Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (17/288)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

The ḥadiths, as you have just seen, together with the plain sense of the Mighty Qur’an—“So those whose scales are heavy … and those whose scales are light” (Al-Aʿrāf 8-9)—all testify to this, and such weighing can only pertain to something tangible.

Al-Qurṭubī said: “The Scale is real, yet it is not established for absolutely everyone, as is proven by His words, ‘The sinners will be recognized by their marks, and they will be seized by the forelocks and the feet’ (Al-Raḥmān 41).”

He also cited the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “Then Allah will say, ‘O Muḥammad, admit from your nation, through the rightmost gate, those upon whom there is no reckoning; they may share the other gates with the rest of the people.’” (1)

I say: The reports regarding the seventy thousand who will enter Paradise without any reckoning are mutawātir; from this one might infer that their deeds will not be weighed. This, however, requires further scrutiny—and Allah knows best.

The deeds of the blessed may nonetheless be weighed, even though the balance will surely tip in their favor, so that their honor and virtue are displayed before all witnesses and their happiness and salvation proclaimed, despite the fact that no reckoning is due upon them. As for the disbelievers, their deeds will also be weighed, although they possess no good deeds that can benefit them or offset their unbelief. However numerous their good deeds may be, they can never counterbalance their disbelief, so they will avail them nothing. Their deeds are weighed only to manifest their wretchedness and disgrace before all witnesses.

It is reported in the ḥadith: “Indeed, Allah does not wrong anyone with regard to a single good deed. As for the disbeliever, He rewards him for his good deeds in this world with food and sustenance until he meets Allah, and by then he will have no good deed left for which he may be rewarded.” (2)

Al-Qurṭubī states in al-Tadhkira that a disbeliever may arrive on the Day of Resurrection with acts of charity, maintaining kinship ties, or freeing slaves, and that Allah will thereby lighten his punishment. He cited the case of Abū Ṭālib, whom Allah placed in a shallow part of the Fire where his brains boil (3).

This, however, is open to question. It may be a circumstance unique to him because of the protection and support he gave to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or on account of an intercession that he be assigned to that particular place—just as Abū Lahab is given water to sip every Monday through a cavity between his thumb and forefinger because he set free Thuwayba, the woman who nursed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (4).

Al-Qurṭubī supported his view with the general import of Allah’s words: “We shall set up the just scales on the Day of Resurrection, so that no soul will be wronged in the least; even if it be the weight of a mustard seed, We shall bring it forth—sufficient are We as Reckoners” (Al-Anbiyāʾ 47).

I say: At most, this verse establishes a general principle, from which the disbelievers are excluded. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about ʿAbd Allah ibn Judʿān, of whom it was said that he used to host guests, feed the hungry, maintain kinship bonds, and free slaves. Would that benefit him? The Prophet replied, “No, for he never once said in his lifetime: Lā ilāha illā Allah (There is no god but Allah).”

(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari (no. 4712) and by Muslim (no. 194). (2) Muslim conveys it in equivalent wording (no. 2808). (3) Narrated by Muslim (no. 210). (4) In al-Bukhari (no. 5101) it appears as a mursal (disconnected) report, transmitted by Urwa without naming his informant. Al-Hafiz, in al-Fath, notes that even if it were marfuʿ (attributed to the Prophet), the report recounts only a ruʾya (vision seen in a dream), which carries no evidentiary weight, and the one who saw it may not have been a Muslim at the time, rendering it inadmissible as proof.

الأحاديثُ كما رأيتَ، وهو ظاهر القرآن العظيم ﴿فَمَنْ ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ. . . وَمَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَازِينُهُ﴾ [الأعراف: ٨ - ٩] ، وهذا إنما يكون لشيء محْسُوس. قال القرطبيّ: فالميزانُ حَقّ، وليس هو في حق كلِّ أحدٍ، بدليل قوله تعالى: ﴿يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ (٤١) ﴾ [الرحمن: ٤١] . وقوله ﷺ : "فيقول اللَّه: يا محمد، أدْخِلْ منْ أُمَّتِك منْ لا حِسَابَ عليه من الباب الأيْمن، وهم شركاءُ الناس فيما سواه من الأبواب" (١) . قل: وقد تواترت الأخبارُ في السبعين ألفًا الذين يدخلون الجنَّةَ بغير حساب، لكن يلزمُ من هذا ألّا تُوزن أعمالهم، وفي هذا نظر، واللَّه أعلم. وقد توزن أعمال السعداء، وإن كانت رَاجحةً، لإظْهار شَرَفِهم وفضلهم على رؤوس الأشهاد، والتنويه بسعادتهم، ونجاتهم وإن كانوا لا حساب عليهم، وأما الكفَّار فتُوزنُ أعمالهم، وإن لم يكن لهم حَسناتٌ تنفعهم، يُقابل بها كفرُهم، فإن حسناتهم ولو بلغت ما بلغت لا تقابل كفرهم ولا توازنه، وهي غير نافعة لهم. فتوزن لإظهار شَقائهم، وفَضيحتهم على رؤوس الأشهاد. وقد جاء في الحديث: "إنَّ اللَّه لا يظلمُ أحَدًا حَسَنَةً، أما الكافِر فيُطْعمُه بحسَناتِه في الدُّنيا حتى يُوافي اللَّهَ، وليس له حَسنةٌ يَجزيه بها" (٢) . وقد ذكر القرطبيّ في "التذكرة" أنّ الكافر قد يوافَى يوم القيامة بصدَقةٍ، وصِلة رحم، وعِتْقٍ، فيُخَفِّفُ اللَّه عنه بذلك من عذابه، واستشهد بقَضيةِ أبي طالب حين جعله اللَّه في ضَحْضاح من نارٍ يَغْلي منهُ دِمَاغُه (٣) . وفي هذا نظر، إذ قد يكون هذا خاصًّا به، لأجل حياطةِ رسول اللَّه ﷺ ونُصْرته له، أو لأجل شفاعة فيه، أن يجعل في ذلك المكان، وكما سُقي أبو لهب في النُّقرة التي هي في ظهر الإبهام، بسبَبِ عتاقته ثُوَيْبَةَ التي أرضعَتْ رسول اللَّه ﷺ (٤) ، واستدلَّ القُرطبيّ على ذلك بعموم قوله تعالى: ﴿وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا وَإِنْ كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا وَكَفَى بِنَا حَاسِبِينَ (٤٧) ﴾ [الأنبياء] . قلت: وقُصارى هذه الآية العمومُ، فيُخصُّ من ذلك الكافرون؛ وقد سئل رسول اللَّه ﷺ عن عبد اللَّه بن جُدْعانَ، وذُكرَ له أنَّه كان يَقْري الضَّيْفَ، ويطعم الجائع، ويَصِلُ الرِّحِمَ، وَيُعْتِقُ، فهل نفعه ذلك؟ قال: "لا، إنَّه لم يَقُلْ يومًا من الدَّهر: لا إله إِلَّا اللَّه" [وفي

(١) رواه البخاري رقم (٤٧١٢) ومسلم (١٩٤). (٢) رواه بمعناه مسلم رقم (٢٨٠٨). (٣) رواه مسلم رقم (٢١٠). (٤) هو في البخاري رقم (٥١٠١) مرسل، أرسله عروة ولم يذكر من حدثه به. قال الحافظ في "الفتح": وعلى تقدير أن يكون موصولًا، فالذي في الخبر رؤيا منام، فلا حجة فيه، ولعل الذي رآها لم يكن إذ ذاك أسلم بعد فلا يحتج به.