Guidance regarding basic Islamic issues that Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, has given on various occasions in his written correspondence and during MTA programmes is being published officially below for everyone’s benefit.
Can the souls of the dead see or communicate with their living relatives?
Someone from Pakistan enquired of Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, whether a person who passes away is able to see their living relatives from heaven.
In his letter dated 22 May 2023, Huzoor-e-Anwaraa provided the following guidance on this matter:
“The souls of the deceased no longer have any direct connection with this world. They can only know what Allah the Exalted wishes to convey to them. In other words, a human being has no physical connection with these souls; rather, one can only have a spiritual connection with them. The Promised Messiahas has elucidated this subject with great clarity in various places. Accordingly, he states:
“‘The essential point is that whatever has been mentioned in the ahadith of Allah’s Messengersa concerning the connection of souls with graves is entirely true and correct. It is another matter, however, as to the nature and reality of this connection, which we are not required to know. It can, however, be our duty to establish that such a connection of souls with graves does exist and that this entails no logical impossibility. […] When the soul separates from the body or forms a connection with it, such matters cannot be decided by reason alone. Were it otherwise, philosophers and thinkers would not have fallen into error. Similarly, the connection that souls have with graves is undoubtedly a truth, but its reality cannot be perceived by the physical eye; it is the task of the eye of spiritual vision to reveal it. […] We present an example: suppose a block of salt and a block of sugar are placed before you. What verdict can mere reason pronounce upon them? Indeed, if one were to taste them, it would be known from the two distinct flavours that one is salt and the other is sugar. However, if one lacks the faculty of taste, how could they possibly decide between saline and sweet? Therefore, our task is only to explain through proofs. Just as the rising of the sun is not affected by the denial of a blind person, and a truth is not invalidated by the inability of one bereft of faculties to benefit from the method of reasoning, in the same way, if a person does not possess the eye of spiritual vision, how can they possibly perceive this connection of souls? Thus, their denial of it, merely because they cannot see it, is not justified. The reality of such matters cannot be grasped in the least by mere reason and conjecture. It is for this reason that Allah the Exalted has granted human beings a range of faculties. […] We are witnesses, from our own personal experience, that the soul certainly has a connection with the grave; a person can converse with the deceased. The soul also has a connection with heaven, where a station is granted to it. I say again that this is an established truth. Testimony to it is also found in the books of the Hindus. This is a generally accepted matter, except by that sect which denies the immortality of the soul. As for where this connection exists, the spiritual faculty itself will reveal it.’ (Al Hakam, No. 3, Vol. 3, 23 January 1899, pp. 2-3)
“Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra narrates:
“‘When the Promised Messiahas travelled to Delhi in 1905 with his family and a few khuddam, this humble servant, in my capacity as the editor of the Badr newspaper, was also in his entourage. We stayed at the house of Alif Khan, the ink seller, in the neighbourhood of Chitli Qabar. One day, the Promised Messiahas remarked, ‘There is not much hope from the living of Delhi; come, let us meet its dead, for many great saints [awliya] are buried in this land.’ Accordingly, over several days, we visited the graves of Khwaja Mir Dard, Qutbuddin Awliya, Qutb Sahib and other noble figures. Standing at these graves for a short while, he would raise his hands and pray and the other friends would also pray with him. At the grave of Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya, he said, ‘Souls certainly have a connection with their graves, and people of spiritual vision [ahl-e-kashf], with concentration, can even converse with the deceased.’’ (Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra, Zikr-e-Habib, pp. 107-108)
“Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra states in this regard:
“‘It is proven from the ahadith that in the beginning, the soul’s connection with the grave is stronger. The Promised Messiahas has also stated at one place that souls certainly have a connection with graves. Similarly, the saints of Allah have related many spiritual visions [kushuf] about this and have written that, initially, the human soul is perturbed; it feels the pain of separation from its relatives and remains in a state of agitation. This continues until, after some time, it settles in a station. If it is a blessed soul, Allah the Exalted begins to grant it a share in the blessings of Paradise, and if it is an impure soul, the torment of Hell gradually begins for it. Hazrat Uthmanra states that the Holy Prophetsa said that when the human soul enters the grave, it experiences a severe anguish. Thereafter, whatever state befalls it is lesser than that initial anguish, not greater. It was for this reason that the righteous and saints of the ummah of the Holy Prophetsa used to visit graves and offer supplications: for the deceased, for themselves and for their other relatives and dear ones. Through these prayers, the soul of the deceased finds solace and its distress is lessened.’ (Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 25, Friday sermon, 10 March 1944, p. 178)
“In essence, the deceased do not maintain contact with their living relatives in the same way that we meet and interact with one another in this world. However, since souls do retain a connection with their graves, when we go there and pray for them, Allah the Exalted conveys our prayers to those inhabitants of the graves and, by virtue of these prayers, elevates their rank and station. That is why, in the prayer the Holy Prophetsa taught us for entering a graveyard, we also send peace upon the inhabitants of the graves and pray to Allah the Exalted for them and for ourselves. (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-jana’iz, Bab ma yuqalu ‘inda dukhuli l-quburi wa d-du‘a’i li ahliha) Furthermore, God Almighty also causes those divinely commissioned by Him to meet with the deceased in a visionary state [kashf] and these noble personages can, by the leave of Allah the Exalted, also converse with the deceased.”
What is the Ahmadiyya belief about the personality of Al-Khidr mentioned in the Quran?
A friend from the UK wrote to Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, asking what the Jamaat’s belief is regarding Hazrat Khidr. He also mentioned that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh deemed the incident of Hazrat Musaas and Hazrat Khidr, as narrated in the Holy Quran, to be a spiritual vision [kashf], interpreting Hazrat Khidr as referring to the blessed person of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa, whereas the Promised Messiahas had described Hazrat Khidr as a righteous servant upon whom revelation was sent down. What is the reason for this difference?
In his letter dated 23 May 2023, Huzoor-e-Anwaraa gave the following reply to this question:
“Firstly, the Holy Quran is the final law-bearing Book of God Almighty, and its knowledge and deep insight extend until the Day of Resurrection. And according to the following Quranic injunction, Allah the Exalted bestows the deep understanding of Quranic sciences upon His Prophets, saints and chosen ones according to the needs of every age:
وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلَّا عِنْدَنَا خَزَائِنُهُ وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلَّا بِقَدَرٍ مَعْلُومٍ
“‘There is not a thing but We have unbounded stores thereof, and We send it down in regulated quantities.’ (Surah al-Hijr, Ch.15: V.22)
“Accordingly, the Promised Messiahas, commenting on this verse, states:
“‘From this verse, it is clearly proven that everything found in the world has descended from heaven. This is so in the sense that the primary causes [‘ilal-e-mujibah] for these things are from that same True Creator, and also in the sense that it is through His revelation [ilham] and inspiration [ilqa’], His instruction and His bestowing of intellect and understanding that every art and industry comes into being. However, it does not manifest beyond the needs of the age. And to everyone commissioned by God, the breadth of knowledge is also given according to the needs of the age. By the same token, the subtleties, deep insights and ultimate truths of the Holy Quran are also unveiled according to the needs of the age.’ (Izala-e-Auham, Part II, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 3, pp. 450-451)
“Secondly, the Holy Prophetsa, upon whose pure heart this Law was revealed, mentioned the vastness of the Holy Quran’s knowledge and insight and its limitless meanings by saying:
أُنْزِلَ الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ، لِكُلِّ آيَةٍ مِنْهَا ظَهْرٌ وَبَطْنٌ، وَلِكُلِّ حَدٍّ مُطَّلَعٌ
“‘The Quran has been revealed in seven modes [ahruf]; for each of its verses, there is an outer and an inner dimension’. (Mishkat al-Masabih, Kitab al-‘ilm, al-Fasl ath-thani, Hadith 238)
“Therefore, on the basis of these truths stated by the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophetsa, the Promised Messiahas, when referring to the incident of Hazrat Musaas and a righteous servant of God Almighty as mentioned in the Holy Quran, explained the outer meaning of this verse. This was because the need of that time was to explain the outer meanings of these verses to correct people’s misconception that Allah the Exalted does not send down revelation to anyone other than Prophets and to refute this error with arguments. Thus, the Promised Messiahas, by reasoning from the apparent meanings of these verses, clarified for the general public, and especially for the scholars of the ummah, that Allah the Exalted can also send down revelation and inspiration [wahy wa ilham] to a non-prophet. To support his point, he presented four examples from the Holy Quran, mentioning the disciples of Hazrat Isaas, the mother of Hazrat Isaas, Hazrat Maryam, the mother of Hazrat Musaas and this man of God in the incident with Hazrat Musaas, and thus proved from the Holy Quran that revelation was sent down to all these individuals. Furthermore, from the incidents of the mother of Hazrat Musaas and this man of God with Hazrat Musaas, the Promised Messiahas also reasoned that the inspiration of a saint, besides that of a Prophet, is also certain and conclusive [yaqini]. That is why the mother of Prophet Mosesas, considering her inspiration to be true and certain, placed her newborn child into the river, bringing him to the brink of peril, and that righteous servant, considering his inspiration to be true and certain, killed a boy. Had these individuals not considered their inspiration to be true and certain, they would never have acted in such a manner.
“Then, the third point of reasoning that the Promised Messiahas derived from the incident of Hazrat Musaas and this righteous servant was that if the words and actions of such saints of Allah, who are established at a high rank of sainthood and whose status as recipients of divine inspiration is definitively proven through other arguments and heavenly signs, are beyond our understanding, we should not raise objections against them, because we cannot reach their true essence.
“All these arguments presented by the Promised Messiahas could only be made by explaining the outer meaning of these verses, not by explaining their inner meanings. Therefore, he confined himself to the apparent meaning of these verses.
“Then, during the blessed era of the Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya, when the time came to explain the inner meanings of these Quranic verses, the Manifestations of Khilafat-e-Haqqah Islamiyyah Ahmadiyyah, established through the Promised Messiahas in exact accordance with the prophecies of the Holy Prophetsa, provided, in their respective times, deeply insightful commentaries on these verses by explaining their inner meanings through the divinely-gifted knowledge. They deemed the incident of Hazrat Musaas and this righteous servant of God mentioned in the Holy Quran to be a spiritual vision of Hazrat Musaas, and interpreted this righteous servant as referring to the blessed person of our lord and master, the Most Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad al-Mustafasa.
“Consequently, both meanings and both commentaries are, in their own right, entirely correct and perfectly in accordance with the needs of the time, and there is no contradiction whatsoever between them.”
Is there a deadline for making up missed Ramadan fasts?
Someone from Pakistan wrote to Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, asking that, if a person still has fasts to observe from one Ramadan and the next Ramadan arrives, can the fasts missed from the first Ramadan be observed after the second Ramadan has passed, or must they be observed before the arrival of the second Ramadan?
In his letter dated 31 May 2023, Huzoor-e-Anwaraa gave the following instructions on this matter:
“A person who was unable to fast during Ramadan due to an illness or a journey should complete the obligatory fasts at the earliest opportunity when it is convenient for them. Hazrat Aishara relates that it was the practice of the wives of the Holy Prophetsa to complete their missed fasts in Sha‘ban, before the arrival of the next Ramadan. (Sahih Muslim, Kitab as-siyam, Bab qada’i ramadana fi sha‘ban)
“However, if a person has missed some fasts of Ramadan and, due to some reason, has been unable to observe them by the time the next Ramadan arrives, such a person can complete the missed fasts of the previous Ramadan after the next Ramadan has passed. Although the best and most excellent method is that of the Mothers of the Believers, who would complete the fasts of the previous Ramadan before the next one, the Holy Quran has not imposed any condition that the missed fasts of Ramadan must be completed before the next Ramadan. Accordingly, Allah the Exalted states in the Holy Quran:
فَمَن شَہِدَ مِنکُمُ الشَّہْرَ فَلْیَصُمْہُ وَمَن کَانَ مَرِیْضاً أَوْ عَلَی سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّۃٌ مِّنْ أَیَّامٍ أُخَرَ یُرِیْدُ اللّٰہُ بِکُمُ الْیُسْرَ وَلاَ یُرِیْدُ بِکُمُ الْعُسْرَ وَلِتُکْمِلُواْ الْعِدَّۃَ
“‘Therefore, he who witnesses this month, being stationary and in health, should fast through it. But whoso is ailing, not being permanently incapacitated, or is on a journey, should complete the reckoning by fasting on a corresponding number of other days.’ (Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2: V.186)
“Here, Allah the Exalted has not specified any time limit for making up the fasts of Ramadan; rather, by using the words, ‘فَعِدَّۃٌ مِّنۡ اَیَّامٍ اُخَرَ’ (Ibid.), meaning, ‘[They] should complete the reckoning by fasting on a corresponding number of other days’, He has left it to a person’s convenience and has not imposed a restriction of time.
“Therefore, if a person has missed the fasts of more than one Ramadan month due to a legitimate excuse, and then Allah the Exalted, upon the removal of that excuse, grants them the capacity to fast, they should observe these missed fasts by doing them in small numbers, to the best of their ability. There are different views concerning the making up of fasts that have been missed for more than one Ramadan. Some Islamic jurists are of the opinion that missed fasts from previous years cannot be observed in a subsequent year, whereas the guidance of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra is different. He states:
“‘I wish to advise the Jamaat that those friends who did not observe all the fasts of Ramadan should observe them later and complete them. This applies whether the fasts were missed due to negligence or due to illness or travel. Similarly, if they have missed any fasts in past years due to negligence or a religiously valid excuse, they should also endeavour to complete them so that they may be absolved before they are presented before God Almighty. Some jurists hold the view that missed fasts from a previous year cannot be observed in the following year. However, my view is that if someone was unable to fast due to ignorance, that ignorance can be forgiven. Yes, if they deliberately chose not to fast, then there is no provision to make it up, just as there is no making up for a prayer that is deliberately missed. However, if they missed a fast due to forgetfulness or an error in juristic reasoning, I believe they can observe it again, and it is better for them to do so. Yes, if they could have fasted but deliberately chose not to, then there is no making it up. When they repent, their deeds will start afresh. But if they did not fast due to negligence, a mistake resulting from flawed reasoning, or illness, I believe that regardless of how far back these fasts date, they can still be observed again.’ (Al Fazl, No. 55, Vol. 50-51, 8 March 1961, pp. 2-3)”
(Compiled by Zaheer Ahmad Khan, Head of Records Department, Private Secretariat, London and translated by Al Hakam)