Chapter Qaf- Part 11

Qaf part 11

Recap –50:29 “and My judgment cannot be changed: I am not unjust to any creature.”  There are various narrations in the Quran, where the punishment for denial and wrongdoing is treated differently.  

6:160 “Whoever comes with a good deed will be rewarded tenfold.  But whoever comes with a bad deed will be repaid with its equivalent.  They will not be wronged.”

All the negative activities by human beings are given its equal consequence, whereas good deeds/belief will be rewarded tenfold (much more than its equal) depending on the will of the Creator and His Mercy.  It is a relief to know that no one will be wronged, or no one will be let go of the consequence of their doings.  We wonder why the good deeds get rewarded tenfold and the bad deeds their equivalents.   

What is a good action?  Any action which is performed in the Name of God (the consciousness that the result is going to be created by the Creator of the universe). That is, I attribute this action as the act of creation of the Creator, God.  Who is God?  We know from the witnessing of the universe that the One who creates this universe must have infinite qualities and cannot be imagined.  At the same time, we can conclude rationally, and our feelings confirm that the Creator must exist, and He must have infinite qualities.  That is, I cannot imagine this Creator in terms of this universe, but I am sure that such a Being must exist.  That is the foundation of all reasoning which ends up in belief (belief in the Necessity Existence of the Creator, there must be a Conscious Being).  As a result of this conclusion, if we are satisfied with “the universe must have a Creator” then we will be on the right path.  Believers act in the Name of God, and do not attribute their actions to themselves, but to God. The actions made in the Name of God will be rewarded by God, Whose Mercy is infinite. That is why the reward of a good action which is done in the Name of God will be multiplied by the infinite Mercy of God. 

On the other hand, if I choose to be biased, I do not want to give up my freewill or obey someone.That restriction may prevent people from concluding that their deeds are created by God, rather they imagine that they are the creators of their deeds or other people are the creators of their deeds when they obey them. These deeds are called in the Qur’an as “bad deeds.” Any deed performed with this understanding will be repaid according to the capacity of the person who did it. When we investigate thoroughly what the capacity of a human being is, it is nothing but total neediness. We cannot create anything but use only what is given to us and what is already created out there. Of course, such a deed will be repaid with nothing for human beings cannot claim anything that they have created as they are just using the already created things.  Belief in God means believing in the necessity of the existence of something which is not within the perception of my capacity to communicate with it physically, but we communicate with it intellectually.

Analogy: An eye glass must have a designer who knows the purpose that we use the eyeglasses for and knows the distance between the eye and the glasses.  All the calculations must have been done by a conscious knowledgeable person, as far as our experience tells us.  Similarly, there must be a conscious being who knows the human being.  This is belief in ghaib within the conditions of this universe.  When the subject comes to the matter related to the Creator of the universe, the same logic applies here i.e., this universe must have a Designer and Creator, just creation, Beauty and communication going on between my feelings and what is out there, I like it and not.  Everything is perfectly arranged at the same time.  My logical conclusion is: “Although the essence of this being is unknown to me, but the necessity of the existence of His quality is well-known to me.  My intellectual capacity forces me to accept this.  If I use my freewill with an egoistic concern, I may deny Him, however human nature confirms Him (just like we confirm the truth of 2+2=4).

When we say that the Creator of the universe is an Absolute Being (if I am convinced about it which is appropriate to human nature) and that I am going to choose this good action appropriate to the purpose of its creation, my creation, my feelings, my intellectual conclusions.  If I say this and I am aware that this action that I am going to do is not created by me, then I am being true to my human nature.  I will choose and the Absolute Creator is going to create with His infinite Knowledge, Wisdom and Will.  Here, I did not claim that I created, rather I gave the credit to the Absolute being and so the reward will not be related to my intention of choosing and obeying to the purpose of the creation of the action.  The One who acts in this way will give the credit to the Creator.  The Creator says that now I will reward your choice of action, not according to your capacity of choosing, rather I will reward it according to My capacity.  What is happening here?  Any action which is performed with the consciousness that the result will be created by the Creator of the universe, not by me, is the prerequisite of a good action.

Example: I may claim that I am a good man/father/mother.  Action is yours and the reward is according to your capacity because you say that you are doing it.  Instead, I am going to take care of this baby in His name, because my feeling of the need for taking care of the baby is from Him, a trust to me by my Creator.  Whatever I do, is His will and I am following His will and the result is created by Him.  My action is performed with the acknowledgement of God.  As a result, God says that “I am going to reward your actions according to My capacity because you admitted that I, Your Creator is creating it, for I create with my infinite qualities.  The reward will be many-fold, according to the one who does the action, based on how much he is aware of God’s Power and Knowledge or qualities.  How strong is his/her belief based on conviction? Belief has many degrees, it is not static, likewise, denial is not static either.  Sometimes there are doubtful deniers, sometimes obstinate deniers, because of not wanting to give up on ego.

How about a bad deed?  A deed which is performed in my own name, i.e. I am doing it, not that the Creator is creating it.  If a person says that I am going to help a needy person (which is better than not helping), in her/his own name, that is not done in the Name of God, then such action is the recipient of a bad deed.  Every action is performed according to one’s belief.  Everyone takes care of their children but being proud of it as if you are doing good is not a good action, rather, you are telling a lie.  Let’s take a good cause or humanitarian action, it is not you who are doing the good, you are employed on behalf of the Creator.  Humanitarian work is not rejected by religion, rather one must do this work with an honest attitude.  Example: it is not you who created the action and the sense of compassion for the needy ones.  He gave the opportunity and He created it.  You may claim that You worked for it.  Yes, you wanted it, but you said that I am going to create it and thus appropriated the act of God to yourself.  That is why any good deed needs to be done in the name of God, and any bad deed is done in the name of the person who does it.  When I do a bad deed, it means that I have performed this action in my own name and it is not true, rather a lie and the result of this action will be empty and void, because I am somehow insulting God.  Zero multiplied by one is equal to zero, zero multiplied by infinite= zero.  That is why unbelief is paid with its equivalent, zero.  

• The value of belief is multiplied by infinite reward called “Paradise”, according to the capacity of the strength of one’s belief.  
• Unbelief is multiplied by infinite, which is the denial of infinite i.e., infinite limitless void forever, and lack of satisfaction forever, that is “Hell”.

Comment: It seems that everything has to do with my intention of believing in God.

The reward is given by God, I have no share in it. That shows the weakness in one’s certainty as far as God’s position is concerned.  Everything is created by God alone, is full belief.  Paradise is going to be given by God, and people admiring me have no count, rather God will appreciate it.  If there are gaps in my belief, my intention may not be according to my belief.  Example: I help you out for the sake of God without expecting any reward from you.  Although  my intention in doing so may be for the sake of God, I may still claim that I am the one who is doing the good deed, that is I am doing it in my own name.  Here, my belief is not established, and I am not denying, rather my belief is weak, and uncertain.  According to the level of one’s belief, a person’s intention fluctuates up and down according to the certainty level of one’s belief.  Always check: is the action done by me or God?  If I am doing it for the sake of God I must be aware that whatever I intend to do is going to be created by God, not by me. I will choose it, God will create it. Intention must be accompanied with God consciousness. If I am doing it, then I have a share in it.  

Whatever I choose is created by God, not me.  This requires long term training, which we refer to as “belief training”.  God says that if you have a grain of belief, then I will reward it.  At the same time, we must try our best, to educate ourselves in belief, so that our intention may not fall into the empty gaps in belief.  Example: I will gain my Paradise.  What are you claiming since you are not going to create anything?  It is meaningless and pointless.  Example: I do not accept any money because I do the act for the sake of God.  Are you aware that this action is created by God, and you have no right to claim anything at all because this is not yours, you are not the Creator?  All the options are presented by God and the quality to choose the good option is also created by God.  That is God’s reward to you, and it is not your property.  The only Actor is God.  We are just the people who are petitioning.  (Please God I want this way).  Every action that we perform has the potential of being the means of worship of God.  For the believers it is an opportunity to perform the worshipful action, recognition by consciousness of the nature of belief.  

Example: This universe must have a Creator; this conclusion is perfect.  How about your actions?  Who is doing that?  The tree is producing the fruit, but it is created by God.  Here, the tree is the actor as far as producing the fruit is concerned.   There may be no God who is creating the tree as well as the fruit in the mind of the person.  This kind of gap causes a flaw in the intention.  Please remember not to pass judgment about the people.  Speak only for yourself: I just choose and God is creating it, I just send a petition, a prayer.  Any action that we do is nothing but prayer.  When we concentrate on the belief side of matter, we may not need to talk about intention.  In practical terms, who can claim that my belief in God is 100% fortified?  I don’t think anyone dares to say this.  We need to always improve our belief so that our intention will be equal to belief.  Belief is the foundation; intention is a subcategory under it, i.e., where belief lacks something, then, intention may deviate from the purpose.  All these types of languages are used because of the confusion of belief and intention.  

• Intention depends on the strength of one’s belief, accordingly you adjust yourself.

Thus, intention is the result of belief which has layers.  Appropriate use of intention is only possible according to the capacity of belief.  We cannot imitate a certain attitude if it does not have a sound belief underneath.  That is why we must concentrate on belief rather than intention.  How can we make sure about belief?  That is why we must keep ourselves engaged in investigating evidence of belief in God, Angels, Revelations, Hereafter, Messenger, and Divine Determining.  These all need thorough studies.  

Finally, belief is the confirmation and certainty of Absolute (ghaib).  We need evidence to certify our belief.