Greatest Losers / Evident Loss

وَمَنۡ أَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفۡتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًاۚ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ يُعۡرَضُونَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمۡ وَيَقُولُ ٱلۡأَشۡهَٰدُ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَبُواْ عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمۡۚ أَلَا لَعۡنَةُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ١٨ ٱلَّذِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَبۡغُونَهَا عِوَجٗا وَهُم بِٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ هُمۡ كَٰفِرُونَ ١٩ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ لَمۡ يَكُونُواْ مُعۡجِزِينَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا كَانَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مِنۡ أَوۡلِيَآءَۘ يُضَٰعَفُ لَهُمُ ٱلۡعَذَابُۚ مَا كَانُواْ يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ ٱلسَّمۡعَ وَمَا كَانُواْ يُبۡصِرُونَ ٢٠ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓاْ أَنفُسَهُمۡ وَضَلَّ عَنۡهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يَفۡتَرُونَ ٢١ لَا جَرَمَ أَنَّهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ هُمُ ٱلۡأَخۡسَرُونَ ٢٢

And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah. Such will be brought before their Lord, and the witnesses will say, “These are the ones who lied against their Lord!” No doubt! The Curse of Allah is on the Zalimun (polytheists, wrongdoers, oppressors). Those who hinder (others) from the path of Allah (Islamic Monotheism), and seek a crookedness therein, while they are disbelievers in the Hereafter. By no means will they escape (from Allah’s torment) on earth, nor have they protectors besides Allah! Their torment will be doubled! They could not bear to hear (the preachers of the truth) and they used not to see (the truth because of their severe aversion, in spite of the fact that they had the sense of hearing and sight). They are those who have lost their own selves, and their invented false deities will vanish from them. Certainly, they are those who will be the greatest losers in the Hereafter.

Surah 11 Hud Verses 18-22

• To invent a lie against Allah consists of stating that beings other than Allah also have a share with Allah in His Godhead, that like Allah they are also entitled to be served and worshiped by Allah’s creatures. Inventing a lie against Allah also consists of stating that Allah is not concerned with providing guidance to His creatures, that He did not raise Prophets for that purpose, and that He rather left men free to behave as they pleased. Inventing a lie against Allah also consists of stating that Allah created human beings by way of jest and sport and that He will not have them render an account to Him, and that He will not requite them for their deeds.
• 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 Quran, 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 (pbuh) said: ‘He who introduces a misleading innovation which does not please Allah 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’. 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’. 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.
• 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; where all human beings are brought together, their full records are made available, and the reckoning is made by Allah 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.

قُلۡ هَلۡ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِٱلۡأَخۡسَرِينَ أَعۡمَٰلًا ١٠٣ ٱلَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعۡيُهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَهُمۡ يَحۡسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمۡ يُحۡسِنُونَ صُنۡعًا ١٠٤ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِ‍َٔايَٰتِ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلِقَآئِهِۦ فَحَبِطَتۡ أَعۡمَٰلُهُمۡ فَلَا نُقِيمُ لَهُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ وَزۡنٗا ١٠٥ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمۡ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُواْ وَٱتَّخَذُوٓاْ ءَايَٰتِي وَرُسُلِي هُزُوًا ١٠٦

Say (O Muhammad, pbuh): “Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. They are those who deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, signs) of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So, their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them. That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved and took My Ayat and My Messengers by way of jest and mockery”.

Surah 18 Al-Kahf Verses 103-106

• The fact that these verses were revealed concerning the mushrikeen (idolaters and polytheists) is something about which there can be no doubt, because this verse is Makkan (revealed in Makkah). This does not, however, mean that it cannot include others; it also includes the Jews and Christians, according to the wording, the meaning and the ruling. And it includes the followers of innovation and misguidance, commensurate with what their beliefs and actions include of misguidance and things that are contrary to Shariah. So, the nullification of their good deeds – in these verses – is complete in the case of the kuffaar, mushrikeen and apostates; as for the followers of innovation and misguidance among the Muslims, their deeds are not nullified completely; rather those that are innovated and contrary to Shariah are nullified. So, the Ayah is general and refers to everyone who worships Allah in a way that is not acceptable, thinking that he is right in doing that and that his deeds will be accepted, but he is mistaken and his deeds will be rejected.
• The reference here is also to those who confined all their endeavors to the worldly life. That is, whatever they did, they did for this world without paying any regard to Allah and the Hereafter. As they considered the worldly life to be the real life, they made the success and prosperity in this world their sole aim and object. Even if they professed the existence of Allah, they never paid any heed to the two implications of this profession: to lead their lives in a way to please Allah and to come out successful on the Day they shall have to render an account of what they did in this world. This was because they considered themselves to be mere rational animals who were absolutely independent and free from every kind of responsibility and had nothing else to do but to enjoy the good things of the world like animals in a meadow.

• When the disbelievers will go before their Lord, and all their deeds shall be placed in the scales, they will have no weight at all whether they had built great palaces, established great universities and libraries, set up great factories and laboratories, constructed highways and railways, in short, all their inventions, industries, sciences and arts and other things of which they were very proud in this world, will lose their weights in the scales. The only thing which will have weight there will be that which had been done in accordance with the divine instructions and with the intention to please Allah. It is, therefore, obvious that if all of one’s endeavors were confined to the worldly things and the achievement of worldly desires whose results one would see in this world, one should not reasonably expect to see their results in the Hereafter, for they would have gone waste with the end of this world. It is equally obvious, that only the deeds of the one, who performed them strictly in accordance with His instructions to win His approval with a view to avail of their results in the Hereafter, will find that his deeds had weight in the scales.

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَعۡبُدُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرۡفٖۖ فَإِنۡ أَصَابَهُۥ خَيۡرٌ ٱطۡمَأَنَّ بِهِۦۖ وَإِنۡ أَصَابَتۡهُ فِتۡنَةٌ ٱنقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجۡهِهِۦ خَسِرَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَٱلۡأٓخِرَةَۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡخُسۡرَانُ ٱلۡمُبِينُ ١١ يَدۡعُواْ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُۥ وَمَا لَا يَنفَعُهُۥۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلضَّلَٰلُ ٱلۡبَعِيدُ ١٢ يَدۡعُواْ لَمَن ضَرُّهُۥٓ أَقۡرَبُ مِن نَّفۡعِهِۦۚ لَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡمَوۡلَىٰ وَلَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡعَشِيرُ ١٣

And among mankind is he who worships Allah as it were upon the edge (i.e., in doubt): if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face (i.e., reverts to disbelief after embracing Islam). He loses both this world and the Hereafter. That is evident loss. He calls besides Allah to that which can neither harm him nor profit him. That is a straying far away. He calls to him whose harm is nearer than his profit; certainly, an evil Maula (patron) and certainly an evil friend!

Surah 22 Al-Hajj Verses 11-13

• This is a great moral proposition that has been stated concisely. The fact is that the wavering man remains a loser in this world as well as in the next world, and fares worse even than an unbeliever. The unbeliever applies himself exclusively to the benefits of this world and becomes more or less successful in his object because he is not handicapped by the fear of Allah, accountability of the Hereafter and restrictions of divine law. Likewise, a true believer follows the way of Allah with fortitude and perseverance and may as well become successful in this world, but even if he loses it altogether, he is assured of success in the next world. But the wavering Muslim becomes a loser both in this world and in the next world because he is handicapped by doubt and indecision and cannot make his choice between the two worlds. As he cannot decide whether there is Allah and the Hereafter, he cannot apply himself exclusively to the worldly affairs with that single-mindedness which the unbeliever enjoys. And when he thinks of Allah and the Hereafter, the allurements of this world and the fear of the disadvantages here and the abhorrence of observing the divine restrictions do not let him apply himself exclusively to the demands of the Hereafter. This conflict between Allah worship and world worship makes him a loser in this world as well as in the next.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمۡ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ فَهُمۡ يَعۡمَهُونَ ٤ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَهُمۡ سُوٓءُ ٱلۡعَذَابِ وَهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ هُمُ ٱلۡأَخۡسَرُونَ ٥

Verily, those who believe not in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so that they wander about blindly. They are those for whom there will be an evil torment (in this world). And in the Hereafter, they will be the greatest losers.

Surah 27 An- Naml Verses 4-5

• This is Allah’s law of nature and the natural logic of human psychology that when man thinks that the results of his life’s struggle are confined to this world only, when he does not believe in the existence of any court where his life’s work has to be scrutinized and judged finally for good and evil, and when he does not believe in any life in Hereafter when he will be requited strictly in accordance with the real worth of his life’s deeds, he will inevitably develop in himself a material outlook on life, and every kind of conflict between the truth and falsehood, good and evil, morality and immorality, will appear utterly meaningless to him. Then, whatever earns him pleasure and enjoyment, material progress and prosperity, power and authority, will be the good for him, no matter it be any philosophy of life, any way of life and any system of morality. He will have no concern for truth and reality. His real ambition will be to win successes and earn adornments only of this worldly life, and their pursuit will lead him astray into every valley. Then, whatever he does with this object in view will be a thing of beauty for him, and he will regard all those others as foolish, who are not absorbed like him in seeking the world, and doing anything and everything without any moral qualm and inhibition.

قُلِ ٱللَّهَ أَعۡبُدُ مُخۡلِصٗا لَّهُۥ دِينِي ١٤ فَٱعۡبُدُواْ مَا شِئۡتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦۗ قُلۡ إِنَّ ٱلۡخَٰسِرِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓاْ أَنفُسَهُمۡ وَأَهۡلِيهِمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِۗ أَلَا ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡخُسۡرَانُ ٱلۡمُبِينُ ١٥

Say (O Muhammad, pbuh): “Allah Alone I worship by doing religious deeds sincerely for His sake only”. So, worship what you like besides Him. Say (O Muhammad, pbuh): “The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Verily, that will be a manifest loss!”

Surah 39 Az-Zumar Verses 14-15

• Bankruptcy is loss of a person’s capital and failure of his business so that he is unable to pay his debts in full. This same metaphor Allah has used here for the disbelievers and polytheists. The sum total of whatever man has gotten in this worldly life, his intellect, body, powers, capabilities, means and opportunities are, in fact, the capital which he invests in the business of the worldly life. If a person invested all this capital on the hypothesis that there is no God, or that there are many gods, whose servant he is, and that he is not accountable to anyone, or that someone else will rescue him on Judgment Day, it would mean that he made a losing bargain and lost all his capital. This is his first loss. His second loss is that in everything that he did, on the basis of the wrong hypothesis, he went on wronging himself and many other men, and the coming generations and many other creatures of Allah, throughout his life. Thus, he got into countless debts, but has no money with which he may fully pay his debts. Over and above this, he has not only himself incurred this loss, but has caused the same loss to his children and near and dear ones and friends by his wrong education and training and wrong example. It is these three losses together which Allah has called khusran-i-mubin (utter bankruptcy – obvious loss) in this verse.