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Kamal-tLd-Din, KhwajaHell & heaven

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of Allah, the Beneficent^ the Merciful.)

HELL & HEAVENBY

AL-HAJJ KHWAJA KAMAL-UD-DINFOUNDER OFE WOKING MUSLIM MISSION, (ENGLAND)

PUBLISHED BVTHE WOKING MUSLIM MISSIONAND

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Y

^SAME AUTHOR/U

THE IDEAL PROPHET\

I ITHE SOURCES OF CHRISTIANITYTHE THRESHOLD OF TRUTHTHE SECRET OF EXISTENCETOWARDS ISLAMISLAM AND ZOROASTRIANISMISLAM AND CIVILIZATIONTABLE TALKOPEN LETTERSISLAM AND THE MUSLIM PRAYERTHE RELIGION OF JESUS AND TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITYTHE GREATEST OF PROPHETSGLIMPSES FROM THE LIFE OF THE PROPHETTHE SAYINGS OF MUHAMMADISLAM AND CHRISTIANITYISLAM ON SLAVERYSUFI-ISM IN ISLAMWOMAN IN ISLAMFOUR LECTURES ON ISLAMTHE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAMTHE MESSAGE OF ISLAMEID SERMONSINDIA IN THE BALANCETHE RE-INCARNATION OF SOULSTHE EXISTENCE OF GODREVELATION A NECESSITYTHE LEAGUE OF FAITHSJESUS AN IDEAL OF GODHEAD AND HUMANITYAL-ISLAMTHE IDEAL PROPHET (HIS MANNERS AND SAYINGS)THE

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HELL AND HEAVENHell is a natural sequence to our evil actions, 1

nay, it is a logical necessity ; we need it, and cannotavoid it. 2 It has been created to meet the needs towhich we will become alive as soon as we are resurrected. Hidden Truths, will then becomerevealed. They will appear before our eyes, :{ andnothing will remain concealed. 4 Heaven and Hellwill become manifest to us, 5 the former as the abode

1 Surely you and what you worship besides Allah are thefirewood of hell; to it you shall come. The Holy Qur an 21 : 98.2 Then set yourself upright to the right course before therecome from Allah the day which cannot be averted : on that daythey shall become separated. Ibid 30 : 43.

3 Certainly you were heedless of it, but now We have removed from you your veil, so your sight today is sharp. Ibid 50 : 22.4 On that day when hidden things shall be made manifest.

Ibid 86 : 9.5 And the garden shall be brought near for those who guard

(against evil). Ibid 26 : 9Q.And the garden shall be brought near to those who guard(against evil), not far off: Ibid 50 : 31.

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of bliss and happiness 1 and the latter as the place ofaffliction and chastisement,2 the only place for thatspiritual purification which will be our indispensable

1 Does every man of them desire that he should be made toenter the garden of bliss ? The Holy Qur an 70 : 38

2 And whoever disobeys Allah and His Apostle and goesbeyond His limits, He will cause him to enter fire to abide in it,and he shall have an abasing chastisement.

And as for those who are guilty of an indecency fromamong your women, call to witness against them four (witnesses)from among you ; then if they bear witness confine them to thehouses until death takes them away or Allah opens some wayfor them.

And as for the two who are guily of indecency from amongyou, give them both a slight punishment ; then if they repent andamend, turn aside from them ; surely Allah is Oft-returning (tomercy), the Merciful.

Repentance with Allah is only for those who do evil inignorance, them turn (to Allah) soon, so these it is to whom Allahturns (mercifully), and Allah is Ever-knowing, Wise.

And repentance is not for those who go on doing evil deeds,until when death comes to one of them, he says : surely now Irepent; nor (for those who die while they are unbelievers. Theseare they for whom We have prepared a painful chastisement.) --Ibid 4: 14-18.

They shall have chastisement in this world s life, and thechastisement of the hereafter is certainly more grievous, and theyshall have no protector against Allah Ibid 13 : 34.

(Into) hell ? they shall enter into it, and an evil place it isto settle in Ibid 14 : 29.

And thus do We recompense him who is extravagant anddoes not believe in the communications of his Lord ; and certainly

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need. We shall not be able to return to earth 1 for ourpurification, though we may long and even pray for it,because we shall leave behind the material body, as it isnecessary only for an earthly sojourn. Heaven, on theother hand, will not receive us in the condition in whichwe now find ourselves, since it is a place exclusively forpurified soul." Besides, if we be not purged of ourearthly appetites then how can we live in regions whichprovide only spiritual food ? Again, if Heaven is thethe chastisement of the hereafter is severer and more lasting.The Holy Qur an 20 : 227.

1 And whomsoever Allah makes err, he has no guardianafter Him; and you shall see the unjust, when they see thechastisement, saying : Is there any way to return Ibid 42 : 44.

2 And it is said to those who guard (against evil) : What isit that your Lord has revealed ? They say, Good. For thosewho do good in this world is good, and certainly the abode of thehereafter is better ; and certainly most excellent is the abode ofthose who guard (against evilj Ibid 16 : 30.

On that day you will see the faithful men and the faithfulwomen their light running before them and on their right handgood news for you to-day : gardens beneath which rivers flow,

to abide therein, that is the grand achievement Ibid 57 : 12.And We will remove whatever of ill-feeling is in their

breasts ; the rivers shall flow beneath them and they shall say :All praise is due to Allah Who guided as to this ; and we wouldnot have found the way had it not been that Allah had guidedus ; certainly the apostles of our Lord brought the truth ; and itshall be cried out to them that this is the garden of which youare made heirs for what you did Ibid 7 : 43.

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place of light l how can we face it if we are of darksubstance ?- Heaven is also the place for the spirit atrest,

8 whereas our minds will surely be full of restlessness. The voice of conscience, which, after theResurrection, will become too strong to be ignored byus, will goad us on to purification. In these circumstances we shall be left with no other alternative thanto enter into Hell. 4 We shall also realise the agonies

1 On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe : Wait for us, that wemay have light from your light; it shall be said : Turn back andseek a light. Then separation would be brought about betweenthem, with a wall having a door in it ; (as for) the inside of it,there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before itthere shall be chastisement The Holy Qur an 57 : 13.

(Many) faces on that day shall be bright Ibid 80 : 38.2 And (as for) those who have earned evil, the punishment

of an evil is the Tike of it, and abasement shall come upon themthey shall have none to protect them from Allah as if their

faces had been covered with slices of the dense darkness of night ;these are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. (10 : 27)

Darkness shall cover them Ibid 80 : 41.3 O soul, that art at rest ! Return to your Lord, well-pleased

(with Him), well-pleasing (Him). So enter among My servants,And enter into My Garden Ibid 89 : 27-30.4 And when it is said to him, Guard against (the

punishment of) Allah, pride carries him off to sin; therefore hellis sufficient for him ; and certainly it is an evil resting-place.Ibid 2 : 206.

Say to those who disbelieve : You shall be vanquished, anddriven together to hell ; and evil is the resting-place Ibid 3 : 11.

[See next page].

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which its denizens will have to experience, and theirimagination alone will terrify us, but as there will be noother course open to us, we shall be driven towards it, 1as if we were dumb and blind,* and there will be noinjustice in it.

The description of Hell given by the Qur-an oftenreminds me of a hospital established for the treatmentof persons suffering from some most painful diseases.There will naturally be the shrieks and cries, weepingand moaning3 of those suffering and these will not die

For those who respond to their Lord is good ; and (as for)those who do not respond to Him. had they all that is in theearth and the like thereof with it they would certainly offer it fora ransom. (As for) those, an evil reckoning shall be theirs andtheir abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place The Holy Qur an13: 18.

1 The day on which they shall be driven away to the fire ofhell with violence Ibid 52 : 13).

2 And whomsoever Allah guides, he is the follower of theright way, and whomsoever He causes to err, you shall not findfor him guardians besides Him ; and We will gather themtogether on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind anddumb and deaf; their abode is hell ; whenever it becomes allayedWe will add to their burning Ibid 17 : 97.He shall say : My Lord ! why hast Thou raised me blind,and I was a seeing one indeed ! Ibid 20 : 125.

3 So as to those who are unhappy, they shall be in the fire ;for them shall be sighing and groaning in it Ibid 11 : 106.And for those who disbelieve in their Lord is the chastisement of hell, and evil is the resortIbid 67 : 6.

When they shall be cast therein, they shall hear a loudmoaning of it as it heaves Ibid 67 : 6.

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out until the end of the treatment is reached. Besidesour affliction, remorse for wrong-doing, would arisefrom pains analogous to those we feel when we tastesome bitter and nauseous medicine. We shall have todrink of a distasteful drink and a very hot one too. 1

Like those who suffer from a skin disease we shallalso need a change of skin if we are to get any relief.We shall have to undergo a sort of surgical operation. 2

Fire is admittedly the most cleansing of allpurifying factors. It is most natural, therefore, thatthis house of purgatory should be made of burning,8purging fire with a pall of smoke over it.

4 It will befitting that its walls, floor and roof should all be offire and that sinners be placed on beds of fire also. 5If sufferers from nerve-troubles or filthy diseases are

1 Hell is before him and he shall be given to drink of hotwater The Holy Qur an 14 : 16.

In hot wind and boiling water Ibid 56 : 42.But boiling and intensely cold water Ibid 78 : 25.

2 (As for) those who disbelieve in Our communications, Weshall make them enter fire ; so oft as their skins are thoroughlyburned. We will change them for other skins, that they maytaste the chastisement

; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise Ibid 4 : 56.3 A burning fire Ibid 101 : 11.4 And the shade of black smoke Ibid 56 : 43.5 They shall have a bed of the hell-fire and from above

them covering of it ; and thus do We reward the unjust Ibid 7 ; 41 ,

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ordered by their medical advisers to be placed in asteamed room in a Turkish bath, how can we scoff atthe idea of Hell and of us being ordered thither byNature s relentless surgeons, 1 rough in their methods,perhaps, but bound to do as directed ? Metals mixedwith alloy are usually put in the melting-pot, so thatdross is burnt off and the substance purified ; so also_|we shall have to undergo a similar process to rid ourselves of physical dross. For this reason Saqar is one ofthe names given to Hell. The word means anythingthat changes the nature of other things by melting them.In a word, distress will come to a sinner from everyquarter2 to cleanse him from the evils that surroundhim from all sides.- 5

The different names given by the Qur-an to Hellhelp to explain its nature. Sd ir, Jahim and Jahannam

1 O you who believe ! save yourselves and your familiesfrom a fire whose fuel is men and stones ; over it are angels sternand strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He commandthem, and do as they are commanded The Holy Qur an 66 : 6.

2 He will drink it little by little and will not be able toswallow it agreeably, and distress will come to him from everyquarter, but he shall not die ; and there shall be vehementchastisement before him Ibid 14 : 17.

3 Yea ! whoever earns evil and his sins beset him on everyside, these are the inmates of the fire : in it they shall abide Ibid2: 81.

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8mean something in the nature of a burning fire,explains the nature of its functions meaning anythingthat stupefies the brain.

But Hutama, its sixth name, is very suggestive.It means remorse, a feeling of shame and disgrace,because abasement2 and intense remorse8 are some ofthe chastisements administered to the denizens of Hellwhich they may in no wise escape. 4 It shows thatHell is a mental torture : that its agonies are agoniesof the mind. r> For, otherwise, why else should ourphysical body share our troubles if to be nothing butan instrument ? The body is a lifeless thing unlessit comes under the operation of the mind. It is, as itwere, an unconsenting party if it joins with us in ourwrong-doings. The principles of justice and equity donot punish a person who is forced to give his consent.

1 By no means ! Surely it is a flaming fire The Holy Qur an70: 15.

2 Do they not know that whoever acts in opposition toAllah and His Apostle, he shall surely have the fire of hell toabide in it ? That is the grievous abasement Ibid 9 : 63.

3 And those who followed shall say : Had there been for usa return, then we would renounce them as they have renouncedus. Thus will Allah show them their deeds to be of intense regretto them, and they shall not come forth from the fire Ibid 2: 167.

4 Abiding in it ; their chastisement shall not be lightenednor shall they be given respite Ibid 2 : 162.

5 Which rises above the hearts Ibid 104 : 7.

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Moreover, the verse which explains the nature ofAl-Hutamah ] decides the question. Speaking of the fireof Hell the Qur-an says, that it will come out ofour own hearts. Here in this life we are conscious ofthe same burning of the heart, when a strong desire,unbecoming in its very nature, goads us on to do somewrong. The very idea of shame makes our blood hotand we feel as if we were being driven towards a pitof fire.

The Qur-an makes mention of some seven gates ofHell meant for different classes of sinners. 2 The doorswould lead to seven spiritual evils.

I have already shown that no sooner does ourconsciousness begin to evolve than we need knowledgeof right and wrong, which comes to us either byRevelation or by the requirements of the society inwhich we live. We find it in its rudimentary form inthe Ten Commandments of Moses. They have againbeen developed into seven principles of good living inthe first ten verses af chapter 23 of the Qur-an, whereinthe Book speaks of the birth of human mind. Theseprinciples have been given us so as to build the newly

1 And what will make you realize what the crushingdisaster is ? The Holy Qur an 104 : 5.

2 It has seven gates ; for every gate there shall be aseparate party of them Ibid 15 : 44

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10formed mind and to make it fit for heavenly life andthey are 1 :

1. Good beliefs.2. Humility in prayers.3. Abstention from vanity and levity.4. Purification as well as almsgiving.5. Continence or purity in sexual relations.6. The keeping of trust and covenants.7. Remaining always on our guard against any

thing contrary to the demands of prayers.What a wonderful and wise improvement we find

here on the Ten Commandments of Moses. It wouldbe sheer folly to call it plagiarism, as certain sillyminds among the Christian missionaries generally do,who fail to realise that the Fountain-head of these

1 Except those who pray. Those who are constant at theirprayer, and those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion, Forhim who begs and for him who is denied (good). And those whoaccept the truth of the judgment-day, And those who are fearfulof the chastisement of their Lord Surely the chastisement oftheir Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of And those whoguard their private parts, Except in the case of their wives orthose whom their right hands possess for these surely are not tobe blamed, But he who seeks to go beyond the limits And thosewho are faithful to their trusts this, these it is that go beyondand their covenant, And those who are upright in their testimonies, And those who keep a guard on their prayer, Thoseshall be in gardens, honoured The Holy Qur an 70 : 22-35.

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two sets of injunction is one and the same, theOne Lord, Who sends to humanity from time to timethat knowledge of which it stands in urgent need. Anevolved social law, like that laid down in the Qur-an,could never have been appreciated by the Israelitesof the time of Exodus. Hence the difference. TheQur-an was given to coming generations when theybecame advanced in their requirements. This is thetrue explanation of the coincidences, otherwise Jesuswould seem to have committed the worst type of literary larceny, since most of his sayings and parablescan be easily traced to Krishna and Buddha.

These seven principles comprise within their scopeall that is needed to constitute the best form of society.The violation of even one of them involves a multitudeof sins. Thus the whole course of evils becomesnarrowed down to the breach of these seven injunctions,which therefore create the seven gates of Hell. 1We read, too, of nineteen wardens of Hell. Consciousness, according to some psychologists, is only anassemblage of various passions ; and I think that to sodefine the mind is not beside the mark. The wholegeneration of passions arises from two root-passionsDesire and Anger. These are, in fact, the mother-

1 It has seven gates ; for every gate there shall be aseparate party of them The Holy Qur an 15 : 44.

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passions born of the knowledge which we receive fromthe external world, through our senses or through ourfood upon which we live. We have five outer senseswhich give rise to five inner ones Hearing, Sight,Smell, Touch and Taste are the former. If any of theten senses does not perfom its functions properly, ourknowledge will be defective and this will affect the twomother-passions.

But food has a far-reaching influence, indeed,when it becomes rarified into ideas and creates angerand desire in their best or worst forms. It should notbe forgotten that ideation, according to certain modernwriters, is also the result of the physical naturenourished by food. Food comes under the action ofseven other faculties in the system before it becomes anidea.

1 . Jdzibah.This literally means pulling in, drawing or taking in. In the case of food, it would meaneating and drinking.

2. Mdsikah. The faculty of retaining food in thesystem.

3. Hdzimah. The power of digestion.4. Dafi ah. The faculty of getting rid of dele

terious matter derived from food.

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135. Ghdziah. The faculty of nutrition.6. Ndmiah. The faculty of growth.7. Muwallidah. Creative agency.Food could not perform its function properly if any

one of the above mentioned seven faculties were out oforder. It would naturally give rise to false ideation.

The seven faculties, combined with the ten senses,instantly create these two passions, which, in their turn,branch away into various passions which control allour actions. Thus these nineteen agencies have directbearing on our morals. If Hell is a place where weare chastened so that we turn from evil to good it willbe the work of said agencies to subject us to some sortof treatment to remedy our moral defects.

Heil, as it appears from the Qur-an, is only anhospital or purgatory for moral and spiritual cure.How can our mere belief in some intermediary, whetherJesus or someone else, cure our disease, or act as anantidote in our system ?

Again, Heaven is not a delimited area. TheQur-an says that it brings all the heavens and the earthwithin its circumference. 1 It ought to be so, if it is

1 Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and to a gardenthe extensiveness of which is as the extensiveness of the heaven

(See next page) .

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14intended for our minds, because we leave the bodyhere, where we die ; and even here the mind when it isfree from physical taints, requires a very vast area forits exercise. With the aid of imagination it reaches thecorners of the earth. But if we die with a mind whichis still fast, and in the snares of our carnal nature, itmust gravitate to the earth, seeing that that carnalnature is of the earth. The doors of heaven too mustremain closed to us, since earthly things cannot live inthose regions. We shall hover between the earth andheaven, and Hell alone can purge us clean of earthlytendencies. How can the suffering of another for usfree us of such a burden ?

Many men jeer at the very idea of Heaven andHell. But if science tell us to believe in the continuityof life, we must also admit the possibility of its Jiappyand miserable aspects, which in the Sacred Books havebeen named Heaven and Hell. Besides, if the principleof causation is another verity and we must reap whatwe sow, our various actions here would remain unrequited. There must be a day of requital 1 at least forsuch actions as remain unrccompensed in this life,and the earth ; it is prepared for those who believe in Allah andHis Apostles ; that is the grace of Allah : He gives it to whomHe pleases, and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace The HolyQur an 57: 21.

1 Master of the day of requital Ibid 1 : 3.

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15We may not understand the nature of these futureconditions, but our inability to do so does not justifyour denial of their existence. Even with all our flightof imagination, we often fail here on the earth to picturean earthly thing as it really is. It would not be amatter for surprise, therefore, if we fail to appreciatetruly the things of the future life, especially when theyare of different substance from those on the earth. Itmay be said that in a sense, the mind and the spirit arethe foundations of Heaven and Hell. The Holy Prophet has simply stated a truth when he quotes ourLord in the following words :

Allah says : I have prepared for My righteous servants whatno eye has seen and no ear has heard and what the heart of manhas not conceived.

The Qur-an, however, explains to us these veritiesin their general character. True, it makes mention ofmany of the delights of Heaven and calls them bynames associated with many things here on earth suchas milk, honey, musk, and fruits of various kinds. Butat the same time it warns us against conceiving of themas in their earthly form. They have been describedfiguratively and in parables as the Book says whichgoes on to tell us that God has created for us twoHeavens, one here and the other in the hereafter. 1 So

1 And besides these two are two (other) gardens The HolyQur an 55 : 62.

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16it is also in the case of Hell, in order that we may havea foretaste l of future conditions, with this difference,that only the heaven and hell of earth are but shadowsof the things to come. There is also another difference,which is this that here we find those things in earthlyalloyed form.

If the chiding spirit becomes materialized in thestrongest possible manner taking the form of Resurrection, as explained above, the other four stages ofSpiritual Evolution will become actualized in their bestaspects and will take the form of heaven. It is absolutely inconsistent for a doubting mind to laugh atResurrection or Hell and Heaven because he himselfhas realized the pangs of conscience here, and is eagerfor the happiness which even falls here to the lot ofsuch blessed ones as have become free from enternalstruggles and remains satisfied. No one can avert thetoils of life, but such men as I have mentioned keeptheir minds unruffled under all circumstance beingserenely indifferent to pains and pleasures. If suchserenity of mind and happiness of soul are things to be

1 And convey good news to those who believe and do gooddeeds, that they shall have gardens in which rivers flow ; whenever they shall be given a portion of the fruit thereof, they shallsay : This is what was given to us before ; and they shall be giventhe like of it, and they shall have pure mates in them, and inthem they shall abide The Holy Qur an 2 : 25.

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coveted, they will come to us in their fullest excellencein Heaven. Its chief characteristics, as given in theQur-an, are as follow : In Heaven we shall be free fromall troubles and trials 1 and released from every sort ofanxiety, fear and grief,2 we shall listen to no ^absurdor vain talk, 3 nor shall behold any vanity or levity ofcharacter. Doubtless we shall have some sort of foodand drink for our nourishment there but these will

er be attended with illness or disease.4 Our goodactions have been compared to fruits in Heaven in theHoly Book. Here also we enjoy the fruits of ourlabour. If our beliefs in truths here are the seeds ofall our righteousness, they will be planted there, as wellas seeds in our system. Our actions will water themand transform them into a radiant garden. It is forthis reason that wherever the Book speaks of beliefsand good actions, it compares them with gardens

1 Who has made us alight in a house abiding for ever outof His grace : toil shall not touch us therein, nor shall fatiguetherein afflict us The Holy Qur an 35 : 35.

2 O My servants ! there is no fear for you this day, norshall you grieve Ibid 43 : 68.

3 They shall not hear therein any vain discourse, but only" Peace,* and they shall have their sustenance therein morningand evening Ibid 19 : 62.

4 They shall not be affected with headache thereby, norshall they get exhausted Ibid 56 : 19.

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watered by perennial streams flowing beneath them. 1Our actions there will bring these streams to the surface. The streams may be of a water, the componentelements of which are beyond our comprehension, butthey are the transformation of our actions in this life.The Arabic word Jannat is very significant. It meansprimarily something hidden. It also means a gardenwith trees luxuriant in growth. Every piece of landsown with various seeds is a garden in embryo whileall the seeds remain hidden. It is Jannat in the firstmeaning of the word. But, when the seeds come upand trees grow, it becomes Jannat in the other sense.Even here, those who do not lead dissolute lives andhold themselves aloof from any sort of dissipation, enjoya form of heavenly life by reason of their good beliefs

d righteous actions. The Heaven to come is but thematerialization of these beliefs and actions. It is thegarden of our own nature, where all our good facultieswil grow and bear fruit a hundredfold.

1 Who made the earth a resting-place for you and theheaven a structure, and (Who) sends down rain from the cloudthen brings forth with it subsistence for you of the fruits ; therefore do not set up rivals to Allah while you know The HolyQur an 2 : 22.And convey good news to those who believe and do gooddeeds, that they shall have gardens in which rivers flow ; whenever they shall be given a portion of the fruit thereof, they shallsay : This is what was given to us before ; and they shall be giventhe like of it, and they shall have pure mates in them, and inthem they shall abide Ibid 2 : 25. [See next page].

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19The Muslim Paradise is not, it must be under

stood, a garden for the voluptuary, where he may sitin the company of maidens under the shade of trees,with goblets of wine circling continually for the enjoyment of the dissipated. We read, it is true, of Hur }in the Muslim Paradise. We are told that the womenof our family 2 will also be with us in Heaven, purifiedlike ourselves. Some commentators of the Qur-antake these Hurs to mean our own wives, mothers andsisters, but others regard them as belonging to someheavenly order, where beautiful damsels and boys havebeen called Hur and Ghilmdn. I see no harm in thisinterpretation. Woman is not a despicable companionto us in our earthly career, though sickly theologiansmay call them to be the " Gateway of Hell."St. Jerome, St. Cyril, Tertullian and other Christian

And We will remove whatever of ill-feeling is in theirbreasts ; the rivers shall flow beneath them and they shall say :All praise is due to Allah Who guided us to this, and we wouldnot have found the way had it not been that Allah had guidedus; certainly the apostles of our Lord brought the truth, and itshall be cried out to them that this is the garden of which youare made heirs for what you did The Holv Qur an 7 : 43.

1 Thus (shall it be), and We will unite them with pure,beautiful ones Ibid 44 : 54.

2 The Gardens of perpetual abode which they will entcralong with those who do good from among their parents aridtheir spouses and their offspring ; and the angels will enter inupon them from every gate Ibid 13 : 23.

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20fathers have made these pious aspersions on those whomight have been their better halves, and the like, asthey are indeed our better halves. They are ourutmost happiness and their company is the choicestof God s blessings. Though when misfortune andill-luck transfer their affection and love to alien quarters,they make the life a hell. But we are assured thatthese damsels of heaven will-be possessed of a pure andspotless heart, 1 which the very word Hur literally means.Their eyes, fascinating as they may be, will not be thebearers of amorous message. They will in no wisepander to any unworthy feelings. Besides, they will beof no earthly order, nor would they stand in connubialrelations to us in the earthly meaning of the word.

C\Ve shall all be free of physical appetites and there willbe no further procreation of the species, which, whenall is said and done, is the main object of all matrimonial connections on earth. It may be said that theHurs are not wanted, if they are not to play the role ofwife as in our earthly sojourn. But those who say soonly betray the hollowness of their own minds. Evenin this life bed is not the best part of our happiness.All earthly tastes lose their attractions for us when wepass a certain age. Intellectual or spiritual pleasuresalone can captivate us for good. Knowledge, and notthe flesh, is our real pleasure.

1 And pure, beautiful ones The Holy Qur an 56 : 22.

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21The Qur-an uses various names to denote the

things of the future life. If we take their meaningsliterally, they all refer to some sort of knowledge, andthe place that intervenes between Hell and Heavenalso has been called A rdf which means knowledge.

In short, Heaven is a spiritual experience of thebest type whereby all desires will be more thansatisfied. 1 Everything will be of an honourable character with no ignoble feature of any kind. The Qur-ansuggests this idea in the clearest terms when it gives usthe list of those who are entitled to enter into theheavenly abode. Their very

characters show that it1 O My servants ! there is no fear for you this day, nor

shall you grieve The Holy Qur an 43 : 68.Those who believed in Our communications and were

submissive : Ibid 43 : 69.Enter the garden, you and your wives ; you shall be made

happy Ibid 43: 70.There shall be sent round to them golden bowls anddrinking-cups, and therein shall be what their souls yearn afterand (wherein) the eyes shall delight, and you shall abide therein-IiiW43: 71.

And this is the garden which you are given as an inheritance on account of what you did Ibid 43 : 72.

For you therein are many fruits of which you shall eatIfoW43: 73.

Surely the guilty abide in the chastisement of hell Ibid43 ; 74.

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22would not be a place for licentiousness. Here aresome of them :

1. Those who hold good beliefs and translatethem into actions.

2. Those who lead a pious life or have comeunder the forgiveness of the Compassionate Lord.

3. Those who possess humility of mind and arepenitent in heart and whose minds have become purified of all alloy.

4. Those who on earth kept their promises andfulfilled their covenants.

5. Those who are righteous and not only remainin prayer, but translate the demands of their prayersinto actions.

5. Those who have become cleansed of all theirwrong desires and whose hearts are pure of every error.In short, good deeds of all kinds piety, righteous-

ness, patience, chastity, charity, almsgiving, regard forbounds, truthfulness, abstention from absurdity andvanity, and giving good advice to others are the chiefqualities of those who will enter into the Paradise ofthe Lord. Again, it has been repeatedly shownthat peace will reign supreme there so much so that

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23Heaven has also been named Ddr-us-Saldm, the Houseof Peace. All our highest capabilities which haveremained latent here, will come to full fruition there.For this reason Heaven has been also named Ddr-un-JVa im, the House of good gifts.

In this connection, I will narrate here some of theevil things which, according to the Qur-an will carrymen to Hell : Guilt, injustice, pride, niggardliness,ungratefulness, rebellion, iriordinacy, doubts as to truths,transgressions of limits, the forbidding of good deeds,want of good deeds, disbelief, opposition to God, polytheism.

The above-mentioned virtues and vices clearly^explain the nature of Heaven ahd Hell. They excludeall idea of earthly things. All of them appertain to cthings mental or spiritual. The Qur-an, therefore^makes a lucid but true statement of the coming reality.It says that we come here with the highest capabilities,but at the beginning start at the lowest rung of theladder. We have to work out our own advancementand reach, as best as we can, the highest stage of ourgrowth. We are " on an evolutionary journey and wehave been given every kind of guidance to carry us toour destination. We come on the earth to prepareourselves for future progress. If we can develop ourfaculties to such an extent as will enable us to enter

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into a life of future progress, we leave the life of thisworld successful. But if we cannot do so, we shallhave first to become cleansed of our impurities whichhave stuck to us in our sojourn on earth and when weare purged thereof we shall begin our journey andultimately reach the place wherefrom we came at first.We came from Light and to Light shall we ascend.

The Holy Qur-an, when speaking of Heaven, saysthat it is like the heavens and the earth in its vastness.When the Holy Prophet was speaking about this verseto his companions there chanced to be present anAmbassador from the Roman Emperor Heraclius, whoobserved that if Heaven were so extensive, it wouldhardly leave any room for Hell a remark very muchto the point. But the reply was more than equal to it." God be glorified," said the Holy Prophet, " where isthe night when the day comes ? J: This may not beappreciated by those who imagine the universe to be athree-storeyed house, with our earth as the middle one.But the Qur-anic verse and the Holy Prophet s comment thereon explains the whole thing on a scientificbasis. It is the earthly matter in us which gravitatesus towards the planet. The moment we lose suchmatter we depart from it, as indeed we find in the caseof birds. If death consists in the separation of thespirit from the body, the former cannot remain attached

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26nature. I am neither exaggerating nor inventing whenI say that I have known Muslim gentelmen of rarepiety who at times used to enjoy the delicious flavourand taste of several fruits without actually eating any.Men of that character sometimes hear the loveliestmusic, ihe most bewitching songs when none actuallyis being played. I know of another friend, who oncehad a novel experience. He was neither dreamingnor in a trance, but he was quite wide-awake sittingmeditating at midnight. He felt as if he was in thecompany of a woman and appreciated her company.The Qur-an has also referred to this when it sa) s thatthe inmates of Heaven when given a portion of thefruit thereof shall say : " This* is what was given to usbefore : they shall be given the like of it." The italicisedwords most eloquently explain that the pleasures ofHeaven will be like those we enjoy here, but not of thesame nature. There is another similar statement inChapter 76 which tells of the various pleasures whichwe shall enjoy in Heaven. Now, for example, camphoris the best of antiseptics, and the Book, after mentioningthe condition of the sinners in Hell, speaks of therighteous who drink of a cup the admixture of whichis camphor." After a patient s bowels have beenthoroughly purged he needs an antiseptic because hehas still germs of putrefaction in his system. After heis fully relieved he requires a tonic. Ginger, they say,

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28earth. On the other hand, he will be interested in theheavenly food, because he will find some of his friendsthere enjoying it. If he asks them to share their delicacies with him, and if they refuse, it will be all toonatural. The verse further explains the stuff of whichthe food will be prepared. It will be light. Ourbodies will be made of light, for otherwise we wouldnot be able to assimilate any articles made of light.This takes us a step further. Charcoal has within itvarious gems of light, and a stage comes when everypiece of coal becomes all light. But before reachingthat brilliant state, every particle of soot and smokemust be consumed. It must also go through fire to getthe brilliance which is innate in it. It is just the samewith us. We come fully from light, as I have explainedelsewhere. That light became denser and denser until,eventually, it assumed the form of the earth whichbrought forth man as its best product. From thiscondition we enter upon a sort of backward journey forwe have to return to the same condition of light, so it isnot surprising if a case-hardened mind, full of metaphorical soot and smoke, is thrown into a pit of fire.But he must live on something and that something is,as the Qiir-an says, the fruit of a tree called ^aqqum.

The tree of ^aqqum 1 has been mentioned in the1 Surely it is a tree that grown in the bottom of the hell.

The Holy Qur an 7 : 64.

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29Qur-an as growing at the bottom of Hell. Its fruit, itis said, will be the food of the sinful. It will boil intheir bellies. They will be thirsty and run for waterand they will be given boiling water to drink. Thevery description shows that the fruit would act as anaperient medicine. A Muslim divine, who was also anexperienced physician, treated a syphilitic patient witha fruit of the same name which grows in India. Thepatient felt hot and the physician gave him hot waterwhich caused a violent evacuation of the bowels.Motion after motion came bringing out black deleteriousmatter from his stomach, and the patient was relieved.The Holy Qur-an suggested the idea to the physician,and he used to apply it in all serious cases. I read ofanother similarity between hospital and Hell as givenin the Qur-an. When a patient is admitted into ahospital he is often accompanied by his friends ; but if heis under treatment for some very serious disease, novisitor is allowed to see him. A sort of a wall, a barrier,as it were, is placed between him and those who are ingood health. He does not see them again unless anduntil he is fully cured. His friends may come to enquireafter him, but they are not allowed to see him. So weread in the Qur-an, when it speaks of a wall raisedbetween the hypocrite and the believer, 1 separating

1 On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for us, that we

[See next page].

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30^

the two each from the other. The Holy Book speaks~also about the duration of Heaven and Hell. Heaven,it says, is an everlasting gift that will never be cut off. 1It establishes the eternity of Heaven, but, as Hell is onlya purifying entity, it cannot exist if there are noimpurities of wrong inclinations to be got rid of. It^must exist as long as the two things exist ; because no.one can enter Heaven unless he has a pure spirit.These impurities are no other than the earthly passionsin us which, in their uncontrolled condition, are thecause of wrong-doing during our earthly sojourn. Wemay not have any occasion to do more sins after ourdeath for lack of means, but the inclination to do so willsubsist in us as long as these passions survive. Theyare a kind of barrier between the sinner and the heavenlyabode, which, indirectly, give rise to Hell. If wecommit sin, it is on account of these inclinations whichemanate therefrom ; and if we continue to feel the saidinclination after death, it is for the same reason. Thesemay have light from your light ; it shall be said : Turn back andseek a light The separation would be brought about betweenthem, with a wall having a door in it ; (as for) the inside of it,there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it before itftierc shall be chastisement The Holy Qur an 57 : 13.

1 And as to those who are made happy, they shall be in thegarden, abiding in it as long as the heavens and the earth endure,except as jour Lord please : a gift which shall never be cut off

Ibidli : 108.

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31

passions, in their uncleansed form, even after death,must tend towards earth for their satisfaction. They willexist as long as the earth exists, and will create a han--woi-i.j,- i " > ** * *~ " T^J""" J^* ****i**MB* *llg> ***^fc^^|Mr*^M^kering in us to return to the terrestrial sphere, but weshall not be able to gratify them for want of a physicalbody, the necessary wherewithal of earthly life,for the body is left behind on our death and reducedto its elements. This inability will act as a secondbarrier between our inclinations and the means tosatisfy them. 1 A sinner will thus have two barriers, onebefore him and the other behind him. The strugglebetween the tendency and the inability to satisfy it willsurely create a new hell for a sinner, which mustco-exist with the earth, and would naturally come toan end if our planet were to be destroyed. Weread in the Qur-an of a calamity which will be theend of the earth. The Book speaks of some terribleconcussion that will shatter it to pieces, and make themountains, which were created to keep the earthsteady, like unto loosened wool2 with the men on itscattered like moths in space. The calamity will be inthe nature of a collision of the earth with some largerheavenly body, as science also says when discussing the

1 And a barrier shall be placed between them and thatwhich they desire, as was done with the likes of them before ;Surely they are in a disquieting doubt The Holy.Qur an 34 : 54.

2 And the mountains shall be as loosened wool Ibid 101 : 5.

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possible fate of our planet. If Hell be co-existent withthe earth, it must disappear with it. But we read of athird thing co-existing with Hell The Book, whenspeaking of sinners in Hell, says, they will abide thereinso long as the heaven and the earth endure. Thisstatement, however, makes no difference to my pointof view. The Arabic words, Ardz and Samdwdt, whichcorrespond to the English words the earth and theheavens respectively, do not literally mean the earth andthe heavens. Their primary meaning refer rather tothe position they occupy in space than to the substanceof which they are made. Ardz in Arabic means anythingthat stands below another thing, while Samd meansheight. The two words are thus relative, so - much sothat the first of the seven heavens may be calledArdz of the second heaven. Similarly the second maybe termed Ardz in relation to the third. It shows thatthough the regions, here called Samdwdt, of the heavensmay survive the extinction of the earth, yet they willnot be called by their present names. If the demolition of the earth will make an end of Hell the wordSamdwdt will no longer be applied to the regions nowso called. There is, however, another word in the verseunder discussion which gives rise to a misconception asto the duration of Hell, and that word is Abad, whichhas been wrongly interpreted as eternity. But abad has

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33dbdd as its plural, while the idea of eternity cannotadmit of plurality. Eternity is one indivisible thing.Therefore, the word Abad only means a very longperiod. The existence of Hell connot be ascribed toany Divine revenge or to the passion of an " angereddeity." The Qur-an absolutely denies any such reason.It says that God is not interested in any way in punishing us. 1 But as we have not used His gifts aright, andtherefore remain unfit for further progress, we are sentto Hell for the removal of all that retards our progressin the coming life.

1 Why should Allah chastise you if you are grateful andbelieve? And Allah is the Multiplier of rewards, Knowing.The Holy Qur an 4 : 147.

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" Let there be from among you a party who should invite togood and enjoin what is right andforbid the wrong." Al-Qur-an

To keep the flag of Islam flying in the West bypatronizing and co-operating with the Woking MuslimMission is the duty of every Muslim and can bedone in the following ways :

1. By sending donations in a lump sum or by fixingmonthly or yearly contributions towards the fund.2. By sending the Zakat.3. By sending the Bank or Post Office interest.4. By sending the price of the skins of animalssacrificed on the occasion of the Id-ul-Azha festival.5. By sending cld Fitrana to meet the expenses ofId festival in England.6. By subscribing to the Islamic Review and by induc

ing other Muslims to subscribe to it.7. By sending subscription for the hl imic Review onbehalf of some non-Muslim or a public Library.8. By buying our books.9. By presenting our books to non-Muslims favourably

inclined towards Islam, or to some Library in Europe andAmerica.10. By subscribing to the Risala Ishd at-i-Islam, theUrdu version of the Islamic Review and the Fortnightly

Woking Muslim Mission Gazette.11. By contributing towards the Reserve Fund of theWoking Muslim Mission.12. By contributing towards the free circulation ofIslamic Literature.All remittances to be made payable to the Financial

Secretary, The Woking Muslim Mission and Literary Trust,Aziz Manzil, Brandreth Road, Lahore (Pb. India).

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The Woking Muslim Mission & Literary Trust,LAHORE (REGD.)The Woking Muslim Mission has been working under

a Non-sectarian Trust (Registered). It is not interested inany sectarian propaganda.There are only three organs of this Trust :

1. " The Islamic Review " (English Monthly).2. "The Ishaat-i-Islam" (Urdu Monthly).3. "The Woking Muslim Mission Gazette" (English

Fortnightly).It is the income of these journals alone that is spent on

the Mission. The Mission has no connection whatsoever withany other weekly, monthly, or quarterly journal, either inEnglish or in Urdu. It is regrettable that through lack ofcorrect information in this matter some very sinceresupporters of this Mission have been sending their donationsto wrong quarters. We hope, however, that no suchconfusion will arise after this announcement.

We take this opportunity of drawing the attention ofthe Muslim public towards the very important fact thattheir charities should, as a rul, be sent to an institutionwhich is controlled by a reliable body and is not a mereindividual venture, and that such charities, in these days ofdepression, should not be sent to an organization that doesnot come under the purview of public inspection.

All remittances meant for the Woking Muslim Missionshould be sent to the Financial Secretary, the WokingMuslim Mission and Literary Trust, Aziz Manzil,Brandreth Road, Lahore, Punjab (India) ; and all correspondence to the Secretary, the Woking Muslim Mission atthe same address.

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ISLAMIC REVIEWWOKING, SURREY, ENGLAND,

The only torch-bearer of Islam in the West and the bestmeans of disseminating Islamic literature through theEnglish language. Contains lucid essays and critical noteson Muslim religion and ethics, with a special reference tothe precepts of Al-Qur-an and the life of the Holy ProphetMuhammad. A most successful journal in disabusing theWestern mind of wrong views hitherto entertained of Islam.

The best advertising medium in the Islamic world.Annual Subscription, Rs. 7-8

For Foreign countries, including postage, 12s.

Apply to :-The Manager, ISLAMIC REVIEW.Azeez Manzil, Brandreth Road, LAHORE. (Pb.)

ORThe Mosque, Woking, Surrey-England,

^>^^^^1SHAAT-I-ISLAMA MONTHLY UKDU JOURNAL(Translation of the ISLAMIC REVIEW)

ISSUED FROMAZEEZ MANZIL, BRANDRETH ROAD. LAHORE. (Pf>. India.)

Annual Subscription, Rs. 3-8.Printed by Sh. Mohd. Ahmed at the Northern Army Press, 65, Railway Road, Lahore.Published by Khwaja Abdul Ghani, Secretary,

The Woking Muslim Mission and Literary Trust, Brandreth Road, l^horc

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A FEW SALIENT FEATURESOF THE RELIGION OF ISLAMWHICH ARE NOT GENERALLY KNOWN(a) It is absolutely monothcisic no division in the Godh tiprayers are addressed directly to the Invisible God. Muhamnu^

is as much a Prophet of God as Jesus, Moses, etc., upon whombe the blessings of God, but like all other prophets before him, v -is every bit a human being. Islam has neither ritual nor priestho:H

(b) It abhors warfare except in extreme cases of self-defence.(c) The position it has given to woman is still unapproached

the laws of the most progressive nations of the modern wor*cAccording to Islam, there is no difference between man ,woman materially, spiritually, morally.

(d) It is the only religious outlook on life which can grapwith the disruptive forces at work in the world to-day.

(e) It is a widely admitted and unparallelee achievementIslam, that it has created a world-wide brotherhood of man uncthe Fatherhood of God.

(/) Islam alone has succeeded in abolishing all unconsciom.barriers of distinction, based nationality, colour and language.

ATTITUDE OF ISLAM TOWARDS OTHERRELIGIONS" Every nation had an apostle " (The Qu ran, ch. 10, v. 4 ,No religion other than Islam recognizes this truth.

SOME POPULAR MISCON6EPTIONSABOUT ISLAMIt is wrong to think :

that Islam was spread by the sword ;that Islam is synonymous with polygamy ;that, according to Islam, woman has no soul ;and that the Islamic conception of Paradise is sensua

THE CREED OF ISLAMThere is no god but God, and Muhammad is His apostl

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BP166.88

K3

Kamal-ud-Din, KhwajaHell & heaven

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVECARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKETUNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

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