Best of Deeds

مَا كَانَ لِأَهۡلِ ٱلۡمَدِينَةِ وَمَنۡ حَوۡلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابِ أَن يَتَخَلَّفُواْ عَن رَّسُولِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَرۡغَبُواْ بِأَنفُسِهِمۡ عَن نَّفۡسِهِۦۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمۡ لَا يُصِيبُهُمۡ ظَمَأٞ وَلَا نَصَبٞ وَلَا مَخۡمَصَةٞ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَطَ‍ُٔونَ مَوۡطِئٗا يَغِيظُ ٱلۡكُفَّارَ وَلَا يَنَالُونَ مِنۡ عَدُوّٖ نَّيۡلًا إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُم بِهِۦ عَمَلٞ صَٰلِحٌۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجۡرَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ ١٢٠ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَ نَفَقَةٗ صَغِيرَةٗ وَلَا كَبِيرَةٗ وَلَا يَقۡطَعُونَ وَادِيًا إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُمۡ لِيَجۡزِيَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَحۡسَنَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ ١٢١

It was not becoming of the people of Al-Madinah and the Bedouins of the neighbourhood to remain behind Allah’s Messenger (Muhammad, pbuh, when fighting in Allah’s Cause) and to prefer their own lives to his life. That is because they suffer neither thirst nor fatigue nor hunger in the Cause of Allah, nor do they take any step to raise the anger of disbelievers nor inflict any injury upon an enemy, but is written to their credit as a deed of righteousness. Surely, Allah wastes not the reward of the Muhsinun. Nor do they spend anything (in Allah’s Cause) – small or great – nor cross a valley, but is written to their credit that Allah may recompense them with the best of what they used to do.

Surah 9 At-Taubah Verses 120-121

• The sentence, “recompense them with the best of what they used to do” has two meanings:

(1) Man will be given his rewards on the basis of the best of his deeds; and

(2) he will be rewarded better and more handsomely than what he will actually deserve for his deeds.

• This thing has been stated at other places also in the Quran. For instance, in (Surah Al-Anam: Ayat 160), it has been said: “He who will bring a good deed before Allah, will receive a tenfold reward for it”, and in (Surah Al-Qasas: Ayat 84): “Whoever brings a good deed, shall have a better reward than that”, and in (Surah An-Nisa: Ayat 40): “Indeed Allah does not wrong anyone even by a jot: if one does a good deed, He increases it manifold.”

مَا عِندَكُمۡ يَنفَدُ وَمَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ بَاقٖۗ وَلَنَجۡزِيَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ صَبَرُوٓاْ أَجۡرَهُم بِأَحۡسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٦ مَنۡ عَمِلَ صَٰلِحٗا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوۡ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤۡمِنٞ فَلَنُحۡيِيَنَّهُۥ حَيَوٰةٗ طَيِّبَةٗۖ وَلَنَجۡزِيَنَّهُمۡ أَجۡرَهُم بِأَحۡسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٧

Whatever is with you, will be exhausted, and whatever is with Allah (of good deeds) will remain. And those who are patient, We will certainly pay them a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do. Whoever works righteousness – whether male or female – while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do.

Surah 16 An-Nahl Verses 96-97

رِجَالٞ لَّا تُلۡهِيهِمۡ تِجَٰرَةٞ وَلَا بَيۡعٌ عَن ذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَإِيتَآءِ ٱلزَّكَوٰةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوۡمٗا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ وَٱلۡأَبۡصَٰرُ ٣٧ لِيَجۡزِيَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَحۡسَنَ مَا عَمِلُواْ وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضۡلِهِۦۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَرۡزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيۡرِ حِسَابٖ ٣٨

Men whom neither trade nor sale (business) diverts from the remembrance of Allah (with heart and tongue) nor from performing As-Salat (the prayers) nor from giving Zakat (obligatory charity). They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will be overturned (out of horror of the torment of the Day of Resurrection). That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace. And Allah provides without measure to whom He wills.

Surah 24 An-Nur Verses 37-38

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ لَنُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنۡهُمۡ سَيِّ‍َٔاتِهِمۡ وَلَنَجۡزِيَنَّهُمۡ أَحۡسَنَ ٱلَّذِي كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ ٧

Those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall expiate from them their evil deeds and shall reward them according to the best of that which they used to do.

Surah 29 Al-Ankabut Verse 7

وَٱلَّذِي جَآءَ بِٱلصِّدۡقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِۦٓ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُتَّقُونَ ٣٣ لَهُم مَّا يَشَآءُونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡۚ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ ٣٤ لِيُكَفِّرَ ٱللَّهُ عَنۡهُمۡ أَسۡوَأَ ٱلَّذِي عَمِلُواْ وَيَجۡزِيَهُمۡ أَجۡرَهُم بِأَحۡسَنِ ٱلَّذِي كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ ٣٥

And he (Muhammad, pbuh) who has brought the truth (this Quran and Islamic Monotheism) and (those who) believed therein, those are the Al-Muttaqun (the pious and the righteous). They shall have all that they will desire with their Lord. That is the reward of the Muhsinun (good-doers). So that Allah may expiate from them the evil of what they did and give them the reward, according to the best of what they used to do.

Surah 39 Az-Zumar Verses 33-35

وَوَصَّيۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيۡهِ إِحۡسَٰنًاۖ حَمَلَتۡهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرۡهٗا وَوَضَعَتۡهُ كُرۡهٗاۖ وَحَمۡلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهۡرًاۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرۡبَعِينَ سَنَةٗ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوۡزِعۡنِيٓ أَنۡ أَشۡكُرَ نِعۡمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَيَّ وَأَنۡ أَعۡمَلَ صَٰلِحٗا تَرۡضَىٰهُ وَأَصۡلِحۡ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِيٓۖ إِنِّي تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ ١٥ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنۡهُمۡ أَحۡسَنَ مَا عَمِلُواْ وَنَتَجَاوَزُ عَن سَيِّ‍َٔاتِهِمۡ فِيٓ أَصۡحَٰبِ ٱلۡجَنَّةِۖ وَعۡدَ ٱلصِّدۡقِ ٱلَّذِي كَانُواْ يُوعَدُونَ ١٦

And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship. And she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: “My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my offspring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will)”. They are those from whom We shall accept the best of their deeds and overlook their evil deeds. (They shall be) among the dwellers of Paradise – a promise of truth, which they have been promised.

Surah 46 Al-Ahqaf Verses 15-16

• That is, their ranks in the Hereafter will be determined by the best deeds they would have done in the world, and their lapses and weaknesses and errors will be overlooked. It is just like a generous and appreciative master who determines the worth of his loyal and obedient servant not by the petty services that he renders but by some work of merit that he might accomplish or a feat of devotion and dedication that he might perform. He will not call his servant to account for his minor shortcomings and look over his major services.

Let us summarise the prerequisites for being adjudged in this merciful manner:

Prerequisites required for being rewarded for the best of Our deeds

Let us try to graphically understand what does being rewarded according to the best of their deeds or in proportion of their deeds mean:

[CHART]

[CHART]

The purport of the Verses mentioned earlier can be understood by the above (fictitious) weightage table wherein some random weightage has been accorded to the good deeds done by a believer (in Islamic Monotheism) with the intention to please Allah and in the manner approved by the Shariah. Quran says that given certain conditions to be met (as detailed earlier), Allah shall reward such a believer for the best of the deeds performed by him. The duration of consideration is not mentioned. For example, in the above table considering the Salat offered during a day, the person offering it shall be rewarded by 5x5 = 25 weightage points even though he has actually done deeds worth [5+2+3+2.5+3.5 = 16] (good deeds) – [0.5+0.25+0.75+0.5+1 = 3] (minor shortcomings) = 13 weightage points. Similarly, in the second table, for the Sadaqat offered during a year the person shall be rewarded by 5x4 = 20 weightage points even though he has actually done deeds worth 4+2.5+1.5+5 = 13 weightage points. The grace also accompanies forgiveness from the shortcomings (V 29:7; 39:35; 46:16). This shortcoming represents the lacunae in the efforts or perfection of the act but not in the fundamentals of Tawhid and Shariah.

While the (fictitious) graphical chart depicted on the previous page is only an example the purpose of which is easy assimilation of the idea, there are certain important points necessary to be mentioned so as to avoid any misunderstanding on the issue:

1. All deeds require correct intentions (the intention to please Allah and no one else) and correct manner (according to the Shariah of Islam) of doing them, without which they are of no value; and something that is no value cannot be rewarded in higher proportions.
2. The Grace of Allah in the lenient/encouraging assessment should not become a means of performing poor quality deeds most of the times, in the hope that one shall be rewarded for “best of one’s deeds”. There are several reasons why this approach is a fallacy:

1. If you intend to perform poorly, then you are violating the basic rule as stated in SL No 1 (above) that deeds are measured by their intentions. It, therefore, turns out that one should perform all deeds with full submissiveness and efforts towards perfection. To the extent he fails, because of his human weakness, he may be rewarded by Allah in a greater measure than the deed’s worth.
2. Anyone who wants to gain favour of this Mercy of Allah should want that while being rewarded according to the best of our deeds, the best of our deeds should be of a very high standard. Let’s say in the example above, if we intend to increase our rewards by this principle, we need to enhance the weightage point of Salah (Fajr in this case) from 5 points to 7 points or 10 points or even more. However, to do that one will require to increase his overall standards of performance of deeds. This is because of the simple fact that one cannot increase the performance of one’s deeds in isolation. All pre-requisites for performance, like knowledge, understanding, taqwah (Piety, righteousness), practice and khushu-khuzu (humility and integrity) are mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing. It, therefore, turns out that only by increasing your general performance can the best performance be enhanced.
3. The only guarantee given by Allah about the deeds not being lost are for those done with perfection:

Verily! As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, certainly! We shall not suffer to be lost the reward of anyone who does his (righteous) deeds in the most perfect manner. [Surah 18 Al-Kahf Verse 30]

The others are always under scanner to be rejected.

4. The pre-requisites mentioned earlier in the table for getting rewarded according to the best of our deeds in itself require a continuous enhancement of our overall religious compass towards dedication and perfection.

3. The rewarding according to the best of one’s deeds is a mercy from Allah; but it is not restricted to the best of the deeds. At two places in the Quran (which the writer could find) Allah says that He shall give even more, out of His Grace [See V 24:38 and V 35:29-30]. There are also verses about specific acts of goodness which are multiplied many times like V 2:261 (for spending in Allah’s Cause) and there are others. Narrated Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, pbuh, said:

‘Every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times. Allah the Exalted says: Except for fasting, for it is done for my sake and I will reward it’.