Thirty-Fourth Assembly (Khwan-Pur-Nemat)

Qazi Khan enquired what would happen in the next world to girls who died young. The Venerable Master replied: The instruction concerning them is that, in the next world, God Almighty will give them to whomsoever He wants. Some women have died without getting married, just as have some men. God Almighty will choose which of them will be for whom.

In the meantime, someone present in the assembly asked what would happen to somebody who had two husbands. He replied that she would be given to her last husband. The Helpless One asked about the mother of a man's child. He replied: In the next world, if the mother is a slave-girl, whatever command pertains to slave-girls will apply to her children.

Again, he enquired if there was any difference between youths and sons. He replied: Yes, there is. Sons are those whom God Almighty has created also in heaven for the sake of serving the believers; whereas youths are the sons of the infidels who have died before reaching adolescence. According to one saying, they will be bequeathed to the believers as their servants.

After this he added: There is a controversy about the children of the polytheists. Where will they go? Some say there is a place called Limbo, situated between Paradise and hell. That is where the children of infidels, who have died before attaining puberty, must be. The authoritative opinion, however-which is held by the majority of theologians-is that they are taken to Paradise and placed at the service of the believers.

Afterwards he said: Those who opt for Limbo have a good argument, namely that faith is required for entering Paradise,

but they have never possessed faith. Also, infidelity is needed for banishment to hell, but they had not acquired that either. Hence they must go to Limbo, where neither the soul of Paradise nor the torments of hell are found.

Husamuddin, the prayer-leader of Haibat Khan, asked about the meaning of the tradition: 'Anyone who humbles before a rich man, on account of his wealth, loses two thirds of his religion.' Why the restriction of two thirds? He replied: The reason for this restriction is that religion rests on three pillars: the heart, the tongue and the limbs. When a person comes forward to a base himself his limbs are involved in this action while his tongue is engaged in singing his praises and making apologies. Thus, two thirds of his religion are gone. One third remains-his heart.

At this stage the discussion turned to the nature of religion. He said: The reception of the divine speech by prophets is called 'revelation'. When the prophets explain this revelation, it is called 'invitation'. When a person submits to this it is 'Islam'. The commands and prohibitions of the Lord form the 'Law'. Believing in one's heart and professing with one's tongue is called 'faith'. Faithful adherence to all of these is called 'religion'. The religion of a person who is faithful to all of these is said to be 'perfect'. If anybody's religion is perfect, he also is perfect, for a person's perfection is gauged by the perfection of his religion.10 Whoever, on the other hand, is defective in religion, suffers some loss in it on account of which he is liable to be punished.

Qazi Khan enquired what would happen in the next world to girls who died young. The Venerable Master replied: The instruction concerning them is that, in the next world, God Almighty will give them to whomsoever He wants. Some women have died without getting married, just as have some men. God Almighty will choose which of them will be for whom.

In the meantime, someone present in the assembly asked what would happen to somebody who had two husbands. He replied that she would be given to her last husband. The Helpless One asked about the mother of a man's child. He replied: In the next world, if the mother is a slave-girl, whatever command pertains to slave-girls will apply to her children.

Again, he enquired if there was any difference between youths and sons. He replied: Yes, there is. Sons are those whom God Almighty has created also in heaven for the sake of serving the believers; whereas youths are the sons of the infidels who have died before reaching adolescence. According to one saying, they will be bequeathed to the believers as their servants.

After this he added: There is a controversy about the children of the polytheists. Where will they go? Some say there is a place called Limbo, situated between Paradise and hell. That is where the children of infidels, who have died before attaining puberty, must be. The authoritative opinion, however-which is held by the majority of theologians-is that they are taken to Paradise and placed at the service of the believers.

Afterwards he said: Those who opt for Limbo have a good argument, namely that faith is required for entering Paradise,

but they have never possessed faith. Also, infidelity is needed for banishment to hell, but they had not acquired that either. Hence they must go to Limbo, where neither the soul of Paradise nor the torments of hell are found.

Husamuddin, the prayer-leader of Haibat Khan, asked about the meaning of the tradition: 'Anyone who humbles before a rich man, on account of his wealth, loses two thirds of his religion.' Why the restriction of two thirds? He replied: The reason for this restriction is that religion rests on three pillars: the heart, the tongue and the limbs. When a person comes forward to a base himself his limbs are involved in this action while his tongue is engaged in singing his praises and making apologies. Thus, two thirds of his religion are gone. One third remains-his heart.

At this stage the discussion turned to the nature of religion. He said: The reception of the divine speech by prophets is called 'revelation'. When the prophets explain this revelation, it is called 'invitation'. When a person submits to this it is 'Islam'. The commands and prohibitions of the Lord form the 'Law'. Believing in one's heart and professing with one's tongue is called 'faith'. Faithful adherence to all of these is called 'religion'. The religion of a person who is faithful to all of these is said to be 'perfect'. If anybody's religion is perfect, he also is perfect, for a person's perfection is gauged by the perfection of his religion.10 Whoever, on the other hand, is defective in religion, suffers some loss in it on account of which he is liable to be punished.