punished for his arrogance and was chastised according to the prophecy of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). His wife and son turned against him and did not attend his funeral. He could not speak because of a stroke of paralysis on 19 December 1905 while delivering a speech. Dowie's followers deserted him after finding out that he had embezzled $2,529,766 and that he led a lustful life and was an alcoholic. His newly built city Zion (70 km north of Chicago) was torn by internal dissension. In the first week of March 1907, he died in utter grief, misery and helplessness. The world press took a particular interest in this Mubahala (prayer duel); over 30 newspapers in the US published the news story. The Boston Herald, in its issue of 23 June 1907, observed:
“Dowie died with his friends 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 dissension. Mirza comes forward frankly and states that he has won his challenge”.
