I said...

I said, ‘I know that Muhammad -saww is the Prophet but I do not know the one you describe to me. Is he -saww the one I search for or not? You should show where he is so I can go and find out whether the signs that I have are found about are in him -saww or not.

If he -saww is the one -saww I am looking for I will accept his -saww religion.’ ‘They said, ‘He -saww has passed away.’ I asked them, ‘Who is the executor of his -saww will and his -saww successor?’ They said, ‘Abu Bakr was his successor.’ I asked them, ‘Tell me about his name. This is (Abu Bakr) his Kunya?’ They said, ‘It is ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman.’ They ascribed him to Quraysh. I then asked them to tell me about the family tree of your Prophet, Muhammad -saww .

They informed me of his -saww family history. I said ‘This is not the person I am looking for. The one I am searching for is the one whose successor is his brother in religion and his cousin from his -saww bloodline, the husband of his -asws daughter and the father -asws of his sons -asws .

This Prophet -saww will have no children on earth except the sons of this man -asws who is his -saww successor.’ ‘He has said that they attacked me and said, ‘O commander, this man has come out a ‘Mushrik’ (polytheist) and has entered disbelief. It is lawful to tip out his blood.’ I said to them, ‘O people, I already have a religion and I strongly believe in it. I do not want to give it up until I find a religion stronger than this.

I have found the description of this man -saww in the books that Allah -azwj has Revealed to His -azwj Prophets -as . I came out of my country, India, leaving behind all the honour and respect that I had so that I could find him -saww . When I examined your Prophet the way you described him to me I found out that it did not match the description of the Prophet -saww mentioned in the books.

So leave me alone.’ ‘The agent (of the government) sent for a man called Al-Husayn Ibn Eshkib and said to him, ‘Debate with this Indian man.’ He said, ‘May Allah -azwj Grant you well-being. There are the scholars of the law and the other scholars. They know better how to debate with him.’ He said to him, ‘Debate with him as I say, and you can meet privately and be kind to him.’ AI-Husayn ibn Eshkib said to me after our consultations.

‘The Prophet -saww that you are looking for is the one these people have described for you but their description of his successor is not the true description.