Predetermination: Course in life
changed at last minute
Q504 :The last verse of the short surah entitled The
Earthquake states "that whoever does an atom's weight of good will see
it (on the day of judgment) and whoever does an atom's weight of evil
will see it then." To my mind, this suggests a fair method of
accountability, taking into consideration even the smallest of actions,
whether good or bad. However, I have recently read a Hadith which says,
that "a person may behave like the people of paradise until there is
but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written
overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of hell-fire and thus
enters it." The same thing applies in reverse, ensuring heaven for a
person who does good only at the last stage of his life, having been an
evildoer for a very long time. According to my limited knowledge, there
are only three sins which Allah does not pardon: Suicide, murder and
associating partners with Allah. Committing any of these crimes,
abrogates any other good deeds the person may have made. Other actions
are weighted and the destiny of people is determined by the result of
such balance. Could you please explain whether there are any particular
good deeds which ensure heaven in the same way as these three ensure
hell? Could you also throw some light on this whole question?
A504 : Let me correct you on your point that there
are three actions which abrogate all good deeds which ensure hell for
their perpetrator. You have named these as suicide, murder and
associating partners with Allah. This statement of yours is not
correct. Allah states in the Qur'an that the only sin or act of
disobedience which cannot be forgiven is the association of partners
with Allah. He says: "Allah does not ever forgive the association of
the partners with Him. He may forgive whomever He wills whatever else
may be committed." This means that he forgives such cardinal sins as
murder and suicide. The Prophet has explained this by relating the
story of a man who had killed 99 people. He then went to a scholar and
asked whether Allah would accept his repentance. The scholar told that
he could not see that he could ever be forgiven after having committed
all those murders. The man, then, killed the scholar and completed the
number of his victims to 100. He then went to another scholar and asked
him whether Allah would accept his repentance. This scholar told him
that there was no reason why his repentance could not be accepted. He
advised him to repent immediately and not to do any more crimes. When
the man complied, the scholar advised him to go to a particular town
which was full of good people. He would have there a good environment
which would enable him to strengthen his resolve not to disobey Allah
anymore. The man was on his way to that town when Allah caused him to
die. The Prophet then explains that the angel of paradise and the
angel of hell disputed among themselves to which party the man
belonged. The angels who are charged with administering punishment to
sinners argued that the man never did a good deed, but the others
argued that he repented and started acting on his repentance by
traveling to this city. Allah sent to them an angel who advised them to
measure the distance between the city of evildoers which the man had
left and the distance to the city of good believers to which he was
going. If he was nearer to the first, then he was still a sinner and
should be punished. If he was nearer to the city of good believers, he
should be counted among them. The Prophet then says: "When they began
to make their measurements, Allah ordered the city of evil to move away
and ordered the city of goodness to draw nearer. He was found to be
closer to it [the city of goodness] and his soul was taken by the
angels of mercy. He was forgiven." This Hadith gives a clear example
that Allah forgives all types of sins, with the exception of
associating partners with Him. Forgiveness may be granted on the day of
judgment through the intercession of the Prophet on behalf of his
followers. The Prophet says that he extends his intercession "to those
of his followers who commit cardinal sins". Let us then broaden our
minds and not give a narrow interpretation of anything that Allah has
willed to keep unrestricted. The Hadith which you have mentioned about
a change of direction in people's deeds which causes the eventual
change of destiny in the hereafter is an authentic one. It may be given
in translation as follows: "A person may do the deeds of the people of
heaven until he is only a yard or so away from it, but then his destiny
overtakes him and he does what the people of hell do and he is thrown
in it. On the other hand, a person may do what the people of hell do
until he is only a yard or so away from it, and his destiny overtakes
him and he does what the people of heaven do which ensures his
admittance into it." How can we reconcile this Hadith with the
principle of balancing people's action? The first point to make is
that, this process of balancing of the good deeds against the bad ones
benefits only the believers, because their faith ensures that they have
their good deeds credited to them. As for non-believers, their lack of
faith means that their good deeds avail them nothing. Allah does not
accept any good action unless it is founded on faith. A person who
denies Allah and associates partners with Him may do as many good deeds
as he wishes, but he will receive no credit for them, because he lacks
the very basis which ensures that he receives any reward from Allah. On
the other hand, a person who has faith always hopes for Allah's
forgiveness. We can understand from the first Hadith on the basis of
this principle. The first person who has done many good deeds betrays
himself at the end of his life and shows that he really lacks faith.
Hence, his actions do not merit any credit. Yet, he would have
benefited by them, had he moved towards the establishment of faith in
his heart. Instead, he chooses the opposite way and does something
which takes him away from the faith altogether. He condemns himself and
renders all his past good deeds worthless. His action must be of the
type which cannot be reconciled with having any degree of faith. That
is the only way to condemn him to hell-fire. As for the other person,
he moves in the diametrically opposite direction. Toward the end of his
life he realizes that he had spent all his time in error. He believes
in Allah and allows faith to establish itself within him. As you know,
when one accepts Islam and believes in Allah, all his past sins are
forgiven. He opens a new page and he is given a chance to prove
himself. Allah does not question anyone who accepts His message and
believes in Him about what he had done prior to that. Since this person
has become a true believer at the end of his life, he is assured of
being admitted into heaven.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News - Jeddah )