The Promised Messiahas said: “The signs that Mosesas and the other Prophets showed to the world, like turning ropes into snakes with a staff, were all illusions—especially in view of the fact that these spectacles were shown in an era when showmen performed all sorts of sleight of hand and people would be left confounded as to how a certain thing had actually occurred. Conjurors from among the British can show such illusions and tricks that make it appear as if they can revive a dead man, or make broken things appear as if they are perfectly intact. For example, in the Ain-i-Akbari as well, Abul Fazal has narrated a tale that a magician ascended into the sky in front of a crowd of people and one after the other, parts of his body fell from the sky. His wife burned herself on the pyre as per the Hindu tradition known as sati; however, the magician returned from the sky and asked for his wife. When she could not be found, he suspected that a certain vizier had hid her because he had feelings for her. Then, the King granted the magician permission to search the vizier, after which he pulled his wife out from under the vizier’s arm.”
The Promised Messiahas said: “In such circumstances, man is left with no choice but to have faith and deem the works of Prophets to be from God and consider the tricks of magicians to be deception and illusion. In this regard, the matter becomes a delicate one.
(Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, pp. 102-103)
