One gentleman wrote a letter to the Promised Messiah (as) the gist of which was: [1] How to perform the obligatory Prayer? [2] What is the verdict regarding the Tarawih Prayer, and what is the rule for performing the obligatory Prayer during a journey? and [3] He also made a request for prayers for some personal matters.
In reply to this, the Promised Messiah (as) wrote:
As-Salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahe wa barakatohu. [Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.]
Prayer is that which is offered, but it should be offered with pathos and humility. And you should supplicate profusely in the obligatory Prayer for your spiritual and physical well-being, even if you do so in your own language.
I will pray for your debt, insha’Allah [God willing]. Keep reminding me. I will also pray for you to have a son.
To offer two rak’aat during travels is the Sunnah [practice of the Holy Prophet (sas)]. Tarawih is also Sunnah. Observe it, and sometimes offer it at home by yourself because Tarawih, in reality, is Tahajjud and not a new prayer. Perform the Witr prayer whichever way you do now.
A friend asked the Promised Messiah (as): ‘In the Hereafter will there be these very same bodies and houses, etc. which are here or different?’
The Promised Messiah (as) replied:
The knowledge conferred upon me by God Almighty is verily that that realm is altogether different from this world. مَا لَا عَیْنٌ رَأَتْ وَلَا أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ وَلَا خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ.2 [All objects of Paradise will be of a calibre that was neither seen by any eye nor heard by any ear, nor conceived by any mind.] (Hadith)
It is my belief that the other world is completely distinct from this world as Allah Almighty has stated in the Holy Quran. All objects of Paradise will be such, the like of which was neither seen by any eye nor heard by any ear, nor conceived by any mind. Indeed, even in [regard to] the resurrection of bodies, my belief is the very same that that world is another world. There will be bodies, but those will be bodies composed of light, not these dark and transitory bodies. The brick and stone mansions and houses of this place will not continue in Paradise. And Allah knows best.3
1 These discourses of the Promised Messiah (as), seem to be from some time in December 1907, but Allah knows best. [Publisher]
2 Sunan Ibn Majah, Kitabuz-Zuhd, Bab Sifatul-Jannah, Hadith 4328 [Publisher]
3 Badr, vol. 6, no. 52, p. 6, dated 26 December 1907