Sunday, May 3, 2020

CIRA international go after Quran; scales of the day of judgement?

In answer to the video "Sin and Salvation, Part 5 - Paradise in Islam"

No sin will be put on those scales.

Falsehood is a vanishing thing in the hereafter. There, Justice will reach its ultimate form where only the Truth in one's actions will be measured
7:8"The weighing on that day is the true. As for those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful".
This verse explains, the counter weight for each action will be a specific standard of truth. For example when one's charitable actions are weighted, their heaviness or level of worthiness in God's eyes will depend on whether these actions were performed in accordance to God's prescribed standards. Each good action will be taken into account indiscriminately among the people 99:7.

A good act from a Quranic point of view is something done to please God because it is commanded by Him directly or is in accordance with the principles of His revelation. The Quran repeatedly speaks of how any act devoid of this principle by those who willfully reject those very principles, will remain "lost" in this present world where the corresponding reward will be given. It will not be accounted for in the Hereafter where the good nature of a deed isnt what validates it in God's eyes. It must go hand in hand with something else, as will be shown later on.

This is a major Quranic theme. When all has been created with an inner truth, for a higher purpose and for an appointed term in a universe whose phenomena all testify to a higher reality 30:8,14:19,10:3-6 by Allah who is Truth in essence 22:6,62 it necessitates that everything false or based on falsehood, ie devoid of its higher purpose ultimately perishes. That reality many times manifested in this very world with the uprooting of transgressing nations altogether. That is why, as said previously, only the Truth in one's actions will be measured
7:8"The weighing on that day is the true. As for those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful".
Their deeds are therefore nullified in the Hereafter, and their good deeds, that is, those deeds in accordance with their ingrained fitra/their spiritual disposition which every human being is born with, will be restrained to this passing world
18:104"lost in this world's life"
as if they were lush vegetations that then become
18:45"dry broken into pieces which the winds scatter".
The restriction of these deeds to this passing world means they will have no value in the Hereafter because they were not done with the right perspective of building a relationship with God. Such people are described as labour-weary and exhausted on the day of resurrection 88:3. Because they had laboured a lifetime without the perspective of the hereafter in mind, they thus wake up to a gloomy situation, seeing their efforts spent for nothing. Their corresponding reward will be paid in this world, because the Quran repeatedly says that Allah never lets the good deeds remain unrewarded
42:20,46:20,17:18,11:15-16"Whoever desires this world's life and its finery, We will pay them in full their deeds therein, and they shall not be made to suffer loss in respect of them. These are they for whom there is nothing but fire in the hereafter, and what they wrought in it shall go for nothing, and vain is what they do".
This general statement covers all people, regardless of their belief or profession of faith, including Muslims who also may sometimes transgress and conduct themselves hypocritically or with a strict materialistic mindframe.

As regards the previously mentioned notion of restraining the reward of certain good deeds to this present life only, the New Testament speaks of the same principle, when it quotes Jesus in Matt6 about those who do "good" without any perspective of the Hereafter such as praying, fasting or giving to charity only to be seen by men that they will have no reward in the Hereafter and that they will be paid in full in this world only, meaning the deed will not be considered as "good" in the Hereafter
"Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full"
or as stated in the Quran
4:142,107:4-6"So woe to the praying ones, Who are unmindful of their prayers, Who do (good) to be seen".
Now to the scales of judgement day
23:102-103"Then as for him whose scales/mawazin are heavy, these are the successful. And as for him whose scales are light, these are they who shall have lost their souls, abiding in hell".
These Mawazin/scales of the day of judgement, is in the plural because it isnt the concept of a regular scale that is meant here. The plural indicates that there will be many criteria of evaluation and measurements to which the deeds will be compared, meaning that the good nature of the deed itself is not enough for it to be weighty in the spiritual realm. The Quran says many times, a good deed, even done by someone who has professed Islam, such as prayers, fasts, zakat and others can be rendered null and void in the Hereafter if not done as prescribed by God, Who does not judge actions and deeds according to their external form but on the basis of the faith and sincerity underlying them
2:264,3:117,13:22,33:19,67:2"He is the Lord who created death and life so that He may test you that which of you is better in deed".
The ultimate reality of creation is to be a test in the performance of good deeds rather than the quantity of such deeds. For instance when concluding the passage ordaining fasting upon those claiming to adhere to correct faith, it states
2:185"and exalt Allah for His having guided you, and that perhaps you might be grateful (to Him)".
The bestowal of guidance upon a fasting believer is a conclusive reality however sincerity in obedience is conditional upon the person's level of God-consciousness, hence the term "perhaps" attached to the deeper appreciation of the practice.

In many ways does the Quran explain the fact that quantity isnt what is asked from us but rather quality of deeds, including through subtle and eloquent linguistic devices. In 20:75 for example the adjective alsalihat/the good, refers to the deeds, which is rhetorically omitted to bring more focus on the adjective, in this case quality/goodness. Then the verse proceeds to negate quantity and focus on quality, from another angle. The adjective salihat should normally be in the singular feminine, to indicate plural yet the plural feminine is used. This abnormal construction was used even in preislamic literature to indicate that a lesser plural in terms of quantity is meant.

Once more, the normal grammatical rule is that a singular feminine adjective comes with an object (the deeds in this particular case) to indicate quantity but if the adjective is in the plural feminine it implies a lesser quantity. Then again towards the verse's end, the adjective alulaa/the high, describing the ranks of the successful in the Hereafter, follows the same abnormal grammatical construction in order to indicate a lesser plural. This implies that the high dwelling places are restricted, few, exclusive, yet even so, in order to achieve these exalted places one doesn't need to exert himself quantitatively but qualitatively as indicated in the first part of the verse.

That concept is exemplified in the previous verses, through the account of Pharaoh's magicians who, towards their life's end, came to believe and remained steadfast in their faith despite the promised torture. Elsewhere when it adjoins the salihat to correct faith as a prerequisite for success in the Hereafter, it precedes the word with min/of to indicate that complete accomplishment of all righteous deeds is not the intent, even acting upon a part of the prescribed deeds is enough to be counted among the successful 21:94 and God will never let go to waste even the tiniest of those deeds, done in the most secret of ways 99:7. 

It is reported that
"by his good character a man can reach the degree of the one who stands in prayer at night and the one who is thirsty from fasting in the heat of the day".
And as a matter of fact, quality inevitably leads to quantity, eagerness to re-live a spiritually fulfilling experience. 

Following with the same idea of quality over quantity in terms of deeds is the very general and unspecific injunction to do, side by side with the performance of prayer and charity, any type of good 2:110.  The overall principle in Islam in relations to reward in the afterlife is that nothing we can do in itself merits the disproportionate good that lies in store. Only by God's grace are the righteous believers rewarded with paradise. Thus the Quran and the traditions emphasize moderation in religion, as well as the quality, sincerity and constancy in doing good deeds 
"The Prophet was asked, "What deeds are loved most by Allah?" He said, "The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few." He added, 'Don't take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability".

  "The Prophet said, "Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and receive good news because one's good deeds will not make him enter Paradise." They asked, "Even you, O Allah's Messenger?" He said, "Even I, unless and until Allah bestows His pardon and Mercy on me".

The balance, just like the books of deeds, the witnessing entities that will be brought forth whether external or within our own selves, are only tools serving the purpose of articulating the truth of one's deeds in such a way that it will inevitably lead to self conviction. They are some of the aspects of God's perfect court of justice
5:109,4:166,6:19,10:28-29,17:13-14,21:47"And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, (yet) will We bring it, and sufficient are We to take account"  
25:58"and Sufficient is He as being aware of the faults of His servants".
This new world, besides obeying to different natural laws, will obey to a different system that shall define success in it. Its "currency" will be the good deeds done in the former life, and carried to the next life by correct faith, hence the necessity to keep both worlds in view
2:200-201"For, of men there is he who says, "Our Lord! give us in this world", and for him there shall be no portion in the Hereafter. And among them there is he who says, Our Lord! give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter and save us from the chastisement of the Fire". They shall have (their) portion of what they have earned; and Allah is quick in reckoning".

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