THE REWARD FOR ONE’S DEEDS

Out of His Affection, Allah Has bestowed upon man the following assets: wisdom and conscience; self and nature; spirit and heart; prophethood and imamate; velayat and honor; khelafat and guidance; knowledge and insight; body and soul; the earth and the sky; the sea and the desert; the air and the mountains; the mines and resources; clothing, foods and drinks and the like. Then man is asked to appreciate these blessings and spend each in its right place till he gets prosperity both here and in the hereafter. Those who spend God’s assets and abundance in the right manner and who spend their time worshipping Allah will definitely receive their rewards in the Hereafter. But those who do not appreciate God’s assets and spend their time being engaged in sins will meet Allah’s chastisement. These two approaches of Allah in treating us in the other world is His pure justice.

We human-beings should pay attention to the following important issues concerning Allah’s abundance:

1) God’s complete favors;

2) The amount of God’s favors;

3) The appreciation of God’s favors; and

4) The change of God’s favors.

1) God, the Almighty, has provided man with favors which are complete in nature. There is not any left out part to this favor. Regarding this, the Holy Quran says:

أَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً وَمِنْ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُنِيرٍ.

“And made complete to you His favors outwardly and inwardly. And among men is he who disputes in respect of Allah though having no knowledge, nor guidance, nor a book giving light. 31:20”

2) The amount of the God-given assets available to man is innumberable. Suppose you tried to count the human body cells. Also imagine you could count one thousand of them in one second. It will take us three hundred thousand years to count all of them! Let alone counting the assets given us by God. Regarding this, Allah says in the Holy Quran.

وَآتَاكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ

“And He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you count Allah’s favors, you will not be able to number them; most surely man is very unjust, very ungrateful. 14:34”

3) Man should ask himself who has sent these favors, whom are they sent to, and for what purpose they are sent to man. Only in this way can he recognize the Giver of these assets and may he appreciate the value of them and how to use them. In this way, then, justice will domainate over our affairs. Regarding this, the Holy Quran says:

اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِي الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ.

“(O children of Israel) call to mind My favor which I bestowed on you and be faithful to your covenant with Me, I will fulfill My covenant with you; and of Me, Me alone you should be afraid. 2:40”

4) There are a group of people who disregard the Giver of the favors and convert these favors into sins, debauchery, and blasphemy. They deserve a nasty life. In contrast, there is a second group who spend these favors in places they are ordered to. These group are among God’s best worshippers and will deserve a clean and prosperous life. Regarding those who convert God’s favors into sins, God says:

أَلَمْ تَرَى إِلَى الَّذِينَ بَدَّلُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا وَأَحَلُّوا قَوْمَهُمْ دَارَ الْبَوَارِ.

“Have you not seen those who have changed Allah’s favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition. 14:28”

And we will find in another verse:

وَمَنْ يُبَدِّلْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ.

“And whoever changes the favor of Allah after it has come to him, then surely Allah is severe in requiting evil. 2:211”

Now, observe God’s Prophet, God’s men, the Infallible Ones (s), the right-doers, the Gnostics, and the God-lovers who did not waste an atom of what they were given by God. Noah for instance, lived upto one thousand years on the earth without changing God’s favors into sins and blasphemy.

Then look at Solomon, the possessor of wealth and position, then at Joseph, the owner of wealth and Egypt’s treasures, then at Ibrahim, the great, the owner of herds of sheep, and finally look at Imam Ali (s) who possessed farms and government; these people never were ungrateful to what God had given them.

Shaqiq Balkhi told Harun: Being a governor is to be the Janitor and the door-keeper of the hell. Harun asked him: how? He answered: people have trusted you the treasury so that you may help the needy so that they would not involve in sins due to poverty and then get punished. People have given you swords to fight the God’s enemies and not to attack Moslems and destroy their cultures. They have let you carry a whip so that you force people to do right things so that the society may remain clean and safe. If you are not careful to carry out these tasks, you will end up in the hell.

Now let us observe the status of the well-wishers and wrong-doers from the view points of the Holy Quran and the narrations.

Every mature Moslem has to delve into the verses of the Holy Quran and the narrations thoughtfully and with deliberation or else he will be deprived of the benefits and advantages of these sources.

A careful observation of those verses of the Holy Quran which deal with death, the Doomsday, reward and punishment, will lead man to correct and rectify his inward and outward aspects and to help him control his organs from going astray.

The Holy Quran describes for us the quality of good death and the way the Death Angel treats us. Taking advantage of these descriptions is mandatory for all.

I will present below a glimpse of some of these aspects and will refer the reader to some volumes of the great scholar, Majlesi’s Behar.