Imâm-i Rabbânî wrote this letter to his son Hadrat Khwâja Muhammad Sa’îd ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’, who was exalted in religious knowledge as well as in science. It expounds the benefits in the sending of Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’, explains that mind falls short of knowing Allâhu ta’âlâ, communicates how those unbelievers who lived in mountains or during the times of ignorance will be treated, and informs us that
to people all over the world, e.g. to ancient Indians, Prophets were sent.
Infinite gratitude be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, He gave us the honour of being Muslims. If He had not shown the right way, who on earth could find it? We believe in His Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wassalâm’. They all told the truth.
Sending Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wassalâm’ to men is the greatest favour of Allâhu ta’âlâ. What tongue is able to express thanks for this favour? What heart could comprehend the goodness in sending them? What body or limb could do anything that could convey the thanks for these favours? Had it not been for the existence of those great people, who could prove the existence of the Creator to us short-sighted people? Though the ancient Greek philosophers [and the fake scientists who have existed everywhere in every age] were clever and shrewd, they could not realise the existence of the Creator. They said, “This universe has come incidentally, and so will it go on. The living will multiply from one another, and this will go on and so forth.” The era of ignorance having ended and the
world being illuminated with the nűrs of the invitation by new Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’ the succeeding Greek philosophers were awakened by the lights of those nűrs, and refuted their masters’ words. They wrote in their books that there is one Creator, and proved that He is one. Then, unless the human mind is illuminated with the nűrs of those great people, it cannot discover this fact. Without Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattahiyyât’, our thoughts cannot approach the right way. I wonder why Abű Mansűr Mâ-turîdî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ and the great people educated by him said that mind could discern the existence and the oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ by itself? They said that those who grew up in mountains or in deserts and who worshipped idols would go to Hell even if they did not know of Prophets. They said
that those people should have realized the fact with their minds. We do not understand the matter as such. We say that unless they are informed with the fact, they will not become unbelievers. And the fact, in its turn, is communicated through Prophets. Yes, Allâhu ta’âlâ has created the mind so that it will find the right way, but it cannot find it by itself. Unless mind is informed of that way, torment is out of the question.
Question: If those who grew up in mountains and worship idols will not remain in Hell eternally, they ought to enter Paradise. Yet this is impossible, for, Paradise is harâm, prohibited
for polytheists; Hell is their place. As a matter of fact, Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the seventy-second âyat of the Sűrat-al-Mâida that Hadrat ’Îsâ ‘’alaihi’s-salâm’ said, “Those who worship beings other than Allâhu ta’âlâ and those who hold others’ words above His commandments cannot enter Paradise. Hell is the place where they will end up.” The next world does not contain a place other than Paradise and Hell. Those who stay at A’râf (limbo) will go to Paradise after a while. The place to remain eternally is either Paradise or Hell! In which one will those people stay?
Answer: It is very difficult to answer this! My dear son! You know, you asked me about this various times. An answer to soothe the heart could not be found. As a solution to this problem, the statement, “Our Prophet ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’ will invite them to Islam on the Day of Resurrection. Those who accept it will be put in Paradise, and those who refuse it will be sent to Hell,” by the author of Futűhât-i Makkiyya [Muhyiddîn-i ’Arabî], does not sound tenable to this faqîr. For, the next world is the place of rewards and accounts. It is not a place of commandments or deeds; why should the Prophet be sent there on a mission, then! After a long time, Allâhu ta’âlâ pitied me, and blessed me with a solution for this matter. I was informed that those unbelievers will not remain either in Paradise or in Hell, but, after being resurrected in the next world, they will be called to account, and will suffer as much torment as their crimes require at the place of judgement. After everyone is given his rights, they will be annihilated like all animals. They will not remain forever
at any place. If this answer of ours were said in the presence of Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’, they all would like and approve of it. He (Allâhu ta’âlâ) knows the truth of everything. With the human mind so susceptible to confusion and error even in worldly affairs, it would be very offensive, according to this faqîr, to say that our Owner, whose goodness and mercy are boundless, will burn them eternally in the fire without informing them through His Prophets only because they could not find out by using their minds. As it is out of place to say that such unbelievers will remain eternally in Hell, so it is out of place to say that they will suffer eternal torment. As a matter of fact, our second imâm in îmân, Abul-Hasan Alî Ash’arî, says that they will not enter Hell, yet this statement of his means that
they will remain in Paradise. For, there is no place other than the two. Then, the true answer is the one that has been revealed to us. That is, after their accounts are settled on the Day of Judgement
they will be annihilated. According to this faqîr, the same will be done to disbelievers’ children, for, Paradise is accessible with îmân. A person should either have îmân or, (if he is a child), should be a Muslim’s child or have remained in Dâr-ul-islâm when both of his parents became renegades; then he should be considered as having îmân. The children of those polytheists living in Dâr-ul-islâm and zimmîs’ children are like children of those disbelievers living in Dâr-ul-harb and those children that do not have îmân. They cannot enter Paradise. Remaining eternally in Hell is the retribution for disbelieving after the invitation. But the child is not liable. After being resurrected and their accounts being settled, they will be annihilated like animals. Also, those ancient people
who did not hear of any Prophet because they lived in a time when a religion had been forgotten after being defiled by the cruel a very long time after a Prophet’s death, will be annihilated in a similar procedure in the next world.
O my dear son, meditating on a broad and deep scale, I, the faqîr, conclude that the earth has no place left where our Prophet ‘alaihi wa ’alâ âlihissalâtu wassalâm’ has not been heard of. It can be seen that the entire world is shining like the sun with the nűr of his invitation. It has even reached the Ya’jűj and Ma’jűj [Gog and Magog], who are behind the wall.
In ancient times as well, there was almost no place on earth where Prophets were not sent. Even in India, which is supposed to be the most deprived in this respect, Prophets were appointed from among Indians, and through them Allah’s commands were announced. It is understood that in some parts of India the nűrs of Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wattaslîmât’ shone like stars in the darkness of unbelief. If you want to know I can give you the names of those cities. Some Prophets were not believed in by even one person; no one admitted them. There were also Prophets who were believed by only one person. And some others were believed by a few people. India has not seen a Prophet who was believed by more than three people. In other words, there was no Prophet who had an ummat of four people.
The writings about the existence and the attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ which appear in the books of some people worshipped by Hindus are all reflections of the lights of those Prophets. For, in every century every ummat was sent a Prophet who communicated Allah’s existence and attributes. Had it not been for their blessed beings, minds, which had been fouled with the filth of disbelief and sins, could not have attained the fortune of
îmân. With their invalid minds, idiots misled all people, forced people to worship them, and, [saying, “We saved you. You owe your lives to us.”] they supposed that there was no power besides them. As a matter of fact, the Egyptian pharaohs said, “If you worship anybody other than me I shall imprison you.” And others, having heard that the universe had a creator, and realizing that they could not have themselves called the creator [the eternal guide], said that one creator existed and that the creator had entered themselves, thus striving to have the people worship them by this fraud.
[It has been observed that in the religions called Brahmanism and Budhism, which are quite well spread in India today, there is highly valuable knowledge derived from the books and sayings of the Prophets who lived there in ancient times. Budhism and Brahmanism, like Christianity, are corrupted and revised versions of the correct religions communicated by ancient prophets ‘’alaihimu ’s-salâm’. They are all kâfirs (disbelievers) since they do not believe in prophethood of Muhammad ‘’alaihi ’s-salâm’. Sayyid Sherîf Jurjânî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ states as follows in the third chapter of the final part of his book Sherh-i-mawâqif: “Those who disbelieve the prophethood of Muhammad ‘alaihi’s-salam’ become kâfirs. Out of them, Jews and Christians do believe in other Prophets. [That is why these two groups are called People of the Book, that is kâfirs with a Holy Book]. Out of those who do not believe in any other prophets, Brahmins believe in Allâhu ta’âlâ. Another group who deny (the existence of) Allâhu ta’âlâ are the Dahriyya; these people assert that everything comes into existence through natural laws; they say that ‘there is no Creator. As the dahr [time] goes by, everything is transforming.’ Magians believe in two Gods, whereas mushriqs and idolaters believe in multi-Gods. Brahmins, Magians and idolaters are kâfirs without a Book, because they do not believe in a prophet and they do not read a holy book. Communists are kâfirs without a religion and without a God, and thus they are like the Dahriyya. Today, the only correct and preserved religion on earth is the Islamic religion brought by Muhammad ‘’alaihi ’s-salâm’. Allâhu ta’âlâ promised
that until the end of the world (doomsday) this religion will stay correct and intact.]
Question: If Prophets had been sent to India, we would have heard about them. Having been talked about far and wide, the fact would have spread everywhere?
Answer: They were not sent all over India. Some of them were
sent to a city, or even to a village. Choosing the best member of a nation or city, Allâhu ta’âlâ would honour him with this fortune, (that is, prophethood), and assign him the duty of informing the people about the existence and oneness of Allâhu ta’âlâ, His commandments, and the fact that nobody other than He can create anything. Yet the people belied, denied him. Saying that he was ignorant, false, crazy, they mocked him. As a result of increasing their outrage and torment on him, Allâhu ta’âlâ destroyed them. Years later He sent another Prophet in the same way, and the same thing happened again. In India many ruined cities can be seen that were thus destroyed. The true story of a Prophet having been sent and cities having been destroyed on account of his disignored invitation would
be told about among the local people, lasting as the topic of public talk for a long time. Had many people believed those Prophets and had the believers remained dominant, we would know about them. But if one person advised people for a few days and then went away without being believed by anybody, and if another one is believed by only one or two people, how could this news reach us? For, the disbelievers, resenting the suggested religion because it did not conform with their fathers’ way, would strive to extinguish the religion. Who could communicate it, and who could he tell about it? Furthermore, the words Rasűl, Nabî and Peygamber are Persian and Arabic. The Indian language did not have these words; how could those Prophets have been given these names, then? Finally, what remains for us to say is that, supposing
India also had places where no Prophets came and the right way was not shown, the people who were in those places, like those disbelievers who grew up in mountains or deserts, will not enter Hell to be tormented eternally, even if they persisted and had others to worship them. Such people entering Hell would conflict with accurate thinking, nor would unerring kashfs accept the idea. But we see that of such people a group who persisted went to Hell. Only Allâhu ta’âlâ knows the truth of everything.