Is this a contradiction?

[IjazAhmad]

Salamun Alaikum Br. Joseph!

This was written by a Facebook "friend" (I think he is an atheist)

In 21:47, Allah talks about 'mizan' (justice scale, to check 'wazan' of good and bad deeds, a kind of tarazu) at the judgement day, and Allah will not wrong any soul and even if there is deeds (good or bad) as small as weight of mustard seed , Allah will bring it into consideration. So, Allah will also judge deeds of disbelivers using mizan!

But, in 5:5, 3:22 and 2:217, Allah says : Deeds of all those humans will become useless/irrelevent, those who will deny Islam i.e., all those humans who will die in disbelief, whether good or bad will go down as waste this is clear cut contradiction with sura 21:47

Allah will take into consideration good and bad deeds of only those human who will die as Muslim and Mu'min, thus it means that mizan will work/activate only for Muslims and Mu'mins!

Now, if we read 6:160, Allah says that one good deed is 10 Points and 1 bad deed will be -1 point, am I right brother? For example: if a muslim commits 10 bad deeds and only 1 good deed then his/her mizan will indicate ZERO ( 10 - 10 = 0 ), if a muslim commits 9 bad deeds and only 1 Good Deed , then his/her mizan will indicate : +1 ( 10 - 9 = 1 ), Thus, he /she will get Paradise. In other words, a Muslim can get paradise even if he/she has committed just 10% good deeds and 90% bad deeds and a disbeliver (atheists , idol worshippers , jesus -worshippers) will get HELL even if he/she has committed 100% Good deeds and not a single bad deed

WHY ?

Because of DISBELIEF, his /her MIZAN will not be activated and he/she wil only get HELL.

NOTE : And what about those Muslims and Mu'mins, whose Mizan will indicate ZERO ( 10 bad deed and 1 good deed , or , 90;9 % bad deeds and 9.1 % good deeds )?? well, they will spend some time on ARAF ( sura 7 , verses 46-47-48-49 ) , vertical Walls separating Paradise and Hell) after that , Allah will send them into Paradise !!

UNJUST SYSTEM OF ALLAH !!


Wasalaam
Ijaz, A.

[Joseph Islam]

Wa alaikum assalam brother Ijaz,

Please see my responses in red below.

In 21:47, Allah talks about 'mizan' (justice scale, to check 'wazan' of good and bad deeds, a kind of tarazu) at the judgement day, and Allah will not wrong any soul and even if there is deeds (good or bad) as small as weight of mustard seed , Allah will bring it into consideration. So, Allah will also judge deeds of disbelivers using mizan!

But, in 5:5, 3:22 and 2:217, Allah says : Deeds of all those humans will become useless/irrelevent, those who will deny Islam i.e., all those humans who will die in disbelief, whether good or bad will go down as waste this is clear cut contradiction with sura 21:47

This deduction is absolutely incorrect. The Quran refers to disbelievers (kuffar) as those that deny belief after the truth has been clearly manifested to them. This goes to the heart of the definition of 'Kufr' (i.e. disbelief) from a Quran's perspective, who are those that deny clear revelations once the truth has been manifested clearly to them. Please see article [1] below. The Quran is not referring to those to whom the message has not been manifested clearly, especially by a messenger of God. Even in the context of a serious war, those ignorant 'mushriks' (idolaters) that were captured during the prophetic ministry were to be taken to a safe place and carefully taught the message (9.6). God did not condemn them. Also there are two broad conditions to attaining felicity from a Quran's perspective. One is of correct doctrines (belief) after the truth has been clearly manifested to the best of one's abilities and circumstances and second, one's good actions. Good actions alone will not guarantee felicity and nor will correct beliefs alone.

Allah will take into consideration good and bad deeds of only those human who will die as Muslim and Mu'min, thus it means that mizan will work/activate only for Muslims and Mu'mins!

This statement is absolutely incorrect and there is no unequivocal justification for this statement in the Quran. God is Most Just and will judge everyone fairly including those that have not received the message clearly. Even when Pharaoh asked as to what would happen to those generations of old (20:51), Prophet Moses replied unequivocally, that they would be judged by One who has accounted for everything without fail and never errs (20:52). Not an iota of injustice would take place (34:3, 99:7, 99:8, and 10:61). It is very important to remember that rejecting the truth once it has been clearly manifested to one (kufr), is an act of extreme arrogance and defiance and thus, should never be ‘weighted’ lightly. There are arguably numerous humans on the planet today who have not been conveyed a clear message of the Quran, and in the absence of a Prophet of God, they can only be judged by God individually. Those that were being branded as 'disbelievers' by the Quran during the prophetic ministry were rejecting the message whilst the message was being manifested clearly by a prophet of God. Those that have rejected messengers of God and continued in their transgressions have been utterly destroyed in the past. This is no small matter.

Now, if we read 6:160, Allah says that one good deed is 10 Points and 1 bad deed will be -1 point, am I right brother? For example: if a muslim commits 10 bad deeds and only 1 good deed then his/her mizan will indicate ZERO ( 10 - 10 = 0 ), if a muslim commits 9 bad deeds and only 1 Good Deed , then his/her mizan will indicate : +1 ( 10 - 9 = 1 ), Thus, he /she will get Paradise. In other words, a Muslim can get paradise even if he/she has committed just 10% good deeds and 90% bad deeds and a disbeliver (atheists , idol worshippers , jesus -worshippers) will get HELL even if he/she has committed 100% Good deeds and not a single bad deed

WHY ?

This is an unnecessary oversimplification and wholly non sequitur from a Quranic perspective. Firstly, this verse does not merely address the Muslims or believers and thus the very premise of this shared sentiment, with respect, is wholly unwarranted. It is a general verse. If anything, the previous verse (6:159) is addressing those that transgress.

Secondly, the statement takes the point of emphasis that 'good deeds will be multiplied' and 'bad deeds will only be requited to the measure of the ill' unnecessarily as a formulaic equation which arguably, is not the point of the verses. Furthermore, the calculation takes no account of the innate weighting of different types of good and ill deeds encompassing the fact that some actions weigh heavier than others and similarly, ill deeds must equally have a vast scale of severity. 

Because of DISBELIEF, his /her MIZAN will not be activated and he/she wil only get HELL.

NOTE : And what about those Muslims and Mu'mins, whose Mizan will indicate ZERO ( 10 bad deed and 1 good deed , or , 90;9 % bad deeds and 9.1 % good deeds )?? well, they will spend some time on ARAF ( sura 7 , verses 46-47-48-49 ) , vertical Walls separating Paradise and Hell) after that , Allah will send them into Paradise !!

UNJUST SYSTEM OF ALLAH !! This is an absolutely unjustified deduction and as shown with respect, based on a misunderstanding of the term 'kufr' (disbelief) from a Quranic perspective, unwarranted premises and subsequent non-sequitur conclusions.

I hope this helps, God willing.
Joseph


REFERENCES:

[1] UNDERSTANDING 'KUFR' (DISBELIEF) FROM A QURANIC PERSPECTIVE
http://quransmessage.com/articles/understanding%20kufr%20FM3.htm
[2] FORCED FAITH IS NO FAITH
http://quransmessage.com/articles/forced%20faith%20is%20no%20faith%20FM3.htm

[IjazAhmad]

Thank you Br. Joseph God Bless!

Wasalaam!