Judged by Actions - part 2
Archived under Tazkiyyah .
In the previous instalment, I briefly mentioned the reaction of the companions of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) to aayah 284 of soorah al-Baqarah:
To Allâh belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and whether you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allâh will call you to account for it.Mashaa`Allaah, there have been some beneficial additions to the first instalment in the comments section (at the end of the original entry).
As mentioned by brother Hassan, Allaah will not bring to to account for that which is in our hearts, however, if it materialises into action, we shall most definitely be brought to account for this as illustrated below.
Ibn Abbas narrated the Prophet (was) narrating about his Lord and, "Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write). If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed (in his account with Him); and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times to many more times: and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him, and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed (in his account)." [Saheeh Muslim]
Furthermore, when the companions had come to accept this aayaah, Allaah abrogated the aayah and revealed the next two aayaat which reflected that which the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) had commanded them:
The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) "We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers ـ and they say, "We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all)."
Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people.")
From the many points of benefit in these aayaat, a few are:
1. Allaah, the Most-Merciful and Wise, abrogated aayaah 284 which he had sent as a test for the believers - a test to their faith. It is not that He didn't know what the reactions of the people would be, rather, He revealed the aayaah for them to submit by saying 'we hear and we obey'.
2. Allaah informs us that He shall not burden a soul beyond it's scope - therefore we know by this that being called to account for that which occurs in the heart is a burden greater than mankind would be able to bear since that which is in the heart is often hard to control.
3. We are given a reminder which should always remain in our heads: all that which is present in the Qur`aan and Sunnah should be adhered to - although for some it may be difficult, we submit to that which has been legislated and simply say "we hear and we obey".
4. The du'aa which is mentioned in the last aayah should be learnt, memorised and engrained into our beings:
"Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
May Allaah grant open our hearts to the truth, guide us, forgive us and overlook our many shortcomings, aameen.
All goodness is from Allaah and any errors or mistakes are from myself and the accursed shaytaan.
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Wa 'alaikumus-salaam.
Jazaakillaahu khairaa. I didn't realise that when I posted part two, it overtook part one due to them having the same file name! It's all sorted now, mashaa`Allaah.
~ Umm Junayd.
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as salaamu `alaykum...
I like this piece... but have trouble accessing Part 1.