namely, the thirst, hunger, and fatigue that afflict them, the rage they cause the disbelievers, and the losses they inflict upon the enemy. He says:

“A righteous deed is recorded for them on account of it.”

He thus explains that these things, which arise and result from their own actions together with other actions independent of them, earn them a recorded righteous deed. In the second verse, He mentions the actions they themselves perform directly: spending and covering distances. Hence, He says there:

“Without it being recorded for them.”

These actions are themselves righteous deeds. In both cases, their will is firmly directed toward their objective: that all worship should be devoted to Allah alone and that Allah’s word should be supreme. Whatever results alongside this resolute will, with their ability contributing to it in some measure, counts as a righteous deed for them.

Likewise, “the one who calls to guidance or misguidance,” whose will is resolutely and fully directed toward his followers’ guidance or misguidance, and who does whatever he can to help bring that about, is like someone who has performed the entire action. His recompense is therefore equal to that of everyone who follows him: the one who guides receives rewards equal to those of the rightly guided, and the one who misleads bears burdens of sin equal to those of the misguided.

The same applies to someone who establishes a good or bad practice, for a practice is a pattern laid down for deliberate observance. The person establishing it fully intends every instance of its being followed, while his own action is limited by his ability.

Another example is the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the hadith reported by Ibn Masʿūd and recorded in both Sahīh collections:

“No soul is killed unjustly without the first son of Adam bearing a share of the guilt for its bloodshed, for he was the first to establish killing.”

Thus, the share