Do You Consider Yourself to be a 'Good Person'?
When ever I mention my journey from Christianity to Islam to a non-Muslim, I get similar reactions. The most common is the comment, “I am a good person”…indicating that is all that is required to be saved from Hell Fire…but when I ask them what is your definition of good? The replies are varied as in, “I do not have to go to a Church to be a good person”, “I don’t need a religion to be a good person”, “I worship God how I want to worship God, I do not need a ‘book’ or a ‘Church’ to tell me how to worship God”, “I am a good person, but I do not believe in God, we live, and we die, that is it!”, “I am a good person. I do not disrespect anybody’s religion or their beliefs, we are all free to worship how we want”.
The main theme is ‘good person’, regardless of religion, so what does ‘good person’ even mean then?
I decided to research what a good person means and am sharing the results with you. Please do your own research and decide for yourself before you claim you are a ‘good person’.
What makes one person stand out as being a ‘Good Person’, while another is labeled as a ‘Evil Person’ or a degenerate?
Are You A Good Person? by Tomorrow’s World Viewpoint; accessed on September 9, 2022
Let’s look at society, media, the legal system, history and Biblical laws and values, for an answer…
We live in a society with laws. Yet what is legal today in some instances, was illegal in years gone by.
Yet, in an almost undetectible way to the average citizen, for almost a century democratic governments have been shifting the goalposts and redefining morality based on public emotion, guided by the influence of Western media.
Today we often hear moraility described as something that seems right to the individual and that the judgement of right and wrong stems from the most basic of human emotions.
Today’s ethical approach to morality states that, ‘You are Free to Choose what is Right and Wrong, within Reason‘. Of course, there is no set standard for what constitutes ‘Reasonable’.
So what direction is your moral compass pointing at today?
For the vast majority of mankind we’ve grown up in a country based on principles and standards founded on biblical laws.
It is these laws which originally defined morality.
This law was written for our benefit, not on legal size paper but on tablets of stone.
[Most would agree that the sixth through tenth Commandments should be kept.
Unfortunately the first five Commandments have been neglected, and worse, forgotten.]
The fourth Commandment [reminds us of] the Sabbath Day – what is that?
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 112 Purity of Faith: Verse 1-4
Verse 1. Say: “He, God, the Unique One of Absolute Unity.1
1. There are some differences between God’s being the One of Absolute Unity (Wāhid) and the Unique One of Absolute Oneness (Ahad). God’s being the One of Absolute Unity (Wāhid) means the manifestation of God’s Names, which give existence to all things and beings, and are responsible for their life, throughout the entire universe. God’s being the Unique One of Absolute Oneness” (Ahad) means God’s concentration of the manifestations of His Names on individual things or beings.
Verse 2. “God, the Eternally-Besought-of-All (Himself in no need of anything).
Verse 3. “He begets not, nor is He begotten.2
2. Declaring that God begets not, and nor is He begotten is such an evident principle for the Divine Being that it is mentioned here to refute all creeds that attribute sons or daughters to God. It primarily and categorically refutes the pagans’ attribution to Him of the angels as daughters and the Christians’ seeing Him as the Father of Jesus, upon him be peace, or their attributing Jesus, upon him be peace, to Him as a son.
Verse 4. “And comparable to Him there is none.”3/4
3. The Divine Religion, which had been revealed to Prophets of various peoples was the same in essence; but over the course of time, its message had been misinterpreted as it had become mixed up with superstitions and had degenerated into magical practices and meaningless rituals. The concept of God, the very core of the Religion, had become debased by
(a) the anthropomorphic tendency of turning God into a being with a human shape and passions;
(b) the deification of angels;
(c) the association of other personalities with the Godhead of the One and only God (as in Hinduism and Christianity);
(d) the making of the Prophets or some godly persons into incarnations of God (e.g., Jesus, upon him be peace, in Christianity, the Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism, Krishna and Rama in Hinduism); and
(e) the personification of the Attributes of God as separate Divine persons (e.g., the Christian Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and the Hindu Trimutri of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva). The holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad,upon him be peace and blessings, rejected all such theological trends and restored the concept of God to its pristine purity as the only Creator, Sustainer, and Master of all of creation (Ezzati, 1980: ).
Tawhīd -–unity – is the highest conception of the deity, the knowledge of which God has sent to humankind in all ages through His Prophets. It was this same knowledge that all the Prophets, including Moses, Jesus, and the Prophet Muhammad, upon them all be peace, brought to humankind. People became guilty of polytheism or idol-worship after the death of their Prophets only because they had deviated from the pure teachings of the Prophets.
They relied upon their own faulty reasoning, false perceptions, and biased interpretations in order to satisfy their lusts, which they would have been unable to do with a Tawhīd-based system, in which they would have had to obey the commandments only of the One Supreme God.
4. This short sūrah, which God’s Messenger describes as equivalent to one-third of the Qur’ān, has six sentences – three positive and three negative – which prove or establish six aspects of Divine Unity, and reject or negate six types of associating partners with God.
CHRISTIANS, PAY ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING!
Jesus (p.b.u.h.) asked the ruler, “Why do you call me good?”
Jesus (p.b.u.h.) answered, “No one is good – except God alone.“
New International Version Bible Luke 18:18-30
How many Christians know this is stated in their Bibles?
We must follow and obey the Commandments AND if you are wealthy, you must sell everything you have and give to the poor, and then you will have the treasure in heaven…How many wealthy human beings who want to enter the kingdom of God, are willing to give up their wealth to the poor? The answer is a very depressing fact, NOT MANY!
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 30 The Romans: Verse 41
Verse 41. Corruption and disorder have appeared on land and in the sea because of what the hands of people have (done and) earned (of evil deeds). Thus He causes them to taste the consequence of some of what they have done, so that they may (take heed, repent and reform, and so) return (to the right way).12
12. All the social convulsions and evils, unjust wars, pestilences, environmental pollution, and similar catastrophes arise from human rebellion against God and His Religion. God has established human life on the fact that this human rebellion causes such calamities.
The basic wisdom behind this is that humankind will be awakened to the truth and, giving up their wrong ways, turn to God in faith and obedience.
But, unfortunately, the number of people who perceive this is quite limited.
In particular, scientific materialism and materialist philosophy make this perception almost impossible and refer every such thing to “nature” or self-becoming.
GOOD DEEDS VERSES EVIL DEEDS EXPLAINED
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 2 The Cow: Verse 25
Verse 25. 19Give glad tidings to those who believe and do good, righteous deeds:20 for them are Gardens through which rivers flow. Every time they are provided with fruits (of different color, shape, taste, and fragrance, and that are constantly renewed) therefrom, they say, “This is what we were provided with before.” For they are given to them in resemblance (to what was given to them both in the world, and just before in the Gardens, familiar in shape and color so that they may not be unattractive due to being unknown). Furthermore, for them are spouses eternally purified (of all kinds of worldly uncleanliness). They will abide there (forever)21.
19. In addition to being a miracle of eloquence, the Qur’ān is also miraculous in maintaining the balance among both the truths of divinity and the absolute and relative truths of the universe.
It also maintains the balance between encouraging people to do good deeds in the hope and expectation of pleasing God and earning His reward, and discouraging them from doing evil ones for fear of His punishment.
Following the presentation of the characteristics of believers, unbelievers and hypocrites, it warns those who are willfully determined in their unbelief against the Fire.
Now it directs attention to the result of faith and doing good deeds with most pleasant and exhilarating expressions, and in so doing, it both relieves the fearful souls and encourages faith and good deeds.
20. There are many deeds and attitudes, such as believing, establishing the Prayer, giving alms, and helping others, that are praised as good and enjoined by the Qur’ān and God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings.
There are other deeds and attitudes which can either be virtuous or evil according to the time and occasions when they are done.
Besides, the qualities or “virtues” that are often associated with good deeds and good character are best judged according to the rightness of intention and the particular circumstances in which it is expressed.
For example, the self-respect that a weak person should wear before a powerful one becomes, if the powerful one assumes it before a weak one, self-conceit.
The humility which a powerful person should wear before a weak one becomes, if assumed by a weak one, self abasement.
The solemn or strict bearing of an administrator in the exercise of his or her duties of office is dignity, while humility in that situation would be self-abasement. The same solemnity in his or her house would be self-conceit, whereas humility there would indeed be humility.
Forbearance and forgiving the evils done to one is good and a virtue; but when done on behalf of others, it is bad and a treason: a person may and perhaps should bear patiently whatever is done to him or her personally; but it is impermissible for that person, for example, to bear patiently the wrongs being done to the society or nation.
Conversely, whereas pride and indignation on behalf of the nation are commendable, on one’s own behalf, they are not.
Believing and doing good deeds are mentioned together but distinguished in the verse.
This implies that doing good deeds is not a part of faith, yet faith alone without good deeds is not enough for the final salvation in the Hereafter.
In fact, the same is stressed in the New Testament: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James , 2: 26).
21. The verse signifies that there will be Gardens for every believer within Paradise, and depicts them. The greatest blessing in Paradise is obtaining God’s approval and good pleasure and (as indicated by some verses and explicitly stated in some hadīth s) “seeing God,” though this is a “seeing” beyond all our measures of quality and modality.
However, since such wholly spiritual blessings are related to the elite among the believers, the Qur’ān usually presents the blessings of Paradise in a language that can appeal to pleasures of the body.
A human being is a tripartite being composed of the spirit, the carnal soul, and the flesh or physical body. Since the body and carnal soul serve the believer in this world, and in order to be disciplined and trained, have to endure some hardships and deprivation of some worldly pleasures, the believer will be rewarded with the pleasures appropriate to the body and the carnal soul.
It should, however, not be thought that such pleasures are purely corporeal. The spiritual contentment they will give is greater than the corporeal.
For example, every person needs a friend, a companion. What most satisfies this human need is having an intimate life-companion with whom to share love, joys, and sorrows.
Since the kindest, most compassionate and generous of hearts is the heart of a woman, the Qur’ān mentions women among the greatest blessings of Paradise for men, rather than vice versa. This does not mean that the women will be left there without companions.
The pleasure coming from mutual helping, sharing joys and sorrows, companionship, love, affection, and intimacy, is much greater than the bodily pleasures with which men and women may satisfy in each other.
However, those who have been defeated by the bodily pleasures of this world, and who are therefore unaware of the spiritual pleasures accompanying them, may see Paradise as a realm of sensual enjoyment.
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 29 The Spider: Verse 25, 54 and 55
Verse 25. He (Abraham) said to them: “You have taken to yourselves idols to worship instead of God, for no other reason than to have a bond of love and attachment between you only in the life of this world. But then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will deny one another (disowning any relation between you), and curse one another.9 Your final refuge will be the Fire, and you will have no helpers.
9. The disavowal (the denial of any responsibility or support for something) mentioned in the verse is similar to that found in this verse: No indeed! Those (whom they deified – beings such as angels, jinn, Prophets, saints, and heroes, etc.) will deny their worship of them and turn against them as adversaries (on Judgment Day) (Chapter 19: Verse 82).
At that time, those who were followed (in the world, as the elders, heads, or leaders, and who were loved as God is loved), will disown those who followed them and declare them selves innocent of their evil deeds; they will see the punishment and that the relations between them are cut off (Chapter 2: Verse 166).
And the curse is like that which is mentioned in the verse: He (God) says: “Enter in company with the communities of jinn and humankind that went before you into the Fire!”
Every time a community enters the Fire, it curses its fellow-community (that went before it) – so much so that, when they all have gathered there one after another, those who came later say of those who came earlier: “Our Lord! Those are the ones who led us astray: give them, therefore, double suffering through fire!” He (God) says: “For each is double (since those who went earlier both strayed themselves and led others astray, and those who came later both strayed themselves and imitated the others blindly), but you do not know.” Then, the preceding ones among them say to the succeeding ones: “You are in no wise superior to us, so taste the punishment for all (the sins) that you were busy earning (through your belief and deeds)!” (Chapter 7: Verse 38–39)
Verse 54. They challenge you to hasten the punishment (with which they are threatened by God). Surely Hell will encompass the unbelievers (with the reasons for them to enter it,18 and it is bound to have them in it).
18. That is, unbelief and evil deeds are the reasons for entering Hell, and the unbelievers are bound to go into it. Secondly, as faith bears in itself the seed of Paradise, unbelief bears the seed of Hell and is, in fact, a manifestation of Hell in the heart of the unbelievers.
Verse 55. On that Day the suffering will overwhelm them from above them and from beneath their feet, and (God) will say to them: “Taste now what you used to do (in the world)!”
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 37 The Rangers: Verse 63 – 68
Verse 63. We have made it (that tree) a means of trial4 and punishment for the wrongdoers (who associate partners with God).
4. On the tree of Zaqqūm and its being a means of trial, see 17: 60, note 27.
Verse 64. It is a tree growing in the heart of the Blazing Flame.
Verse 65. Its fruits are like the heads of satans.5
5. We usually liken beautiful beings to angels, as the women who saw the Prophet Joseph, upon him be peace, likened him to an honorable angel (Chapter 12: Verse 31); conversely, we liken ugly beings to devils. However, there may be many other points of resemblance between the fruit of the tree of Zaqqūm and the heads of devils.
For example, this tree will grow from the seeds sown by the evil deeds committed by the people in Hell, deeds that were prompted by Satan.
The Qur’ān mentions deeds – such as taking intoxicants, playing games of chance, offering sacrifices for anything having the meaning of an idol or at the places consecrated for offerings to other than God, and polytheistic divination by shooting arrows and other similar ways (like drawing lots and throwing dice) – as loathsome evil of Satan’s doing (Chapter 5: Verse 90).
So, it is quite natural that such deeds will grow into satan-like trees and yield fruit that resembles the heads of devils.
Verse 66. So, most surely, they will eat of it and fill up their bellies with it.
Verse 67. Then, for them will be boiling water (to mix with the zaqqum in their bodies).
Verse 68. And afterwards, they are bound to return to the Blazing Flame again.6
6. After eating, one needs water. The people of Hell will eat of the fruit of the tree of Zaqqūm and come out of the Blazing Flame into another area of Hell to drink. But their drink will be boiling water that will be mixed with the fruits of Zaqqūm, and it will cut up their bowels (Chapter 47: Verse 15). Then, they will have to return to the Flame as their dwelling, and their punishment will go on in this strain.
The Qur’ānic descriptions concerning Paradise and Hell cannot be taken as being purely metaphors. Paradise, with all its blessings, and Hell with all its elements of punishment, will be the outcome of people’s beliefs and deeds in the world.
So people will live in them with both their spirit, their carnal souls, and bodies;the carnal souls of the people of Paradise will be perfectly purified – resembling those of the worldly life, but in a way that is particular to the other world.
The Currency of Deeds Explained
Have you ever wondered why many Muslims choose to live a modest, pious lifestyle, content with what they have, happy to share with others, always charitable? This is why…the Qur’an explains how our wealth and children are a test for us. Wealth and family relationships only exist in this life, after death, you are alone and the currency is YOUR DEEDS.
Which side of the scale is heavier with either Good Deeds or Evil Deeds will determine your eternal fate or whether you go to Heaven (Good Deeds) or Hell Fire (Evil Deeds).
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 35 The Originator: Verse 8
Verse 8. Is one whose evil deeds is decked out to be appealing to him so that he considers it as good (like him who follows God’s guidance)? God leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills.3 So do not let yourself perish in bitter regrets on their behalf (because they refuse faith). Surely God has full knowledge of all that they do.
3. God has two kinds of Will. One is His (pre-eternal) Decree concerning the creation, including responsible, conscious beings. This Will, called Mashīah, is absolute with regard to things and unconscious beings, while It takes into consideration the (future) will of responsible, conscious beings.
That is, God knows beforehand in what way those beings will use their free will and decrees accordingly. God’s other Will (Irādah) entails what He demands from His servants and denotes those things with which He is pleased.
In this verse, God leads astray whom He Wills means that He lets go astray those who choose to follow Satan and the promptings of their carnal soul, with the result that they follow their fancies and personal ideas and commit evil deeds that, though not based on true knowledge, seem just to them.
As for, He guides whom He Wills, this denotes those who choose to resist the temptations of Satan and their carnal soul, and instead follow the guidance that God sends through His Messengers, and they see as good whatever God decrees as so.
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 57 The Iron: Verse 12 – 21
Verse 12. On that Day, you will see the believing men and the believing women (led swiftly toward Paradise), with their light shining forth before them and on their right hands.8 “Glad tidings for you today: Gardens through which rivers flow, (into which you will enter) to abide therein! This is indeed the supreme triumph.”
8. This is the light that the believers send forth from the world through their good deeds.
The more deeds there are, and the more sincerely they are done, the greater and brighter is the light that they will produce. As understood from the verse, the believers will advance toward Paradise on the right side, while, as will be understood from the following verse, the hypocrites (and the unbelievers), who will receive their records of deeds in their left hands, will advance toward Hell on the left side, and be left behind because of being enveloped by the darkness produced by their unbelief, hypocrisy, and evil deeds.
Verse 13. On that Day the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: “Wait for us that we may have some light from your light.”
It will be said: “Turn back (if you can, to the world where such light was to be obtained), and seek light (through your deeds you did there).” Just then a wall of separation will be put between them, with a gate therein (through which the hypocrites, so as to increase their regret, will observe the state of the believers).
The inner side of the wall (which will separate the believers from the hypocrites) – there will be in it the mercy (of eternal happiness), and outside it there will be the punishment (of eternal doom).
Verse 14. They (the hypocrites) will call out to the believers: “Were we not with you (in the world)?” They will reply: “True! But you (willfully) put yourselves in the way of temptation, and hesitated and doubted (waiting on events to choose which side to be on and not assuming yourselves to stand by the truth of Islam), and false expectations (that God’s Religion would one day be defeated) deluded you, until God’s decree (of death) came to you; and the deluder (Satan) deluded you (with wrong conceptions) about God.
Verse 15. “And this Day no ransom will be taken from you, nor from those who disbelieved. Your final refuge is the Fire; that is your harbor suited to you. How evil a destination to arrive at!”
Verse 16. Has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should soften with humility and submit (to God to strive in His cause) in the face of God’s Remembrance (the Qur’an) and what has come down of the truth (the Divine teachings)? And (has not the time yet come) that they should not be like those who were given the Book before? A long time has passed over them (after they received the Book) and so their hearts have hardened; and many among them (have been) transgressors.
Verse 17. Know that God revives the earth after its death (and He may revive the decaying hearts in the same way). We have indeed made clear the signs and Revelations (to enable such revival and) that you may reason and understand.
Verse 18. Those men and women who give alms (by spending out of their wealth in both the prescribed and supererogatory duties of alms-giving), and lend to God a goodly loan (by spending either in His cause or for the needy), it will be increased manifold to their credit; and they will have an honorable, generous reward in addition.9
9. Verse 16 is a warning against the hardening of hearts toward the Divine teachings and God’s Remembrance, and a reminder of the importance of striving in God’s cause. One of the most important reasons of this hardening is growing familiarity with the Revelation and the revealed Divine teachings, and the passage of time after it.
Another important reason is committing sins (transgression) through indifference to God’s warnings. So it is necessary to continuously be alert against such a hardening, and always to seek means forthe softening of the heart.
As pointed out in verses 17 and 18, just as God revives any land after its death with rain, and this is repeated every year, He may also revive dead or dead like hearts with clear Revelations, provided we remain loyal to God and His Religion by carrying out God’s commands and avoiding transgression, and by spending in His cause.
Verse 19. Those who believe in God and His Messengers (those whose actions prove their profession of faith) – they are, in the sight of their Lord, the loyal and truthful (to God in whatever they do and say), and the witnesses (who have borne testimony to the truth with their lives). They have their (particular) reward and their (particular) light. But those who disbelieve and deny Our manifest signs and Revelations – they will be companions of the Blazing Flame.
Verse 20. Know that the present, worldly life10 is but a play, vain talk and ostentation, and mutual boasting among you, and competing in wealth and children – it is like when rain comes down and the vegetation grown by it pleases the farmers, (but) then it dries up and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes straw; and in the Hereafter, there is a severe punishment, but also (there is) forgiveness from God and His good pleasure (which are everlasting), whereas the present, worldly life is but a transient enjoyment of delusion.
10. The expression translated as the present, worldly life also means the basic elements or attributes of the present life. So by this expression, the Qur’ān denotes, rather than the world, the life that pertains to the bodily or material dimension of human existence. Otherwise, the world is the field to be sown for harvest in the Hereafter, and is also the place where God’s Names are manifested.
Verse 21. And (rather than competing for the things of this world) race with one another to forgiveness from your Lord, and to a Garden the vastness of which is as the vastness of heaven and earth, prepared for those who truly believe in God and His Messengers. That is God’s bounty, which He grants to whom He wills. God is of tremendous bounty.11
11. Chapter 3: Verse 133 says: And hasten, as if competing with one another, to forgiveness from your Lord, and to a Garden as spacious as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-revering, pious. The promise in that verse is to those who keep their duties to God and avoid all kinds of sins out of piety and reverence for God. So we can conclude that those who truly believe in God and His Messengers, whom this verse mentions, are the God-revering, pious ones – those who believe and keep their duties to God and avoid sins out of reverence for Him.
An important point in both verses to be noted is that forgiveness precedes Paradise because Paradise is the place of perfect purity, and no one can enter Paradise without God’s forgiveness.
So, before they enter Paradise, God will clean or purify the people of Paradise of all their sins out of pure grace, and the hardships they will have to suffer from resurrection to the gates of Paradise will also serve as a means of purification.
Now how important is the definition of ‘Good‘ in terms of your deeds?
I am definitely not a Bible Scholar and cannot provide Christians with this answer pertaining to their book, the Bible. However, as a Muslim, I will reference the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah (hadiths) of our Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) and then if you have any questions, you would have to contact a Christian or Muslim Scholar for advice.
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 65 Divorce: Verse 5
Verse 5. All that (which has been said) is God’s commandment which He has sent down to you. Whoever keeps from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety, He blots out from him his evil deeds, and vastly enlarges reward for him.5
5. Blotting out evil deeds means forgiving the minor sins that may have been committed in obeying God’s commandments. It is as stated in: If you avoid the major sins which you have been forbidden, We will blot out from you your minor evil deeds and make you enter by a noble entrance (to an abode of glory) (Chapter 4: Verse 31).
So it may be inferred that disobedience to the orders and prohibitions of the Qur’ān concerning divorce and the waiting-period in these verses, within the framework of taqwā (piety and reverence for God), is a major sin.
It may also be inferred that a believer should be careful concerning all of God’s commandments (orders and prohibitions).
Did You Know that the Holy Qur’an states the same and/or similar Commandments as the Bible and expands explanation regarding the Commandments.
Watch the youtube video to learn more!
Discover the Commandments in the Qur'an
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 66 Prohibition: Verse 8
Verse 8. O you who believe! Turn to God in sincere and reforming repentance.7 It is hoped8 that your Lord will blot your evil deeds from you and admit you into Gardens through which rivers flow, on a Day when God will not disgrace nor disappoint the Prophet and those who believe in his company. Their (the believers’) light will shine and spread before them, and on their right hands, as they say: “Our Lord! Perfect our light (by Your grace, so that we may reach Paradise), and forgive us.9 Surely You have full power over everything!”
7. ‘Ali, may God be pleased with him, the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) cousin and son-in-law and the fourth Caliph, describes a sincere, reforming repentance as follows:
In order that your repentance can be a sincere, reforming, and valid one, you should:
(1) sincerely feel remorse for the sin you have committed;
(2) fulfill all the obligatory religious duties and make up the missed ones;
(3) return any right you have usurped to its owner;
(4) beg the pardon of those you have offended;
(5) resolve not to commit again the sin you have committed; and
(6) make your carnal soul taste the difficulty of obedience to God as you have caused it to taste the pleasure of sinning (Yazır, Zamakhsharī ).
8. God is never obliged to accept repentance, but a repentant one should sincerely hope that He will accept it and forgive them.
9. This means that human beings are fallible, and except for the Prophets, almost everyone goes to the other world with some sins.
In addition, the good deeds of human beings will not be enough for them to provide the light that they will need in order to reach Paradise from the very moment they will be resurrected.
So they will pray to God to complete their light purely out of His grace (also see Chapter 57: Verse 12, 19). They will also need forgiveness in order to be saved from the darkness of their sins.
On the other hand, the hypocrites will not be able to advance toward Paradise and will be enveloped by the darkness of their hypocrisy (Chapter 57: Verse 13)
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 99 The Earthquake: Verse 1 – 8
Verse 1. When the earth quakes with a violent quaking destined for it,
Verse 2. And the earth yields up its burdens;
Verse 3. And human cries out, “What is the matter with it?” –
Verse 4. On that day she will recount all its tidings,
Verse 5. As your Lord has inspired her to do so.1
1. The verses are, both in wording and meaning, possibly relating major events during the final destruction and re-building of the world; or, they may be referring to earthquakes in general.
During the final destruction of the world, the earth will be shaken with a violent shock (Chapter 56: Verse 4) by a violent blast of the Trumpet (Chapter 79: Verse 6).
The mountains will be as a heap of slipping sand (Chapter 73: Verse 14), and the earth flattened out (Chapter 84: Verse 3), casting forth whatever is in it, and becoming empty (Chapter 84: Verse 4).
The graves will be overturned and bring out their contents (Chapter 82: Verse 4).
In short, during that destruction, whatever is in the earth – mines, treasures, and dead bodies – will be thrown out.
Then, the first blast of the Trumpet will be followed by a second one (Chapter 79: Verse 7), and the dead will be revived and hasten toward the Plain of Gathering (Chapter 50: Verse 44 & Chapter 70: Verse 43).
The unbelievers will witness the destruction of the world, and they will be greatly shaken also by the second blow of the Trumpet and revival.
Thus, the unbelievers will come to understand the truth of Doomsday; and everything about it will be revealed to them.
They will also come to see the truth of whatever God’s Messengers brought from God.
After the Resurrection, the earth may relate all the deeds done on it during its worldly life by God making it speak literally, in some fashion, as He will also make human bodily organs speak against humans (Chapter 41: Verse 20–21, note 6).
Whatever human beings suffer is usually the result of their sins and faults – of their rebellion against God in His commandments or laws of the Religion and life.
So, an earthquake, though it usually causes some treasures to be revealed and thermal sources to form, also informs humans of, and warns them against, their sins and faults – in addition to testing their resolve to turn to God as their only source of Mercy, and to acknowledge God’s power in their lives.
As understood from some Qur’ānic verses (Chapter 17: Verse 44 & Chapter 41: Verse 21), even inanimate objects have some life, or they have a spirit particular to themselves that represents them. So they are directly affected by the deeds of humans.
It is, therefore, not incorrect to interpret these five verses of this Chapter as referring also to all earthquakes that take place throughout the world.
Verse 6. On that day, all humans will come forth in different companies, to be shown their deeds (that they did in the world).2
2. Everyone will go to the Supreme Court or Tribunal alone and be questioned about their deeds (Chapter 6: Verse 94 & Chapter 18: Verse 48).
They will also be sorted out into the people of Paradise and the people of Hell.
The people of Paradise will be in two main groups: those who are the nearest to God, and the others.
During one stage, or for part of the Day of Resurrection, people will be called in groups, each after its leader (Chapter 17: Verse 71).
The verse encompasses all these meanings.
Verse 7. And so, whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it;
Verse 8. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.3
3. Whatever a person does is not unnoticed by God, and He records whatever people do.
Both in this world and in the Hereafter, everyone will see and receive the consequences of their deeds.
This is the basic principle of belief in God’s justice and the Hereafter.
The believers will receive most of the reward of their (religiously) good deeds in the Hereafter, though God does not leave them unrewarded, even in this world.
But the unbelievers will receive the rewards of their good deeds only in this world; and the recompense for their evil deeds will generally be postponed to the Hereafter, even though they may sometimes suffer for some of their deeds in this world.
In the Hereafter, every person will be shown all of his or her deeds, down to the smallest ones.
However, as God overlooks and forgives many of people’s evils in the world, except unbelief and the association of partners with Him, He will also forgive some evils of His believing servants in the Hereafter.
Holy Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation Chapter 5 The Table: Verse 65 & 66
Verse 65. If only the People of the Book would believe (in the Prophet Muhammad and what is revealed to him), and keep from disobedience to God in piety so as to deserve His protection, We would certainly blot out from them their (previous) evil deeds and admit them, for sure, into Gardens of bounty and blessings.
Verse 66. If only they had truly observed the Torah and the Gospel, and all that was sent down to them from their Lord (faithfully, without introducing distortions therein, and, therefore, would believe in Muhammad and follow his way), they would have been fed from above them and from beneath their feet (as God would have poured forth His blessings upon them from both heaven and earth).13 Among them there are just, moderate people who hold to the right course, but many of them – evil indeed is what they do!
13. The following verses of the Old Testament are of the same import as this verse:
If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, you dwell in your land safely (Leviticus, 26: 3–5).
The same meaning is explained in Moses’ (p.b.u.h.) sermon in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
These two last verses of the Chapter point to an important truth related to the conception of taqwā (keeping from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety in order to deserve His protection).
As mentioned before, God has two sets of laws, one which we call Religion, and the other being that which God has established for the life and operation of the universe, and which is the subject-matter of sciences.
While one gets a return for obeying or disobeying the former, usually in the Hereafter, the return for obeying or disobeying the latter usually comes in this world. Taqwā requires obeying both.