Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 333
6 August 1907 333 investigations, then when will he tend to his shop? It is not permissible for everyone to investigate. It is understood from the Holy Quran that Allah the Exalted directed the Israelites to slaughter a cow. It was better to just get hold of a cow and slaughter it as that would have fulfilled the injunction. Without need, they began asking other questions like how that cow is, what is its colour, and by asking such questions, they put them- selves into further difficulty. Asking too many questions and to engage into excessive probing is not good. 1 6 August 1907 Spiritual Reward of Providing Food Reaches the Dead An individual’s question was presented: ‘Is it permissible for a person to cook food and feed others so that its spiritual reward reaches the soul of Sayyid ‘Abdul-Q a dir rta ?’ The Promised Messiah as replied: The spiritual reward of feeding others reaches the dead. It is permissible to cook food and feed others so its spiritual reward reaches the past saints; however, every matter is based upon intention. If a person sets a particular date for this kind of feed- ing and considers himself as the provider of their needs, then it is an idol; it is forbidden to take and give such kind of food and 1. Badr, vol. 6, no. 32, p. 5, dated 8 August 1907