The Aryas believe that Permeshwar has created no soul and that all souls are eternal and uncreated. They also hold that man cannot attain eternal salvation, that after having been accommodated in the house of salvation for a period he is expelled therefrom and is returned once more to the earth. Both these doctrines are open to objection. The first one negatives the Unity of God Almighty, and indeed His very Godhood altogether. The second doctrine bears harshly upon a faithful servant of God.

If all souls and all the particles of matter are deemed to be eternal and uncreated such a notion would generate many evils. For instance, in such case the very existence of God would become doubtful. If all souls and all particles are self-existing there would be no need for a creator merely for the purpose of bringing them together. An atheist can object that if everything is self-existing and uncreated what need is there for a Permeshwar for the mere purpose of putting them together.

Another evil that would be generated by such a doctrine would be that it would deprive God of His very Godhood. Those who have knowledge of psychology and of the properties of the souls well understand that the wonderful properties with which the souls are invested are not created merely by bringing them together with the particles of matter. For instance, the souls possesses a faculty whereby they can, through proper striving, gain knowledge of hidden things; so also they possess a faculty of reasoning by the exercise of which they can gain knowledge of intellectual matters; and they also possess the faculty of love by virtue of which they incline towards God. If all these faculties were to be deemed to exist without any creator this would be a grave affront to Permeshwar, as it would mean that the great and the high is self-existing and that the lowly and the inferior was left to be created by Permeshwar. It would have to be acknowledged that the self-existing wonderful faculties and qualities of the soul are far superior to the works of Permeshwar, so much so that Permeshwar himself is astonished at them. Thus this doctrine would seriously damage the God- hood of the God of the Aryas so that His existence would make no difference, and no argument would be available for upholding His existence. Moreover, He would cease to be the Source of all grace. His function would only be a lowly one, and with regard to all the high wonderful performances of the souls it would have to be acknowledged that they are self-existent. Every sensible person would realize that if such is the reality, then even if the existence of Permeshwar is acknowledged He would be a weak and useless entity, the existence or non- existence of which would be equal, so much so that even if He were supposed to die it would not detract anything from the souls. Nor would any soul be bound to worship Him as every soul can retort: As you have not created me, nor is it you who have invested me with my faculties and powers and capacities, then by what right can you demand that I should worship you? Besides, as Permeshwar is not the creator of souls He cannot comprehend them and thus there would be a veil between Permeshwar and souls, and Permeshwar would not have full knowledge and full power over the unseen, and as He would not have full power His Godhood would be upset and He would cease to exist.

It is obvious that full and perfect knowledge of something imports the power of fashioning that thing. That is why the philosophers have said that perfect knowledge becomes perfect action. So the question naturally arises, has Permeshwar full knowledge of the qualities and properties of souls? If He has full and perfect knowledge of all this then how is it that despite such knowledge He is not able to create similar souls? This would mean not only that Permeshwar has not the power to create souls but also that He has not full knowledge about them (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984) (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 9I- 93).

The Vedas of the Aryas put forward a concept of God which is bound to repel a seeker after truth. The Aryas do not hold their Permeshwar as the source of his own kingdom but conceive that he has been given his kingdom by chance or good luck; that is to say, that by good luck he found a number of souls and particles and he compounded a world out of them. It is possible that there may be another store of souls and particles hidden somewhere of which Permeshwar has yet no knowledge. Is this a doctrine which is consistent with the Majesty, Power and Greatness of Allah, the Glorious? God Almighty is the Perfect Being Who is the Source of all grace, and the Fountainhead of all lights, and the Sustainer of all things, and Who comprises all excellences, and is comprehensive of all good qualities, and is entirely free from all weaknesses and defects and dependence upon anything else. Reflection would show that by subscribing to the doctrine that souls and bodies are uncreated and self-existent all perfect Divine attributes would be abolished and nothing would survive of Godhood. A person of average intelligence can comprehend that the Unity of God Almighty means that His Being alone is the reality, and that everything else has proceeded from Him, and subsists only through Him, and arrives at its perfection only by His grace. But alas, the theology of the Aryas teaches the contrary. Their books are full of their false claims that they themselves are also eternal and uncreated like Permeshwar and have a resemblance to Him and are their own gods. They do not reflect that if they are eternal and self-existent and self-created, then resembling God in these respects, how did they agree to submit to Him and who intervened to bring about this relationship between them?

Even a boy can comprehend that if souls and bodies are eternal and self-existent, and are their own gods, Permeshwar cannot claim that He is their Lord and Creator. If they have not come into existence by the hand of Permeshwar how can He be their Lord and Master? For instance, if a child were to drop full-fledged from the sky, or should be born automatically from the earth, no woman would be entitled to claim it as her child. Her child can only be the one who is born of her womb. Thus he alone belongs to God who is brought into being by Him, and he who does not come into being in that manner can in no wise be His. No righteous and decent person takes possession of that which is not his, then how did the Permeshwar of the Aryas take possession of that to which He had no right? How hateful and inconsistent with truth is the doctrine which deprives the Lord and Master of the universe of His creation and bereaves Him of the true reality of Godhood (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 96 98).

Some Arya Samajists seek to support the notion of the souls being uncreated and their own gods with the argument that if souls were not existent at one time and came into existence by being created by God Almighty, this would mean creation out of non-existence and creation out of nothing is so incomprehensible a phenomenon that no sensible person can accept it. I would point out that people afflicted with false and defective reason do not believe even in God Almighty Himself, but a person possessing sane reason who believes in God is bound to believe in all His attributes which are the basis of His Godhead. He who believes in the essential attributes of God Almighty, that He is All-Powerful Whose power is subject to no limitation, will not dare to seek to measure His Power with his own defective reason and will not impose any limitation upon the powers of the Infinite God. Moreover, when a wise person perceives that God Almighty is in His Being comprehensive of the greatest wonders and is exalted beyond imagination, Who sees without eyes, hears without ears, speaks without a tongue, and without the help of builders, labourers, carpenters, instruments of architecture, and stores of bricks and stones, etc., can create heaven and earth in one moment by His mere design and order, he would have no hesitation in believing that such an All-Powerful God can create out of nothing. That is Godhood and that is why He is called Almighty, All-Powerful and Master of unlimited capacities.

If His works were to be dependent, like the works of man, upon means and resources and time, then what would be His Godhood and how would it operate? Are not all His works beyond the reach of reason? Are not His wonders such that human reason falls short of them? Then what kind of stupidity is it to take exception to that which is the basis and reality of His Godhood.

What kind of Permeshwar would He be Who should command that which He designs; 'Be'; and nothing should happen. God is the name of that Possessor of wonderful powers whose design accomplishes everything. When He commands that which He designs; 'Be'; it comes into being at once by virtue of His perfect Power. It is a most subtle mystery that the entire creation is the Word of God. When the Christians out of their stupidity began to affirm that Jesus was a Word of God, that is to say his soul was a Divine Word which had taken the shape of his soul, God Almighty affirmed the truth that there is no soul that is not the Word of God and has not come into being by the mere command of God. This is indicated by: Tell them: The soul has been created by the command of my Lord ( 17: 86) . That the Word of God became manifest in the shape of souls and other creation is a subtle Divine mystery which no human reason can penetrate. It has been revealed by the Divine Light of God's Holy Word. If it is not believed that God Almighty manifests souls and bodies by His Word and command it would have to be acknowledged that unless souls and bodies become available from outside, Permeshwar can do nothing. But can Permeshwar be such a bankrupt and empty handed being, the whole of whose godhood is dependent upon a chance occurrence? If such is Permeshwar all hope is vain and it would be a source of danger to rely on him (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 115--117) .

The Holy Quran affirms that souls are not self-existent and uncreated. They are created through a special relationship between two sperm drops, and in the case of the smaller insects through only one type of matter. This is the truth which is confirmed by observation and which brooks no contradiction. It is folly to deny perceptible realities. When we say that the soul comes into being out of nothing it does not mean that before its coming into being it was nothing. It means that there was no pre-existing matter out of which man could extract the soul by his own power, and that Divine power and wisdom alone produce the soul out of some matter. This is why when the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was asked: What is the soul? he was commanded by God: Tell them: The soul has been created by the command of my Lord; and you have been granted but little knowledge concerning it (17: 86); that is to say, the creation of the soul is a mystery of creation of which you have little knowledge, meaning that your knowledge is confined only to the birth of the soul; as we observe that insects, etc., come into being under our observation from some matter.

The birth of the human soul takes place under a Divine law whereby when a framework is prepared gradually from the relationship established between two sperm drops, then, as by the mixture of certain medicines a certain quality is generated in the compound which the elements thereof did not individually possess, in the same way a special quality is generated in the framework which is compounded of blood and sperm drops and it takes on the colour of a type of phosphorous. When the breeze of the Divine manifestation blows upon it under the command: Be; it suddenly flares up and spreads its effect into all parts of the framework. Thereby the embryo comes alive. This very thing which blazes up within the embryo by Divine manifestation is the soul and the same is the word of God. This process is described as the command of God because the faculty of the pregnant mother, which creates all the limbs of the embryo by the command of God and weaves its framework like the net of the spider, has no concern with the soul which is created by a special Divine manifestation. Though the phosphorous out of which the soul takes birth is produced by the framework, the spiritual spark which is called the soul cannot be born without the touch of the heavenly breeze. This is the true knowledge that the Holy Quran has furnished to us. It is beyond the reach of the reason of the philosophers (Chashma Maarfat, pp. I50-I52).

The whole basis of salvation is the personal love of God Almighty, which is the name of the love generated by God Almighty in the very nature of the human soul. If the soul is not the creation of Permeshwar how can it have natural love for Him? When and by what means did Permeshwar place His love with His own hand in the nature of the soul? But that is not possible, for natural love means the love which is inherent in the nature of the soul and is not added afterwards. This is indicated in the Holy Quran, where it is said that God enquired from the human souls: Am I not your Lord? and they responded: Indeed, yes (7:173). This means that the human soul bears inherent testimony that God is its Creator. Thus the soul naturally loves its Creator as it has been created by Him. This is also indicated in another verse where it is said: The nature of God according to which man was created (30: 31), that is to say, the seeking of God by the soul and its finding no complete satisfaction in anything else is part of human nature. In other words, God has invested the human soul with the yearning that it can find no comfort or serenity except in its meeting with God. Thus if the human soul is invested with this desire it must be acknowledged that the soul is the creation of God Who has invested it with this desire. It is a verity that the human soul is so invested, which proves it is truly the creation of God (Chashma Masihi, pp. 39-40)

The Holy Quran has set forth many conclusive reasons in support of the verity that souls are the creation of God. We set out briefly a few of them by way of illustration.

1. It is obvious that all souls are at all times subordinate to and subject to the command of God Almighty, and there is no other cause for such subordination except that they are the creation of God.

2. It is also obvious that all souls are limited in their capacities and powers, as is proved by the diversity of the spiritual conditions and capacities of sections of mankind. This limitation must be imposed by a Limitor, which proves that souls are created.

3. It needs no argument to establish that all souls are, for the purpose of their perfection and survival, dependent upon and in need of a Being who should be Perfect, All-Powerful, All-Knowing and an absolute Benefactor. This proves that they are created.

4. A moment's reflection would show that our souls comprise briefly all the wisdom and the creative skill that are demonstrated in the heavenly and the earthly bodies, that is why the universe on account of its diverse elements is known as the macrocosm and man is called a microcosm. Thus when the universe, on account of its wonderful qualities, is accounted the work of a Wise Creator, how would that not be the creation of God which on account of its personal wonders is a reflection of the whole universe and comprises within itself the wonderful qualities of all the units of the universe and illustrates the consummate wisdom of God Almighty? That which is a manifestation of all the wonders of Divine attributes cannot be outside God's creation. Indeed it bears the seal of creation more than anything else and is a greater proof of the existence of the Creator. This is not only a theoretical proof of the soul being created but is a bright verity. Moreover, other things have no consciousness of their being created but souls are by their very nature conscious of having been created. Even the soul of a savage cannot reconcile itself to being self-existent. This is indicated by the verse which says that God enquired from the souls: Am I not your Lord? that is to say, your Creator, and they responded: Indeed, yes (7: I73). This dialogue indicates the natural relationship between the Creator and His creation, the proof of which is inherent in the nature of souls.

5. As a child partakes somewhat of the features and character of his parents, in the same way souls, which have proceeded from the hand of God Almighty, partake somewhat of the character and qualities of their Creator. Though in cases in which the darkness and heedlessness of being created prevails over some souls the Divine colour appears somewhat faded, yet it cannot be denied that every soul possesses that colour to some degree. In some cases that colour appears unattractive on account of misuse, but that is not the fault of the colour, it is the fault of the use to which it is put. None of man's faculties or powers is evil. It is misuse that makes them appear evil. Every faculty employed on its proper occasion is wholly good and beneficent, and in truth all the faculties that are bestowed on man are a reflection of Divine powers. As a son exhibits some features of his father, in the same way our souls reflect the features and qualities of Divinity which are easily recognized by those who possess comprehension. As a son has natural love for his father we, who are from God, have natural love for Him. If our souls had not a natural relationship with God those who seek Him would have had no means of reaching Him (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 119- 121).

The Holy Quran states that God enquired from souls: Am I not your Creator? and they responded: Indeed, yes (7: 173). This means that souls naturally affirm the existence of a Creator, though some people falling in the darkness of heedlessness and being influenced by wrong teachings become atheists or Aryas and deny their Creator contrary to their nature. It is obvious that everyone loves his parents, so much so that some children suffer death in consequence of the death of their mother. Then if souls are not God's creation who has invested them with natural love for God, how is it that when a person achieves full consciousness his heart is drawn to God and his bosom is flooded with the love of God? There must be some relationship between God and souls which makes them fall madly in love with God. They become so devoted to God that they are ready to sacrifice everything for His sake. It is truly a wonderful relationship which is far above one's relationship with father and mother. If souls are self-existent, as is alleged by the Aryas, then how has this relationship been established and who has invested souls with the faculty of love for and devotion to God? This is worthy of reflection and is the key to true comprehension (Chashma Maarifat, pp. 158--159).

As God has called man to Himself, He has invested him in advance with faculties suited to worship and love. These faculties that are bestowed by God hear His voice. As God desired that man should develop comprehension of God, He invested the human soul with the faculty of comprehension in advance, for if it had not been so man would have lacked comprehension of God. Whatever the human soul possesses is from God and is a reflection of Divine qualities. No one of those qualities is evil, their misuse makes them evil. Someone may object that man suffers from evil qualities like envy or rancour, etc., which cannot be bestowed by God. The truth is, as we have already stated, that all human qualities are a reflection of Divine qualities, as the human soul is from God, but excess or misuse gives them a repulsive appearance in men. For instance, envy is a repulsive quality whereby a person desires that another may be deprived of a bounty and it might be bestowed upon him, but at bottom envy means only that a man does not desire that another one should be his partner in any excellence that he has acquired. In its essence this is a Divine quality by virtue of which God is One without associate. The misuse of this quality makes it repulsive; for it is not evil for a person to wish to outstrip all others in virtue and to desire to achieve spiritual uniqueness (Naseeme Dawaat, pp. 27-28).

It may be said that if the soul is created it would follow that it is mortal in the sense that a condition in which something is bereft of its qualities may be described as death. When a medicine loses all its effect it may be described as dead. In certain circumstances the soul is bereft of its qualities and undergoes even greater changes than the body. At such times it can be said that it has died, inasmuch as when anything gives up all its essential qualities it is described as dead. That is why in the Holy Quran only those human souls have been described as being alive after their departure from this life which retain those essential qualities which are the purpose of their creation, that is to say, perfect love of and perfect obedience to God Almighty which is the life of the soul.

When a soul departs this life full of the love of God and having devoted itself to Him, it is alive and all other souls are dead. A soul bereaved of its qualities is dead. During sleep both the body and the soul die, that is to say, they are bereft of the qualities that they possess during wakefulness and suffer a sort of death, inasmuch as anything that is bereft of its qualities cannot be described as being alive. Death does not only mean non-existence; being bereft of essential qualities is also a sort of death. For instance, when a body dies its material still survives. In the same way the death of the soul means that it has been bereft of its qualities, as happens during sleep, when both the body and the soul are bereft of the qualities that they possess during waking hours. For instance, the soul of a living person meets a dead person in a dream and does not know that that person had died. It forgets this life altogether as it sinks into sleep, and discarding its garment of life puts on a new garment forgetting all its knowledge and all its memories of the world except that much as God may keep alive. It suspends all its activities and truly arrives before God. All its movements and words and emotions pass under the control of God Almighty. It loses all choice and it cannot be said that anything that it does or says or hears in a dream is by its own choice. It exhibits all the signs of death. During sleep the soul suffers an even greater death than does the body. If people were to reflect upon their condition during sleep they would realize that if the soul had been exempt from death it would have continued to enjoy that exemption in sleep also. Our condition during sleep is a mirror for the purpose of our comprehension of our condition in death. He who seeks true comprehension of the soul should reflect deeply on his condition during sleep. Every mystery of death can be resolved through one's experiences during sleep. If you will reflect deeply on the mysteries of sleep and dreams and will contemplate how the soul suffers a sort of death during sleep when it is bereft of its knowledge and qualities, you will realize that death has a great resemblance to sleep. Thus it is not true that after its separation from the body the soul continues in the condition which it enjoyed in this life. Under God's command it suffers the same kind of death which it had experienced in sleep, only that condition is intenser than its condition in sleep and every one of its qualities is reduced to nothing. That is the death of the soul. Thereafter those alone are revived who used to work for life. No soul possesses the capacity to continue alive on its own. Have you the capacity to control your qualities and circumstances and knowledge during sleep as you are capable of doing in your waking hours? As soon as you sink into sleep your soul undergoes a change and suffers a type of non-existence whereby God Almighty has said about the soul in the Holy Quran: Allah takes charge of souls at the time of death, and of those not yet dead, during their sleep. Then He retains those in respect of which He has decreed death, and sends back the others for an appointed term. In that surely are signs for a people who reflect (39:43). This means that at the time of death the souls pass wholly under the control of God and lose all choice and self- consciousness. That is to say, they are deprived of the qualities of life and become as if they were non-existent. Such of them as do not die in fact, but pass into a condition resembling death in a state of sleep, also pass under the control of God Almighty and undergo a change in which they lose all worldly consciousness and feeling. Thus, both in death and during sleep, God takes possession of the soul in such manner that it loses all choice and consciousness which are the signs of life. Then such souls upon whom death has in fact been imposed are retained by God, so that they cannot return to the world, and He restores to the world those souls upon whom death is not imposed. In this phenomenon there are signs for those who reflect. This verse shows that the soul undergoes death as well as the body. But the Holy Quran indicates that the souls of the righteous are revived within a short period after death and are bestowed a second life of comfort and ease and delight. That is the life for the achievement of which the righteous servants of God approach Him with the utmost sincerity and put forth all their effort in order to emerge from the darkness of their egos and adopt a hard mode of life in the search of God's pleasure, so much so that this condition resembles death. As the verse cited above indicates, there is a death for the soul as there is for the body, though the hidden circumstances of that state do not become manifest in this dark world. Yet the state of dreams is an illustration of that state which resembles the state of death of the soul in this world. It is our experience that as soon as we sink into sleep all the qualities of our soul are upset and we forget our waking hours and our spiritual qualities, and all the knowledge that our soul possesses becomes non-existent. We experience such scenes in our dreams as show that our soul has lost all the qualities that it possessed in wakefulness and has become something very different. This condition resembles death and is indeed a sort of death. This shows conclusively that the death which is imposed upon the soul with the death of the body resembles the death which the soul experiences in sleep but is very much heavier (Chashma Maarifat, pp. 152--156).

The doctrine which the Quran teaches is that as God has created the soul He also has power to make it non-existent, and that the human soul is bestowed immortality by the bounty and grace of God, and not on account of any inherent quality of its own. That is why those who develop the utmost love for God and obey Him absolutely and prostrate them- selves at His threshold in full sincerity and devotion are specially bestowed a perfect life; their natural senses are sharpened and their natures are invested with a light whereby they experience an extraordinary upsurge of spirituality and all the spiritual powers that they possessed in this world are vastly expanded after death. Moreover, on account of their God-given relationship with Him, they are exalted to heaven which exaltation in the idiom of the law of Islam is designated rafa. But those who do not believe, and have not a relationship with God, are not bestowed such life nor are they invested with these qualities. They are like the dead. Therefore, had God Almighty not been the creator of souls He could not have exhibited this distinction between believer and non-believer through His powerful control (Chashma Masihi, p. 53, footnote).

QUESTION: The Mirza Sahib and all Muslims believe, and the Quran affirms, that when Muhammad was asked about the souls he could not tell them anything and received the revelation: Tell them, the soul is God's command. Thus the Muslims could not have gathered anything from this reply, nor was even their guide enlightened about the soul. What response was furnished by God in the affirmation that the soul is a command of the Lord? Are not all other things also the command of the Lord?

ANSWER: How long shall I continue to correct your mistakes? From whom have you heard that the Muslims believe that the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was not bestowed by God Almighty any knowledge about the soul, and where have you read in the Holy Quran that he was unaware of anything concerning the soul? I realize that you have, on account of your defective intelligence, been misled in your interpretation of the following verse of the Holy Quran: They (the disbelievers) enquire from thee about the soul. Tell them: The soul is by the command of my Lord and you (the disbelievers) have been bestowed but little knowledge about the soul and divine mysteries (17:86). You have on account of your lack of intelligence fallen into the error of thinking that it was the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, who was told that he had little knowledge about the soul. The context and the use of the plural pronoun make it clear that this admonition was addressed to the disbelievers.... The fact is that a company of the disbelievers enquired from the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, about the soul. This company of disbelievers was told that the soul is by the command of Allah, that is to say, it is a word of Allah or a reflection of it which, through the wisdom and power of God manifests itself as the soul. It does not partake of Godhood but is created and is a servant of God. This is a subtle secret of Divine power of which you disbelievers have only a little perception, on account of which you are invited to have faith and to exercise your understanding.... The statement that the soul is by the command of the Lord comprises a grand verity to which, in your haste, you have taken objection. The explanation of it is that the providence of God brings that which is non-existent into existence in two ways, and that which is brought into existence is designated differently according to the way whereby it is created. When God Almighty creates some- thing out of non-existence such creation is called Amr (command) in the idiom of the Quran, and that which is produced out of a previous form of existence is named Khalq (creation) . In other words the creation of an element out of non-existence is Amr and the production of a compound out of some previous form or shape is Khalq, as it is said in the Holy Quran: Harken! to Him belong Khalq and Amr (7: 55) that is to say, the creation of elements out of non- existence and the manifestation of compounds both belong to God and are created by Him. Observe, therefore, how succinctly the Holy Quran has expounded a high and excellent verity within a brief verse. In contrast, the more you reflect on the doctrine of the Vedas the more you will feel embarrassed (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 123-129).

I tell you truly, without the least exaggeration, that the Holy Quran has expounded the qualities, faculties, powers, capacities and other wonderful particulars of the soul in such a true, clear, fine and excellent manner, and has furnished proofs of these, that it constitutes a high and fine statement, so full of wisdom comprising perfect verities that if all the four rishis who compiled the Vedas were to be born again and were to exert their thinking and reflection to the utmost they would not be able to achieve that degree of vastness of knowledge and high insights even if they expired in the effort (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), p. 86).

The Holy Quran has made detailed mention of the many qualities, wonderful powers and capacities of souls of which we set out a few by way of illustration:

(1) The faculty of eagerness to acquire knowledge and insight.
(2) The faculty of acquiring knowledge.
(3) The faculty of safeguarding knowledge that has been acquired.
(4) The faculty of the love of God.
(5) The faculty of deriving delight from a meeting with the Divine.
(6) The faculty of seeing visions.
(7) The faculty of influencing and being influenced.
(8) The faculty of establishing relationship with bodies.
(9) The faculty of acquiring divine qualities.
(10) The faculty of receiving revelation.
(11) The faculty of expansive and constricted moods.
(12) The faculty of acquiring unlimited comprehension.
(13) The faculty of taking on the colour of the manifestation of the Divine.
(14) The faculty of reason whereby to distinguish between beauty and imperfection.
(15) The faculty of receiving impressions and being influenced by them in contrast with the bodies to which they are related.
(16) The faculty of acknowledging the existence of the True Creator.
(17) The faculty of manifesting new qualities in combination with bodies and their special shapes.
(18) The faculty of mutual attraction which might be designated magnetic power.
(19) The faculty of immortality.
(20) The faculty of maintaining a special relationship with the particles of the departed body which is manifested to those who have experience of visions.

There are many other faculties of souls which are set out in detail in the Holy Quran in a delightful and excellent manner (Surma Chashm Arya (Qadian, 1886); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 197-199).

There is no other doctrine as false as the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, inasmuch as its basis is false. Its falsehood is established by observation; a sense of human purity condemns it; and it is the duty of every godly person to condemn it on account of its repudiation of Divine power.

Its basis is false as it is stated in the Satyarath Prakash that the soul falls like dew on some vegetable which is eaten by a woman and thus finds its way to the womb. But this involves that a soul falls in two pieces upon the earth of which, by some chance, the husband eats one and the wife eats the other; because, it is well settled that a child derives spiritual faculties and qualities from both parents and not only from one of them. Therefore, it is necessary that both should have partaken of the vegetable upon which the soul had fallen and it is not enough that only one should have partaken of it. This necessitates the division of the soul which is false. Therefore, the basis of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls is false.

Observation demonstrates its falseness as there is a large diversity of souls and it is not possible that they should all have been brought into existence like the falling of the dew. For instance, we often observe that lice abound in the hair of some people. With what vegetable are these souls swallowed? Also stores of wheat are infested with millions of insects. How do their souls descend like dew, and who swallows them? We also know that some people suffer from worms in their intestines or in their brains, and there are thousands of germs in a drop of water. By what kind of dew are they created? Experience shows that everything is infested with germs. Silk and wood and grain and fruits of different sorts are all liable to be infested with worms and insects. How are they produced?

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls also offends against purity. When a female infant is born does she bring with her a list of relationships that she is the mother or grandmother or sister of such and such person and that she should avoid marriage with them?

This doctrine also renders Permeshwar powerless. God is All- Powerful and may if He so wills invest a piece of wood with life, as was the case, for instance, with the rod of Moses which was a piece of wood at one moment and became a serpent the next. If, however, souls are self-existent the Permeshwar of the Hindus cannot maintain his status as God, inasmuch as he who exercises his godhood with the help of others would cease to be god sooner than later. The affirmation that the system of transmigration of souls, which has been in operation according to the Aryas for millions of years, results from the sins committed in a previous existence is crude, false and senseless and vain in experience. It is obvious that there is a Divine system of the birth of souls which remains constant. For instance, millions of insects appear in the rainy season and flies abound in the summer. Then are we to assume that sinfulness abounds in these seasons so that large numbers of human beings are transmuted into flies and insects on account of the multiplicity of their sins? There are thousands of other reasons by virtue of which this doctrine must be held to be false (Naseeme Dawat, pp. 75-78, footnote)

It is absolutely true that the soul is a fine light which is developed inside the body and is nurtured in the womb. In the beginning it is hidden and imperceptible, and later it is made manifest; but from the very beginning its essence is present in the sperm. It is related to the sperm in a mysterious manner by the design and command and will of God. It is a bright and illumined quality of the sperm. It cannot be said that it is a part of the sperm as matter is part of matter, nor can it be said that it comes from outside, or falls upon the earth and gets mixed with the sperm. It is latent in the sperm as fire is latent in the flint. The Word of God does not mean that the soul descends from heaven as a separate entity, or falls upon the earth from the atmosphere and then by chance gets mixed with the sperm and enters the womb with it. There is no basis for such a notion. The law of nature rejects it (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, pp. 88).

There is conclusive evidence that the male and female sperm have the capacity to generate the soul without its falling from heaven like the dew. When the two sperms unite the capacity is strengthened and grows till when the frame- work of the embryo is ready the soul is activated from the framework by the power of God Almighty. This is the creation of something from non-existence, because the soul is not anything material and yet it is generated from the same matter which grows into a framework after the union of the two sperms in the womb. It is not necessary that the soul should fall like dew on some vegetable and should be generated in this manner. The matter from which the soul is generated can be formed out of a piece of meat or fish, or from clay from the depths of the earth from which frogs and insects are generated. Undoubtedly it is a Divine mystery that He creates from the body something which has nothing of the body in it. It is clear that the soul does not fall from heaven but is a new creation which is produced from the compound sperms by the Power of God as is said in the Holy Quran: Then We develop it into a new creation; so blessed is Allah, the Best of creators (23: 15); that is to say when the human framework is ready in the womb God completes it with a new creation, meaning the soul is created out of the matter from which the framework was prepared (Chashma Maarifat, pp. 115-- 116) .

It has been proved that in three years the human body is dissolved and a new body takes its place. It is a familiar spectacle that when a person becomes very weak from illness and becomes like a mere skeleton, on his return to health gradually the body is rebuilt. Thus all the time the particles of the body are being dissolved and replaced by new particles. Thus the body suffers death every moment and obtains new life. Like the body, the soul also dies every moment and is revived. The only difference is that the changes in the body are patent and can be observed, but as the soul is hidden its changes are also hidden and are endless. The Holy Quran indicates that the changes of the soul are unlimited and will continue even in heaven. They will be indicative of progress and the souls will experience a continuous growth, each succeeding condition will be so far above the preceding condition that it would seem as if the preceding condition had died (Chashma Maarifat, pp. I59-I60).

Physical injuries disclose that there is a mysterious relationship between the soul and the body which is beyond the ken of man. Reflection shows that the body is the mother of the soul. The soul does not fall into the womb of a pregnant woman from above. It is a light that is inherent in the sperm which begins to shine forth with the development of the embryo. The Holy Word of God Almighty sets forth that the soul is generated by the framework which is prepared in the womb from the sperm, as it is said: Then We invest the embryo with a new creation which is the soul; so blessed is Allah the Best of creators (23: 15). This process is a deep mystery which points to the real nature of the soul and indicates the strong relationship that subsists between the soul and the body (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, p. 7).

QUESTION: What is the nature of the relationship between the soul and the grave?

ANSWER: Whatever has been said on this subject in the ahadees is entirely true. It is not for us to probe into its nature. All that we have to establish is that there is such a relationship and that it is not an impossibility. It is illustrated by an instance in the law of nature. God Almighty has appointed different methods for the discovery of the reality of things. Some are perceived through the eye, others through the ear and some through a combination of the senses. There are many verities which can be perceived only by the heart. Man is equipped with many faculties and each of them performs diverse functions in the service of man. A foolish philosopher seeks to discover everything through the exercise of reason, but this is a mistake. Historical events can be gathered only from history. The natural qualities of things can only be determined through correct experience. Reason is a guide only in respect of inductive matters. Thus there are diverse methods of arriving at the reality. Man is misled when he depends only on one method for the determination of diverse matters. We have experience of it every day. The departure of the soul from the body, or the relationship of the soul with the body are matters which cannot be determined by reason. Had that been possible philosophers and thinkers would not have fallen into error. Thus the relationship of the soul with the grave is a verity, but it cannot be perceived by the physical eye. It can be perceived only through the eye of vision. It cannot be perceived by mere reason, for reason cannot determine even the existence of the soul. This matter is the subject of a thousand contentions and there are thousands of atheistic philosophers who deny the existence of the soul. Had it been a matter of pure reason there should have been no difference. The function of the eye, for instance, is to see and we cannot expect that the eye of X should behold a white object and the eye of Y should determine the taste of that white object. Mere reason cannot determine for certain even the existence of the soul let alone its nature and its relationships. Philosophers acknowledge the soul as a green piece of wood and do not admit that the soul has an external existence. Whatever we know about the soul and its relation- ships is gathered from the spring of Prophethood. Some philosophers have written something about it but their knowledge is borrowed from that spring. This matter of the relationship of the souls should be viewed through the eye of visions which indicates that the soul has a relationship with that heap of clay and that the greeting: Peace be on you, dwellers of the graves; is responded to. He who uses the faculties through which the condition of the graves can be viewed can obtain knowledge of such relationship.

The faculty of seeing visions is needed for appreciating the relationship of souls with the graves. He who denies this is in error. A large number of Prophets and millions of the righteous bear witness to this relationship which cannot be denied, though the nature of that relationship may not be determined through reason. An appropriate faculty is needed for everything. If the ear cannot see, the ear is not at fault because seeing is not its function. I can affirm from personal experience that the soul has a relationship with the grave and it is possible to hold converse with the dead.

The soul also has a relationship with heaven where it is assigned a station. This is an established verity which is testified to by the Hindu scriptures also. This is a generally admitted verity except in the case of those who deny the survival of the soul. It is the faculty of seeing visions that indicates the nature of that relationship (Malfoozat, Vol. I, pp. 276-280).

The soul is not something in space. The nature of its relationships cannot be determined. After death the soul has a relationship with the grave which is revealed to those who possess the faculty of seeing visions. They can see the dwellers of the graves sitting in their graves and can hold converse with them. This is established by true ahadees. A well known hadees mentions Salat in a grave, it is also mentioned in the ahadees that the dead can hear the sound of footsteps and respond to the greeting of peace. They also have a relationship with heaven. There are different degrees of their heavenly exaltation. Some arrive at the first heaven, others reach the second or third heaven, but all righteous souls are exalted as is mentioned in true ahadees and is also indicated by the verse: For those who reject Our signs and turn away from them in disdain, the gates of heaven will not be opened (7: 41); but the nature of their relationship to heaven or to the graves cannot be determined (Al-Haq, Delhi Debate, p. 85).