2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

Verily, We have warned you of suffering near at hand – [suffering] on the Day when man will [clearly] see what his hands have sent ahead, and when he who has denied the truth shall say, “Oh, would that I were mere dust…! -- Q.78:40

Woe unto those who give short measure: those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full – but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they have to give to others, give less than what is due!*
-- Q.83:1-3

*This passage (verses 1-3) does not, of course, refer only to commercial dealings but touches every aspect of social relations, both practical and moral, applying to every individual’s rights and obligations no less than his physical possessions.


Prophet said

According to a Tradition quoted by Tirmizi and Ibn Hanbal on the authority of Abu Hurairah, on the Day of Judgment the earth will bear witness, as it were, to all that has ever been done by man.

“Everyone will be resurrected in the condition in which he died”. – H; Muslim. N: Jabir.

2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

[Think now of] the time when He shall gather you all together unto the Day of [Last] Gathering – that Day of Loss and Gain! -- Q.64:9

O you who have attained to faith! Ward off from yourselves and those who are close to you* that fire [of the hereafter] whose fuel is human beings and stones…. Q.66:6
*Lit., “your families” or “your people”.
A warning for the believers!

Consider these [messages] that spread the truth far and wide, and thus separating [right and wrong] with all clarity* and then giving forth a reminder, [promising] freedom from blame or [offering] a warning!**
Behold, all that you are told to expect will surely come to pass. – Q.77:3-7

*Lit., “with all separation” (furqan): Cf. 8:29 “O you who have attained to faith! If you remain conscious of God, He will endow you with a standard (furqan: faculty of moral evaluation) by which to discern the true from false,”
** I.e., showing what leads to freedom from blame – in other words the right conduct – and what is ethically reprehensible and, therefore, to be avoided.

Did We not destroy [so many of] those [sinners] of olden days? And shall let them be followed by those of later times:* -- 77: 16,17
*The use of the conjunction thumma – which in this case has been rendered as “And”-- implies that suffering in the hereafter is bound to befall the sinners of later times (al-akhirun) even if God, in His unfathomable wisdom, wills to spare them in this world.


Prophet said

“…he whose account will be strictly taken will be ruined” – H: Baihaqi and Muslim. N: Bibi Ayesha.

2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

Now as for those who indulge in sinful doings – do they think that We place them, both in their life and their death, on an equal footing with those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds?* … Q.45:21
*The meaning is twofold: “that We consider them to be equal to those who …”, etc., and “that We shall deal with them in the same manner as We deal with those who…”, etc. The reference to the intrinsic difference between these two categories with regard to “their life and their death” points not only to the moral quality of their worldly existence, but also, on the one hand, to the inner peace and tranquility with which a true believer faces life’s tribulations and the moment of death, and on the other, to the nagging anxiety which so often accompanies spiritual nihilism, and the “fear of the unknown” at the time of dying.


Who is it that will offer up unto God a goodly loan, which He will amply repay?*
For such [as do so] shall have a noble reward on the Day when thou will see all believing men and believing women, with their light spreading rapidly before them and on their right, [and with this welcome awaiting them:] “A glad tiding for you today: gardens through running waters flow, therein to abide! This, this is the triumph supreme!”
On that Day shall the hypocrites, both men and women** speak [thus] unto those who have attained to faith: “Wait for us! Let us have a [ray of] light from your light!” [But] they will be told: “Turn back, and seek a light [of your own]!*** … Q.57:11-13
* Identical phrase has been used in 2:245. In the present instance the meaning is apparently much wider, applying to all that man may do selflessly, for the sake of God alone. Whereas in 2:245 it is parabolically connected with the subsequent call to the faithful to be ready to lay down their lives in God’s cause: an illustration of the fact that fear of physical death leads to the moral death of nations and communities, just as their regeneration (or “coming back to life”) depends on their regaining their moral status through overcoming the fear of death.

**Meant here are, apparently, not only outright “hypocrites, but also people who, being shaky in their beliefs and uncertain in their moral convictions, are inclined to deceive themselves.

***I.e., “you should have sought light while you lived on earth”.


Prophet said

“O God! I declare sinful any failure to safeguard the rights of two weak ones, namely, orphans and women”. – H: Nisai. N: Abu Shuraih Khuwalidi Ibn Amr Khuza’i.

2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

Every human being is bound to taste death: but only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full [for whatever you have done on earth] – whereupon he that shall be drawn away from the fire and brought into the paradise will indeed have gained a triumph: for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion -- Q.3:185

But he who commits a fault or a sin and then throws the blame therefor on another innocent person burdens himself with the guilt of calumny and [yet another] flagrant sin. --Q.4:112

Now whoever surrenders his whole being unto God, and is doer of good withal, has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing: for with God rests the final outcome of all events. -- Q.31:22
*All forms of verb “aslama” occurring in the Quran, and terms muslim and Islam, repeated in the Quran several times, are translated in accordance with their original connotations, namely, “one who surrenders [or “has surrendered”] himself to God”, and “man’s self-surrender to God”. It should be borne in mind that the “institutionalized” use of these terms – that is their exclusive application to the followers of the Prophet Muhammad – represents a definitely post-Quranic development and, hence, must be avoided in the translation of the Quran.


Prophet said

“Wealth does not (necessarily) cause evil… Whoever acquires it lawfully and spends it lawfully, how excellent is his labour….” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Sayeed.

2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

…and most certainly shall We grant unto such as these [i.e., the believers who do righteous deeds] their reward in accordance with the best that they ever did. - Q.16: 97

…and [on that Day] undone shall be he who bears [a burden of] evildoing -- Q.20: 111

As for that [happy] life in the hereafter, We grant it only to those who do not seek to exalt themselves on earth, not spreading corruption: for future belongs to the God- conscious * -- Q.28: 83
*This last clause makes it clear that, in order to have spiritual value, man’s ‘not seeking’ worldly grandeur or self indulgence in things depraved must have an outcome, not of indifference or of a lack of opportunity, but solely of a conscious moral choice.

Would We treat the God-conscious in the same manner as the wicked? * -- Q38: 28
*By implication, belief in resurrection, judgment and life after death is postulated in this passage (verses 27--28) as a logical corollary – almost a premise – of all belief in God: for, since we see that many righteous people suffer all manner of misery and deprivations in this world, while, on the other hand many of the wicked and depraved enjoy their lives in peace and affluence, we must either assume that (God forbid) He does not exist (because the concept of injustice is incompatible with that of Godhead), or – alternatively – that there is a hereafter in which both the righteous and the unrighteous will harvest in full what they had morally sown during their lives on earth.


Prophet said

Bibi Ayesha reported that she heard the Holy Prophet praying: “O God! take account from me lightly”. She asked what does ‘taking account lightly’ mean? He said, “God may look at my scroll (of deeds) and forgive me. O Ayesha! he, whose account is taken strictly on that Day, will infact be ruined.” -- H: Ahmed. N: Bibi Ayesha.

2.40. THE DAY OF ACCOUNTABILITY (to be continued)

God says

About what do they [most often] ask one another? About the awesome tiding [of resurrection], on which they [so utterly] disagree* -- Q.78:1-3

*The question which preoccupies man above all others – the question as to whether there is life after death – has been variously answered throughout the ages. Belief in an undiminished survival of the human personality and consciousness, and regard death and resurrection as the twin stages of a positive act of re-creation of the entire human personality, in whatever form this may necessarily involve: and this is the Quranic view of the life to come.

Know [O men] that the life of this world is but a play and passing delight, and a beautiful show, and [the cause of] your boastful vying with one another, and [of your] greed for more and more riches and children. * -- Q.57: 20
*whereas life in itself is a positive gift of God, the potential source of all blessings, it loses this positive quality if it is indulged in recklessly, blindly and with disregard of spiritual values and considerations: in brief, if it is indulged in without any thought of the hereafter.

Most of you love the fleeting life of this world and give no thought to the life to come [and judgment Day]! -- Q.75: 20

Prophet said

“By One in whose hand is my life, if you had known what I know, you would certainly wept much and laughed little”. – H: Bukhari. N: Abu Hurairah

In view of above, it is better to take special interest in this topic for a few Fridays


Reminder to use the honorific:
After name or title of the Prophet say: “Sal-lal- lahu ‘Alaihi wa Sal-lam”;
(peace and blessings be upon him)
After the name or the title of every prophet (nabi) and apostle (rasul) say:
“ ‘Alai hissalaam” (peace be upon him or them)
After the name of their family member, as well as a companion, say:
“Radi Allahu ‘Anhu—or ‘Anha—or ‘Anhum ”
(may God be pleased with him--or her--or them)
And for others, say: “Rahmat-Allah-e-‘Alaih”
(God’s mercy be upon him)

2.39. PROMISE AND TRUST (concluded)

God says

…And be true to every promise – for, verily, [on Judgment Day] you will be called to account for every promise which you have made!* -- Q.17:34

Verily We did offer the trust [of reason and violation] to the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains:* but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up** – for, verily, he has always been prone to be most wicked, most foolish. -- Q.33:72
*Classical commentators give all kinds of laborious explanations to the term amanah (“trust”) occurring in this parable, but the most convincing of them ( mentioned in Lane 1, 102, with reference to the above verse) are “reason” or “intellect”, and the “faculty of volition”-- i.e., the ability to choose between two or more possible courses of action or modes of behaviour, and thus between good and evil.

** Sc., “and failed to measure up to the moral responsibility arising from the reason and the comparative free will with which he has been endowed” (Zamakhshari). This obviously applies to the human race as such, and not necessarily to all of its individuals.

.…and [those] who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; and who stand firm whenever they bear witness; -- Q.70: 32,33

Prophet said

3. “When a man passes an information and wants it to be kept a secret, it is a trust”– H: Tirmizi and Abu Daud. N: Jaber-b-Abdullah.

4. “Return the entrusted (article) to the one who entrusted (it), and do not betray one who betrayed you” – H: Tirmizi and Abu Daud. N: Abu Hurairah.

5. A trustworthy Muslim treasurer is one who carries out his duties honestly and issues what he is ordered to, and very happily hands it over in full to the person entitled to receive the same. Such a treasurer is like a person who himself donated something.” H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Musa Ash‘ari.
According to another Tradition, a person who hands over a thing to another person, as ordered, is also entitled to recompense of charity.