Is it mandatory in Islam for a husband to accompany his wife into the delivery room?
A lady from Germany submitted a question to Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih V (aa), stating that in European society, women are urged to take their husbands with them at the time of delivery and hospital staff also press for this. Conversely, in Muslim society, this is not the case, nor is any such practice found among Ahmadi Muslims. She asked what should be done in this regard. She further stated that women wish to take their mothers or mothers-in-law with them into the delivery room, but some husbands insist that they too should accompany them so that they may witness this stage with their own eyes, claiming that it enhances one’s spirituality. What should a woman do in such a situation?
Huzoor-e-Anwar (aa) provided the following guidance regarding this:
“It is not necessary to comply with what is said in European society about a husband accompanying his wife into the delivery room. The husband may simply decline and need not go with her at the time of delivery. Such compliance is neither legally mandatory nor religiously necessary. Rather, in that difficult and painful hour for his wife, the husband should continue to pray to Allah the Exalted for his wife and the unborn child.
“As for the other things that are said about a husband accompanying a woman into the delivery room at the time of childbirth, these are all baseless assertions. It is by no means mandatory to act upon them. Rather, as I have already said, on such an occasion the husband ought to pray to Allah the Exalted for his wife and the unborn child.”
Until what time can the Isha prayer be offered?
A lady from Egypt wrote to Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih V (aa), asking whether the time for the Isha prayer is extended until Fajr. She further asked whether a resident [muqim] can wipe over their socks [mash] to offer the Zuhr prayer and then continue to offer prayers on the basis of that same mash until the Zuhr prayer of the following day or whether they must perform a new ablution as soon as the day ends.
In his letter dated 12 March 2024, Huzoor-e-Anwar (aa) provided the following instructions in this regard:
“It is mentioned in a hadith that upon someone asking regarding the timings of the prayers, the Holy Prophet (sa) instructed him to offer prayers with him for the next two days. Then, over those two days, he led the five daily prayers at two different times and subsequently stated that the time for your prayers lies between these two times that you have observed. On this occasion, the Holy Prophet (sa) led the Isha prayer on the first day when the twilight faded and on the second day, he led the Isha prayer when one-third of the night had passed. (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-masajidi wa mawadi‘i s-salah, Bab awqati s-salawati l-khams)
“Similarly, it is recorded in a hadith that the Holy Prophet (sa) delayed the Isha prayer until midnight and then offered it. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab mawaqiti s-salah, Bab waqti l-‘isha’i ila nisfi l-layl)
“Thus, the optimal time for the Isha prayer commences from the fading of twilight and extends until midnight. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it is commendable to offer the Isha prayer during this period, but in the case of genuine necessity, the Isha prayer may be offered up until the break of dawn. Accordingly, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states in this regard:
“‘The time for this [the Isha prayer], according to the timings of India, commences approximately an hour and a half after sunset and extends until midnight and according to some, it continues even beyond that.’
(Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 1, UK: 2023, p. 165)
“As for wiping over socks [mash], the ruling is that if socks are worn after performing ablution, a resident [muqim] may perform mash over them when performing ablution for one day and night (i.e. 24 hours) and a traveller for three days and nights (i.e. 72 hours). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-wudu, Bab idha adkhala rijlayhi wa huma tahiratan; Sahih Muslim, Kitab at-taharah, Bab at-tawqiti fi l-mashi ‘ala l-khuffayn)”
In Islam, what happens to the human soul after death?
A lady from Canada wrote to Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih V (aa), asking what will happen to us in Paradise. She asked whether our souls will also be subject to eternal death or whether, after passing through one death, a new life will begin.
In his letter dated 17 March 2024, Huzoor-e-Anwar (aa) provided the following guidance in this regard:
“Worldly life is a temporary life and a separate realm has been appointed for the reward and punishment of the deeds a person performs within it, which is called the realm of the Hereafter. Similarly, the physical body granted in this worldly life will remain here and the soul will separate from this body and will be given a new kind of body for reward and punishment. After passing through this worldly death, a new life will begin, but in that life, there will first be a reckoning of the deeds of this world. The Promised Messiah (as) has elucidated all these matters in great detail in his exquisite treatise The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam. Accordingly, answering the question of what the state of man is after death, he states:
“‘The state of man after death is not a new state, only his condition in this life is made manifest more clearly in the next life. Whatever is the true condition of a person with respect to his beliefs and actions, righteous or otherwise, in this life, remains hidden inside him and its antidote or its poison affects his being covertly. In the life after death it will not be so; everything will manifest itself openly. […] Our actions and their consequences will be manifested physically in the next life, and whatever we carry hidden within us from this life will all be displayed openly on our countenances in the next life. As a person observes diverse types of manifestations in his dreams but is not conscious that they are only manifestations, and deems them as realities, the same will happen in the next life. Through such manifestations, God will display a new power, a power which is perfect, complete and absolute as He is All Powerful. If we were not to call the conditions of the next life manifestations and were to say that they would be a new creation by Divine power, that would be perfectly correct. […]
“‘It might be explained at this stage that according to the Holy Quran there are three states of existence. The first is the world, which is called the first creation and is the state of effort. In this world man works good or evil. […] The second is the intermediate state which is called Barzakh. […] Barzakh is a state in which the mortal condition of man is dissolved and the soul and the body are separated. The body is buried in a pit and the soul also falls into a sort of pit which is indicated by the expression Zakhkha, because it is no longer able to earn good or evil which it could only do through its relationship with the body. It is obvious that the health of the soul is dependent upon the health of the body. An injury inflicted upon one part of a person’s brain causes loss of memory, and an injury occasioned to another part destroys the faculty of reflection and brings about unconsciousness. Similarly, a convulsion of the brain muscle, or a swelling or a haemorrhage or morbidity may, by causing obstruction, lead to insensibility, epilepsy, or cerebral apoplexy. Thus, our experience teaches us definitely that the soul, divorced from the body, is utterly useless. It is entirely vain to imagine that our soul, without its body, can enjoy any kind of bliss. We might entertain such a fancy, but reason lends it no support. We cannot conceive that our soul, which is rendered helpless by minor upsets of the body, could continue in a perfect condition when its relationship with the body comes to an end altogether. Does not our daily experience teach us that the health of the body is essential for the health of the soul? When one of us reaches extreme old age, his soul also falls into dotage. Its store of knowledge is stolen by old age as is said by God, the Glorious, that:
لِکَیۡلَا یَعۡلَمَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ عِلۡمٍ شَیۡئًا
“‘That is, in old age a person arrives at a stage in which, after having acquired much knowledge, he loses it all. (Surah al-Hajj, Ch.22: V.6) All this observation of ours is proof enough that the soul without the body amounts to nothing. This is reinforced by the thought that if the soul without the body had amounted to anything, it would have been without purpose for God Almighty to set up a relationship between it and a mortal body. Further, it is worthy of note that God Almighty has created man for limitless progress. Then, if the soul is not able to achieve the progress possible in this brief life without the companionship of the body, how can we expect that it would be able, by itself, without the companionship of the body, to achieve limitless progress in the Hereafter?
“‘All this shows that according to Islamic principles, for the soul to act perfectly, it is necessary for it to enjoy the companionship of a body at all times. On death, the soul departs from this mortal body, but in the intermediate state, every soul is invested with a body in order to enable it to react to the conditions of that state. That body is not like this physical body, but is prepared from light or from darkness, according to the quality of the person’s actions in this life, as if a man’s actions serve as a body for the soul in that state. […] It would be a mistake on the part of man to seek to establish these fine insights through the mere exercise of reason. It should be realised that, as the eye cannot discover the taste of something sweet, nor can the tongue behold anything, in the same way, the knowledge of the life after death, which can only be acquired through holy visions, cannot be explained fully on the basis of reason. God Almighty has appointed diverse means for acquiring knowledge in this world of that which is unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to seek everything through its proper means. It is only then that it can be discovered. […] After Barzakh, there is the third state, of resurrection (‘Alam-e-ba‘th). In that state, every soul, good or bad, righteous or disobedient, will be bestowed a visible body. That day has been appointed for the perfect manifestations of God, when every person will get to know the Being of his Lord fully, and everyone will arrive at the climax of his recompense. This should not be a matter for surprise, for God has every power and does whatever He wills.’”
(Islami Usul Ki Falasafi, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 10, pp. 396-406)
Are the punishments of Hell eternal according to the Quran?
Someone from Syria asked Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih V (aa), how hell will come to an end, when the Holy Quran states that those cast into it shall abide therein forever.
In his letter dated 25 March 2024, Huzoor-e-Anwar (aa) provided the following answer to this query:
“Allah the Exalted has also used the word umm, meaning mother, for Hell in the Holy Quran. As He states فَاُمُّہٗ ھَاوِیَۃٌ, meaning his mother will be Hawiyah. (Surah al-Qari‘ah, Ch.101: V.10) And a person does not remain in their mother’s womb forever; rather, when the foetus is fully developed, it emerges from there into the world.
“Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) states in the exegesis of this verse:
“‘The underlying purpose in referring to Hawiyah [Hell] as a mother [umm] is that just as a child’s connection with its mother remains until it is fully nurtured, separation ensues once that nurturing is complete. This word indicates that after an extended period of stay, the inmates of Hell shall eventually be taken out of it.’
(Haqaiq-ul-Furqan, Vol. 4, p. 446)
“Similarly, it is also mentioned in a hadith that a time will come upon Hell when no human being will remain in it and the wind will rattle its doors. (Kanz al-‘Ummal, Vol. 14, Hadith 39506)
“The Promised Messiah (as) states in this regard in the light of the Quran and Hadith:
“‘It is our belief that a man will only remain in hell for a limited period of time and then he will be taken out. In other words, those who could not be reformed by prophethood will be reformed by hell. It is narrated in a hadith that a time would come when not a single person would remain in hell and its gates would be heard to rattle in the blowing breeze. On the contrary, in relation to the bounties of paradise, the Holy Quran states:
عَطَآءً غَیۡرَ مَجۡذُوۡذٍ
“‘[“A gift that shall not be cut off.” (Surah Hud, Ch.11: V.109)]
“‘And this is exactly how it should have been, because if it had been otherwise, people would lose hope and despair. On witnessing the limitless span over which the bounties of paradise will continue, one swells with joy. Then, on observing the limited period of hell, one gains hope through the promise of God Almighty.’”
(Malfuzat, Vol. 2, UK: 2022, pp. 14-15)
(Compiled by Zaheer Ahmad Khan, Head of Records Department, Private Secretariat, London and translated by Al Hakam)