—your Lord—from the children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants.” [Surah al-Aʿrāf 172]

ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘Allah created Adam, then wiped his back with His right hand and brought forth descendants from him, saying: [“I created these for Paradise, and they will do the deeds of the people of Paradise.” Then He wiped his back and brought forth descendants from him, saying:] “I created these for the Fire, and they will do the deeds of the people of the Fire.”’”

A man asked: “Then what is the point of deeds, O Messenger of Allah?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied: “When Allah creates a servant for the Fire, He causes him to do the deeds of the people of the Fire until he dies doing one of their deeds and thereby enters the Fire. When He creates a servant for Paradise, He causes him to do the deeds of the people of Paradise until he dies doing one of their deeds, and thereby He admits him to Paradise.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh reported: “Surāqah ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum came and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, explain our religion to us as though we had only just been created. What is the basis of our deeds today? Do they relate to what the pens have already recorded and dried upon, and what the decrees have determined, or to what