Theological Instructions

LESSON FIFTY-FOUR: THE ROLE OF FAITH AND BLASHEMY IN ONE’S ETERNAL PROSPERITY OR ADVERSITY

Introduction

The point of discussion is as to whether eternal prosperity will be caused by faith and good deeds jointly or independently and irrespective of each other. Also whether disbelief and rebellion against God will independently result in eternal punishment or both will cause it together, and if the latter is right, what then happens if a person manages to have only one of the above (i.e., belief in God or good deeds).

The same point is true if an individual has no belief in God and performs sinful deeds; what would happen to such a person? Moreover, if a believer commits many sins and a disbeliever performs a number of good deeds, will they be prosperous or in adversity? Hence, if a person has passed part of his life believing in God and in the performance of good deeds and another part in disbelief and in the committal of sins, what would his fate be?

Such points have been taken into consideration since the first century of the presence of Islam. Some people such as the Kharijite[3] believed that committing sins was an independent cause for one’s eternal adversity and that it further causes disbelief and apostasy. However, other groups such as the Murjeia[4] believed that faith was sufficient for eternal prosperity, and by committing a sin; the prosperous life of the believer was not threatened.

Nevertheless, the truth is that not every sin leads to disbelief and bad luck; however, the accumulation of sins will destroy faith. It means, nonetheless, that faith does not cause sins to be forgiven and does not make one free from punishment.

In this lesson, I will first explain the nature of belief and disbelief, and secondly, their role in eternal prosperity and adversity will be discussed. Other (relevant) points will be dealt with in future lessons.

The nature of faith and disbelief

Faith is an inner, spiritual state, which is formed (in a person), due to:

  1. knowledge of a concept, and 2) having a tendency towards it. The intensity or weakness in each of them will cause the perfection or deficiency of faith. However, unless a person is aware of something, even speculatively, he will not believe in it. Nevertheless, knowledge or awareness does not suffice, because the subject of one’s knowledge or its requisites might be contrary or against one’s desires, and therefore, he may decide not to behave accordingly or even to function against it.

As the Holy Qur’an with respect to the followers of Pharaoh maintains:

“They impugned them -though they were convinced in their hearts- wrongfully and defiantly. So observe how was the fate of the agents of corruption!” (al-Naml:14) Moses (a) addressed Pharaoh and said:

“You certainly know that no one has sent these [signs] except the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-openers” (al- Isrā’:102). Although he (Pharaoh) did not believe in God, he said to the people:

“I do not know of any God that you may have other than me” (al-Qasas:38).

Only when he was about to drown, he said:

“I believe that there is no god except Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of those who submit [to Him]!” (Yūnus: 90)

However, we found earlier that such compulsory faith, if it can be called so, is not accepted by God (See lesson 9). Therefore, the essence of faith is in one’s inner tendency, and willingness; this is contrary to the acquisition of knowledge and awareness, which can be achieved unwillingly. Thus, faith can be called a ‘cordially force-free act’ (i.e. expansion of the meaning of the word ‘act’) in this way faith can also be regarded as a type of action.

On the other hand, the term disbelief is sometimes employed as lack of the ‘faculty of faith’ (malakat-al-Īmān). Lack of faith is a result of doubt and ignorance or due to compound ignorance, or even as a result of a contradictory tendency. This is manifested in the form of intentional rejection and enmity, is called ‘disbelief’. It may, nevertheless, in some cases amount to enmity - an observable phenomenon considered as anti-faith.

The norm of faith and disbelief

Our understanding from the Holy Qur’an and traditions makes us believe that the minimum amount of faith necessary for eternal prosperity is belief in:

God, reward and punishment in the Hereafter, and in the rightfulness of whatever has been revealed to the prophets. Such a belief also necessitates one’s decision to behave accordingly with the orders of God; however, the highest level of faith is specific to the prophets and Imams.

On the other hand, the minimum amount of disbelief is the denial or rejection of: monotheism, prophethood, Resurrection or in whatever one has ascertained that has been sent by God to His prophets. However, the worst stage of disbelief is the hostile rejection of all such facts, whilst knowing that they are all true; and further being determined to fight against the true religion.

The above identification suggests polytheism (denying monotheism) as a manifestation of disbelief. However, hypocrisy is considered as inner disbelief mixed with deception whilst outwardly behaving like a Muslim.

Moreover, the hypocrite’s (disbeliever) decline is much harsher than that of the other disbelievers, as the Holy Qur’an states:“Indeed the hypocrites will be in the lowest reach of the Fire” (al-Nisā:145) The point to be mentioned here is that Islam and disbelief, which are discussed in jurisprudence and which are the subjects of the approval or rejection of cleanliness, formal slaughtering of an animal, marriage and heritage, do not necessarily involve faith and disbelief being discussed as the principles of religion. It is possible for a person to express the Islamic formula (Shahādatān) and consider the rightfulness of Islamic jurisprudence, yet in his heart, such a person may hold no sincere belief in their contents and the requisites of monotheism and prophethood.

Moreover, if one is not capable of realising the principles of religion (i.e. a mad or stupid person), or if one, due to the conditions of his society cannot find the true religion, he will be forgiven for such a failure. However, if another person fails to find the true religion whilst having access to all the necessary means for such recognition or if a person remains in doubt or denies the principles and necessities of the religion with no specific reason, he will not be forgiven and will be sentenced to eternal punishment.

The effect of faith and disbelief on eternal prosperity or adversity

Since man’s true perfection is due to his closeness to God, and on the other hand, his decline is the result of being far from Him, it is reasonable to claim that belief in God and His canonical and creative dominance which necessitate belief in Resurrection and prophethood, is the sapling of man’s true evolution. In that case, man’s God- pleasing deeds resemble the sapling’s branches, and the leaves and fruit will be the eternal prosperity represented in the Hereafter. Thus, when a person fails to plant the seeds of faith in his heart or would rather plant the poisonous seeds of disbelief and rebellion instead, he has then ruined and wasted the gifts provided for him by Almighty God. He has subsequently planted for himself a tree, whose bitter fruit is the ‘Zaqūm’ from Hell. Such a person will not approach eternal prosperity and his good deeds will have no effect beyond this world.

The reason why such a person’s good deeds have no effect beyond this world is that each free deed done by man is an attempt for his soul to approach its final objective specified by God. How is it possible for one who does not believe in the eternal world and in life close to God, to consider such an objective and manage his behavior so that it can be obtained? Such a person cannot naturally expect eternal reward from God.

However, the only acceptable point about the disbelievers’ good deeds is that such deeds may reduce their punishment as they weaken selfishness and enmity.

Evidence from the Qur’an

The Holy Qur’an reminds us of the fundamental role of faith in man’s eternal prosperity, and in addition to employing the term ‘good deeds’ after ‘faith’ in numerous verses, has emphasized that faith guarantees that good deeds will affect our prosperity in the Hereafter. In relation to the same point, the Holy Qur’an states:

“And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, should he be faithful- such shall enter paradise and they will not be wronged [so much as] the speck on a date-stone” (al-Nisā:124 see also al-Naml:97, al-Isrā:19, TāHa:112, al-Anbiyā:94) On the other hand, the Qur’an also states how the disbelievers will be greeted with Hell and punishment in the Hereafter and their deeds have been described as being useless and spoilt. In one verse such deeds have been compared to ashes, which have been scattered and then blown away by the wind:

“A parable of those who defy their Lord:

their deeds are like ashes over which the wind blows hard on a tempestuous day:

they have no power over anything they have earned. That is extreme error”. (Ibrāhīm:18) In another verse, the Holy Qur’an states that the deeds

of the disbelievers will be scattered in the sky like dust:“Then We shall attend to the works they have done and then turn them into scattered dust” (al-Furqān:23) In addition to this, such deeds have also been compared to a mirage in which a thirsty person believes; however, when he reaches it he finds no water:

“As for the faithless, their works are like a mirage in a plain, which the thirsty man supposes to be water. When he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing; but there he finds Allah, who will pay him his full account, and Allah is swift at reckoning” (al-Nūr:39) “Or like the manifold darkness in a deep sea, covered by billow upon billow, overcast by clouds, manifold [layers of] darkness, one on the top of another:

when he brings out his hand, he can hardly see it, and one whom Allah has not granted any light has no light” (al-Nūr:40) (The metaphor here is that a disbeliever moves in darkness and will go nowhere.) In other verses, the Holy Qur’an maintains that the advocates of this world will meet the results of their deeds in the same world and will not find any benefit (out of their deeds) in the Hereafter. One such verse is as follows:

“As for those who desire the life of this world and its glitter, We will recompense them fully for their works therein, and they shall not be underpaid in it. They are the ones for whom for whom there shall be nothing in the Hereafter but Fire: what they have accomplished in the world has failed, and their works have come to naught” (Hūd:15-16, see:

al-Isrā:18, al-Shūra:20, al-Ahqāf:20) Such verses reveal the little amount of knowledge of those who claim they know Islam but prefer the infidel non-Muslim scholars to the Shi’ah’s great scientists (like Khaja nasīr al-dīn Tūsi and Allamah Majlisi).

Questions

  1. Explain the viewpoints of the Kharijite and Murjeia about faith and disbelief, and discuss the correct idea.

  2. Discuss the nature of faith and disbelief and their relationship with knowledge and ignorance.

  3. Explain the norm of faith and disbelief.

  4. What is the relationship between polytheism and hypocrisy with disbelief?

  5. Make a comparison between Islam and disbelief according to jurisprudence with faith and disbelief according to theology.

  6. Discuss the effect of faith and disbelief on eternal prosperity and adversity, and explain the reason behind it.

  7. Discuss the Qur’anic evidence representing such an effect (Question 6 above).