Questions and Answers
The Light (Pakistan), 16th January 1923 Issue (Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 4)
Question:
After how many years will the day of Judgment (Qiyamat) come? What is its last sign? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
No one can exactly tell that, but it is quite clear that its signs, such as the appearance of the Dajjal (Antichrist) and that of the Promised Messiah, etc., have come to pass.
Question:
When will Imam Mahdi and Khar-i-Dajjal (the ass of Antichrist) come to this world, and how will people recognise them? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Imam Mahdi has already appeared in the person of the late Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and the “ass of the Antichrist” is a sort of conveyance, the description of which as given in the reports of the Holy Prophet [Muhammad (pbuh)], shows that it is the railway. For instance, we are told that it will run very swiftly, that it will be about 70 yards long, and that it will walk with the power of fire and water. Now, all these things are found in the locomotive engine and the railway.
People always recognise things by signs, and so they have recognised them in the present age.
Question:
Where is Abu Hanifa now? Is he dead? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Yes, he is dead.
Question:
Does the earth revolve round the sun or the sun round the earth? Give proof. — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
The earth goes round the sun. For further details, will you kindly consult any book on natural Geography which can be had from everywhere?
Question:
Are the stars, sun, moon, the angels of God? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Broadly speaking, angels are the divine agents, or the various properties of things; in this sense, the different functions which the moon and the sun perform can be called angels.
Question:
How does a solar or lunar eclipse happen? Explain it fully. — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Please consult any Geography [book].
Question:
Will image-worshippers go to heaven? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
No.
Question:
What religion is approved by God? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Islam. The Quran says:
اِنَّ الدِّیۡنَ عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ الۡاِسۡلَامُ ۟
“Certainly the (true) religion with Allah is Islam” (The Holy Quran, 3:19).
Question:
Define Heaven and Hell. — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
These are two different states of the soul: one of perfect happiness (Heaven), and the other of torment (Hell).
Question:
Can such a man go to paradise who does not say prayer and does not fast? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Yes, possibly. God can forgive such sins.
Question:
Does Islam allow the practice of bowing or prostrating before anyone? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
No. We must prostrate and bow down before God only.
Question:
If the Muslims stop cow sacrifice, will it do any harm to the religion? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
No harm, except the remote possibility of associating some sort of sanctity to the cow in the long run, as the Hindus have done.
It is not essential that we must sacrifice a cow.
Question:
Does Islam allow music? — Mr Abdul Hamid
Answer:
Yes. But too much of everything is bad.