29, All men, whether good or bad, have been granted a definite term in this world which they will spend and obtain their share of worldly happiness and misery.
30. As it is, each group of people is followed, even as it is preceded, by
others. A group which inherits an error of outlook and conduct from its predecessors
passes on the same, in turn, to future generations. In addition, whereas a group
owes its wrong-doing partly to the wrong-doing of its predecessors, it will
also be held responsible for leaving behind an evil legacy for the future generations.
The Qur'an, therefore, pronounces a double punishment on such a group: it will
incur punishment for its own misdeeds and also for leaving behind such a legacy
for the coming generations. A number of traditions elucidate this point. According
to one such tradition the Prophet (peace be on him) said: 'He who introduces
a misleading innovation which does not please God and His Messenger shall be
held guilty for the sins of all those who follow that innovation without lessening
in the least the burden [of sins] of those who followed the innovation,' (Cf.
Ibn Majah, Muqaddimat Bab Man Ahya Sunnah qad umitat, where the words are slightly
different - Ed.) According to another tradition, he said: 'The responsibility
for all the murders committed in the world is shared by the first son of Adam
[i.e. Cain] for he was the first to have innovated murder.' (See Bukhari, Kitab
al-Jana'iz, Bab Qawlih 'alay al-Salam Yu'addhab al-Mayyit bi Ba'd Buka'i ahlih
'alayh - Ed.)
We thus know that the individual or group responsible for introducing a wrong
idea or practice is not only responsible to the extent of those sins, but shares
the responsibility of the sins of all those who are influenced by him. As long
as the evil effects of that influence continue, their sins will be continually
added to his account. This also shows that a person is not only accountable
for the good or bad deeds that he commits. In fact he is also accountable for
the influence of those deeds on others.
This may be illustrated by considering the case of someone who indulges in unlawful
sex. All those whose bad examples, evil company, and inducements to evil caused
a man to indulge in such an act have a share in the sin that he committed. The
persons who influenced him in turn had been influenced by others. Were this
chain of influence traced back to its ultimate origin, the blame would be fixed
on the first person who demonstrated this unlawful way for satiating the sexual
urge.
This does not detract from the fact that anyone who indulged in fornication
is also accountable for the sin he committed. This is so because when he committed
a sin he did so because he failed to make proper use of his capacity to distinguish
between good and evil with which he had been endowed. He also did not pay due
heed to the voice of his conscience, and mobilize the power of self-control
given him. Nor did he benefit from the knowledge of good and evil transmitted
to him by pious men nor was he inspired by the noble examples of the God-fearing.
Nor did he learn any lesson from the evil consequences of sexual misconduct.
Instead, he totally succumbed to blind sexual lust which sought gratification
at all cost. This much relates to the responsibility of the person who indulged
in sexual misconduct.
But there is another dimension of that person's evil conduct - his propagation
of that same evil among others which ruined the lives of countless people belonging
to his own generation and to the generations that follow. It is also possible
that he might have been afflicted by some general disease which he then communicated
to his own generation and also to the generations that followed. His sexual
misconduct might also have given birth to illegitimate children, unjustly passing
on the burden of their upbringing to others, and making his offspring - without
any justification - co-sharers in the fortunes and even the inheritance of others.
The wrong that is thus perpetrated persists for many generations. Likewise,
it is also possible that the said criminal might, by his cunning, have led an
innocent girl to sexually corrupt behaviour. That in turn is likely to awaken
evil propensities in her which wreck the lives and homes of countless families,
even generations. Also, by setting an evil example for his children, relatives,
friends and the society at large a fornicator is likely to cast a bad influence
on people around him and infect others with moral corruption. The evil consequences
of such an act thus linger on for a long time. The moral corruption that ultimately,
engulfs the society owes its origin to the person who initially introduced an
evil. Justice, therefore, demands that such a culprit should also be held responsible
for the subsequent evils which may be traced back to his initial act of corruption.
The same holds true for good deeds. The reward for the heritage of goodness
left behind by our predecessors from the earliest times should inevitably go
to the credit of those men of the past who have continually transmitted that
heritage to posterity down to our own time. If our own generation takes good
care of that heritage, enriches it and passes it on to the coming generation,
it also deserves due reward for that. As long as our good acts leave a trace
of good influence on history and continue to cast a good influence on people,
mankind will reap the benefits of those acts.
This is the Qur'anic view of retribution. Every sensible person will agree that
such a dispensation alone can ensure perfect justice. Appreciation of this concept
should dispel the idea of those who believe that men can be fully rewarded or
punished for their deeds within the confines of this worldly life. Likewise,
such an appreciation should also dispel the views of those who believe that
the transmigration of souls alone can ensure full justice to all men. Such people
have blundered because they have neither grasped fully the nature and consequences
of human acts nor the nature and requirements of perfect justice. It is obvious
that the consequences of individuals' acts are not visible during their life-span
- say sixty or seventy years or so. Instead, human activities, both good and
evil, influence the lives of countless people belonging to countless generations.
One cannot, therefore, be brought to justice during one's own lifetime, since
only a small part of the consequences of those acts have yet come to the surface.
Moreover, the limited possibilities available in the present world are quite
inadequate for bringing people to justice. Just consider the hideous crime of
someone who pushes us to a world war. As things stand, the catastrophic consequences
of such a crime would affect the lives of billions of men through the ages.
Is there any punishment - physical, spiritual or material - which can be deemed
even remotely, proportionate to that crime? Likewise, no worldly reward, however
valuable, can adequately recompense for the noble services rendered by a philanthropist
which will benefit numerous people for thousands of years.
Having viewed the question from this angle. one readily, concludes that there
must necessarily be life in the Hereafter such that full justice can be meted
out to everyone. Here all human beings are brought together, their full records
are made available, and the reckoning is made by God Himself Whose knowledge
embraces literally everything. Additionally, men should be granted unlimited
spans of life, and infinite possibilities should be made available for receiving
compensation.
A little reflection on this will help us see how false the doctrine of the transmigration
of souls is. Those who subscribe to this doctrine fail to realize that eternal
life is needed to mete out recompense to people for the deeds they commit during
their relatively brief spans of life. If one were to believe in the unending
cycle of life and death it would become impossible to reward or punish anyone
for his actions, for each span of life would go on accumulating endlessly. The
arrears would never be cleared.
31. In addition to the above verse, the Qur'an elsewhere recounts the mutual incriminations of the dwellers of Hell. For example, it occurs in Sarah al-Saba' in the following words: 'Could you but see when the wrong-doers will be made to stand before their Lord, throwing back the word (of blame) on one another! Those who had been abased will say to the arrogant ones: "Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!" The arrogant ones will say, to those who had been abased: "Was it we who kept you back from Guidance after it reached you? Nay, rather it was you yourselves who transgressed" ' (al-Saba' 34: 31-2). This means that since the misguided people themselves were not keen on receiving the right guidance, they fell victims even more to the forces of misguidance. Out of their own excessive worldliness they chose to follow their ungodly leaders. Granted that it was the forces of misguidance which had invented ideologies such as materialism, excessive worldliness, and nationalism. But when people were attracted to these false ideologies, they did so out of their own weaknesses. These forces of evil achieved success because what they offered was to the utmost liking of the people. Again, the people who were tempted to embrace counterfeit religious ideologies were themselves to blame for falling prey to them since there was an inner urge in them to accept such ideologies. Rather than submitting to the One True God and to rigorous moral discipline, they looked for deities that would help them to achieve their worldly purposes. Naturally, they invented deities of their own liking. They also desired the intercession of those who would let them grow in worldiness and godlessness, and yet who would also ensure their redemption in the Next World. As they preferred a religion that would not make their life a bit dry, permissive religious cults which did not object to any kind of self-indulgence were developed. This establishes clearly that the external forces of evil alone are not to blame. The people who succumb to evil and error equally share the blame. This neither condones the role of those who seek to mislead others, nor detracts from the responsibility of those who choose to be misled.