Good deeds and their reward
By Anayat Bukhari
Islam puts emphasis on good deeds along with correct beliefs. When we study Quran which is the basic source of Islamic jurisprudence, we come across the verses that mention faith. We find this fact that mention of faith doesn’t come alone rather is followed by stress on doing good deeds. For instance:
وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا ۙ قَالُوا هَٰذَا الَّذِي رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَأُتُوا بِهِ مُتَشَابِهًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۖ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ - 2:25
“And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.” Baqarah 2:25
It means that having believe in Allah and His Prophet PBUH is not enough. We also need to do good deeds to be rewarded.
Encouragement to do good deeds:
There are a large number of verses in the Quran that promise reward even for a small good deed. A few are being presented here for better understanding. The following verse of Surah Al-Nisa clarifies that to deprive someone from reward of a good deed is injustice which can’t be expected from Allah Almighty. Allah gives reward for every single good deed done by a person and often increases it to a great extent using His own authority. No one can stop Allah from doing so.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ ۖ وَإِن تَكُ حَسَنَةً يُضَاعِفْهَا وَيُؤْتِ مِن لَّدُنْهُ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا - 4:40
“Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom's weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.” Nisa 4:40
The following verse from Surah Al-Kahaf mentions that the reward of good deeds done by a believer will not let go waste by Allah. This assurance is a guarantee of reward for good deeds done by a believer to encourage every believer to do more and more good deeds.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلًا - 18:30
“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds.”
Kahaf 18:30
Loss of reward:
Despite the verses of Quran mentioned above and many more like these we find certain verses that warns against the loss of reward for good deeds. To get a better comprehension we will relate these under three categories:
1-Believers:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ - 49:2
“O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not.”
Hujurat 49:2
The above verse is the part of the story of some Muslim villagers who came to Madina to see Holy Prophet PBUH and started calling Him loudly outside His house. This verse teaches the manner to believers while addressing this issue. Allah warned them to be mindful of their behaviour as crossing the limits of respect by ignoring this command of Allah can lead them to loss of reward for their good deeds.
2-Disbelievers:
The following verse eradicates the confusion in the minds of believers about the generosity and good deeds done by disbelievers. It declares explicitly that those people who reject commands of Allah deliberately will not be rewarded for their other good deeds due to the absence of having faith in Allah Almighty – The Creator. The question posed in the end part of this verse means that it’s ridiculous to expect reward from Allah who they don’t even believe in.
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَلِقَاءِ الْآخِرَةِ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ ۚ هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ - 7:147
“Those who denied Our signs and the meeting of the Hereafter - their deeds have become worthless. Are they recompensed except for what they used to do?” A’raf 7:147
3- Hypocrites:
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتِ وَالْكُفَّارَ نَارَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ هِيَ حَسْبُهُمْ ۚ وَلَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ - 9:68
“Allah has promised the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the disbelievers the fire of Hell, wherein they will abide eternally. It is sufficient for them. And Allah has cursed them, and for them is an enduring punishment.” Tawbah 9:68
Allah has put together the hypocrite men and hypocrite women with disbelievers in the above verse of Surah At-Tawbah and has declared their entry in fire of hell for ever. Why it is so? The reason is that hypocrites might think to deceive believers but they can’t deceive Allah, Who is well aware of infidelity hidden in their hearts. Allah has also cursed upon them and promised eternal punishment.
The following verse is continuity of the above mentioned verse. It informs the loss of reward for all the good deeds that they were proud of. It means that having true faith is essential to receive reward for good deeds. Allah has declared them losers because they wasted their reward of good deeds by rejecting true belief.
كَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنكُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرَ أَمْوَالًا وَأَوْلَادًا فَاسْتَمْتَعُوا بِخَلَاقِهِمْ فَاسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِخَلَاقِكُمْ كَمَا اسْتَمْتَعَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُم بِخَلَاقِهِمْ وَخُضْتُمْ كَالَّذِي خَاضُوا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ - 9:69
“[You disbelievers are] like those before you; they were stronger than you in power and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their portion [of worldly enjoyment], and you have enjoyed your portion as those before you enjoyed their portion, and you have engaged [in vanities] like that in which they engaged. [It is] those whose deeds have become worthless in this world and in the Hereafter, and it is they who are the losers.” Tawbah 9:69
Why reward for good deeds go waste?
Although, the following verse is considered to be descended about change of Qibla from Masjid ul Aqsa to Masjid al Haram, yet it defines the fine details of righteousness in a beautiful way. It is a list of beliefs and good deeds that are supposed to be inculcated by the believers in their lives. Having these done means reward from our Creator and rejecting any of these deliberately ends up in deprivation from reward.
لَّيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا ۖ وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ ۗ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ - 2:177
“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.”
Baqarah 2:177
The rule of doing good deeds in the state of having right beliefs apply universally to fetch reward. The following verse describes Jews, Christians and Sabeans along with Muslims and tells us that everyone needed to have correct beliefs to earn reward on their good deeds. It is imperative to clarify here that Jews, Christians and Sabean were asked to believe in Allah and the Prophets of their time along with good deeds. Once, Muhammad PBUH became in this world as the last Prophet, now believing just in the Prophets before is not enough. Everyone needs to believe in Allah and believe in Muhammad PBUH as the last Prophet to earn reward on good deeds. This all is mentioned in the following verse.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ - 2:62
“Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.” Baqarah 2:62
The famous saying of Holy Prophet PBUH is a key to check the validity of our deeds which says,
“Deeds are subject to their intention”.
If we do a good deed with wrong intention it can deprive us from its reward. In Surah Maun, those people are condemned who offer their prayers just to show off. Like-wise all other good deeds done with incorrect intention go waste.
قَالُوا أَإِنَّكَ لَأَنتَ يُوسُفُ ۖ قَالَ أَنَا يُوسُفُ وَهَٰذَا أَخِي ۖ قَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا ۖ إِنَّهُ مَن يَتَّقِ وَيَصْبِر فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ - 12:90
“They said, "Are you indeed Joseph?" He said "I am Joseph, and this is my brother. Allah has certainly favored us. Indeed, he who fears Allah and is patient, then indeed, Allah does not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good." Yusuf 12:90
The above verse of surah Yusuf precises the acceptance of good deeds for reward with two conditions. One is fear of Allah that is inclusive to correct beliefs and performing good deeds. Second is patience against all hardships and afflictions faced in journey on this path.
Oh Allah! Grant us the ability to display perfect faith and good deeds to avoid loss of reward. Ameen.
Comments