By Abu Yahya (in Urdu).	Translated by Fizza Rashid, Kamran Saeed, Mahmud Ansari & Bilal Khan

Chapter 11: At Last..

Jamshaid had yet to be presented for his accountability. Two angels stood beside him close to the throne while he waited for his turn. His face was numb with fear and stress. His appearance showed no signs of affluence of fifty or sixty years spent in the world, but the story of suffering of thousands of years in the Plain of Judgement was clearly etched on his face. I tried to strengthen my heart before going to meet him. As I got nearer, the angels beside him stopped me from getting any closer. However, they relented when Saleh intervened.

Jamshaid had seen me by then. He dashed forward and embraced me. Taking a good look at me, he said. “Father, I have cried so much that even the tears have dried up.”

I could not say anything except patting him on the back. He whispered. “Father, maybe I wasn’t that bad”.

“But you associated with bad people, Son! Association with bad people never leads to good results. You married a girl whose only qualities were beauty and wealth. These attributes are no qualities in the eyes of the Lord. You distanced yourself from us and joined your father-in-laws’ business even when you knew it was tainted with ill-gotten wealth. For the sake of your wife, children and wealth, you became an accomplice. These wrongdoings have brought you to the sad situation that you are faced with today.”

“You’re absolutely correct, father. However, I did perform good deeds too. So, is there any hope?”

I kept quiet. My silence conveyed the answer to him. He said in a dejected tone:

“I have got a fair idea, Father. After seeing my wife, children and in-laws being condemned to Hell, I have realised that today, no one has any say or power. All authority belongs to the Almighty God, whose commands I ignored. If a person’s deeds do not save him today, no power in the universe will be able to help him. I have been wandering wretchedly in this Plain for thousands of years. I have seen innumerable people going to Hell. I have no hope. I have repeatedly sought forgiveness of the Almighty. However, I know that it is of no use today. Father, maybe God will not forgive me. Nevertheless, I want you to forgive me. After all, you are my father!”

After saying that, Jamshaid started to weep bitterly. I tried my best not to cry, but my eyes started to rain tears on the predicament of my son.

In the meantime, Jamshaid’s name was called. The angels separated him from me immediately and presented him in front of the Lord.

He stood, arms folded and head lowered, in front of the Lord of the entire universe. There was pin-drop silence. He kept standing there however, no question was asked of him. I could not understand the reason for it. The reason became apparent in a short while. Naimah arrived along with a few angels. At the same time, Saleh gestured to me and I stepped forward to stand besides Naimah. Naimah’s face was numb with worry & stress. She wanted to ask me something but the grandeur of the court of the Lord was such that she could not utter a word.

Jamshaid was asked, “Do you know me? Who am I”?

The Lord’s voice had such a neutral tone that I could not fathom whether it was the harbinger of a hurricane or a sign of the Lord’s infinite mercy.

“You are my Lord. You are everyone’s Lord. This is what my father had taught me”, Jamshaid replied.

He was asked majestically, “Who is your father”?

Jamshaid looked at me and said, “It is him”.

My heart missed a beat at this sentence. I feared that there was no hope for Jamshaid. Besides teaching him about the Oneness of God, I had also advised him about many other things in which his record was not up to mark. I had a feeling that I would be asked about all the things I had taught him, and this would be used to declare him as guilty since he had not followed the advice.

However, unexpectedly, the Almighty did not order me to appear as a witness. He asked a completely different question from Jamshaid:

“What did you just say to your father a few moments ago? Did you say, ‘maybe God will not forgive me? However, I want you to forgive me. After all, you are my father”?

The hope that had kindled in my heart a second ago died with that question. Jamshaid had also realised that he was now being taken to task for his deeds. His face darkened with fear. His limbs started to tremble. He had not suspected that the Almighty, who was apparently occupied in the accountability of other people, had also been listening to our conversation. He realised that not only had the Lord been listening to what was said, but in addition, he had also taken offence to it.

He said helplessly, “Yes, I did say that but you have misunderstood me”.

“How do you know what I have understood from your words?” The Lord replied, however the neutrality in the tone of the voice was still there, as before.

“No, no … I do not know… I have no idea about what you understood from my words!” Jamshaid replied in a stuttering voice.

The Almighty addressed the next question to Naimah instead, “My slave, he is your son. How did he treat you”?

Naimah replied, “My Lord! He treated me very well. He served me until the end. He provided tender loving care to me using his wealth and physical abilities. His wife used to deter him from looking after me but he paid no heed to her objections. He had devoted his life and money to my care”.

Naimah was desperate to say more in Jamshaid’s defence, but she was aware that to utter a word more than what was asked of her might put her own self in jeopardy. She was therefore forced to become quiet after saying these words.

The Lord looked at the angel standing next to her and asked, “Is this woman telling the truth”?

The angel looked at the scroll of Deeds and replied, “My Lord, she has spoken the truth”.

What happened thereafter made my heart beat faster. It was ordered that Jamshaid’s deeds be placed in the scale. First, the sins were placed in the scale to the left, which caused the left arm of the scale to go heavier. All three of us were distraught. Thereafter, his virtues and good deeds were placed one by one in the scale on the right side. They were few, and weighed significantly less than the weight of the bad deeds in the left arm of the scale. Only two good deeds were left to be placed in the scale now. The decision seemed obvious. Naimah closed her eyes with mixed feelings of dejection and helplessness. Jamshaid dropped down on the ground, helplessly holding his head in his hands.

Ever since I had arrived in the Plain of Judgment, I had not dared to look towards the throne. However, at that moment, perhaps for a fraction of a second or even less than that, my eyes involuntarily turned upwards in the direction of the Almighty, the All-powerful Lord of the Universe.  At that very moment, the same call emanated from my heart that used to be on my lips whenever I had to face a sudden unexpected trial or tribulation in the previous world. Those words were ‘La Illaha Il-Allah … there is no God except for the one God’. I then immediately lowered my gaze and my head in prostration.

The angel placed the first remaining good deed in the scale. It was Jamshaid’s behaviour towards Naimah. Unexpectedly, the right arm of the scale started to move downwards as it became heavier. I shook Naimah’s arm and said, “Naimah, open your eyes”. My voice reached Jamshaid’s ears too. He opened his eyes and slowly stood on his feet. Hope had started to kindle in him as the scale of virtues became heavier. However, all of a sudden it stopped. The left arm of the scale was still heavier than the right arm. The glimmer of hope that had arisen in our hearts suddenly started to dwindle. The Angel took the last virtue and said aloud, “This is the belief in the oneness of God”. As soon as it was placed in the scale, it became decidedly heavier than the left arm, the arm holding the scale of sins. I involuntarily uttered, “Allah-o-Akbar walillah-hil-hamd - God is great and praise is only for him!”

The Almighty spoke in a soft voice, “Jamshaid, your father had also taught you that my love for my people is seventy thousand times more than the love of parents for their children. In fact, you did not value me! That is the reason you had to face so much hardship in the Plain of Judgment. My justice is without prejudice; however my grace overshadows everything else”.

The angel wrote down the decision for Jamshaid’s salvation onto the scroll of deeds and placed it into his right hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, a scream emanated from Jamshaid’s throat. He had been blessed with the ticket to the Paradise. Not only had he been saved from the tribulations of this day, a day that had comprised of many thousands of years, he was now also relieved of every pain forever. He ran towards us and embraced us. Naimah was overwhelmed with joy. Tears were running down Jamshaid’s cheeks. With every element of my being, I was praising the most beneficent and the most merciful Lord who had forgiven Jamshaid.





My entire family was present in the V.I.P lounge by the pond of Kauthar. My three daughters Leila, Arifa, and Aaliya and two sons, Anwar and Jamshaid were with me along with Naimah. Jamshaid’s arrival had completed our family reunion. The state of joy and the feelings of elation could not be expressed in words. As I saw my family gathered together, I said to Saleh, who was sitting next to me, “What fun is Heaven without the whole family?”

Jamshaid, whose family and in-laws had all been doomed to Hell, replied instead of Saleh, “Yes! Who else would know it better than I? You are very fortunate!”

This time Naimah replied to him, “This is because he gave the upbringing of his children the due importance and priority in his life. Only you proved to be the inept one, look at the rest of your brothers and sisters! They all did pretty well”.

“You are right, mother! But I was sure that father’s intercession would save me. My father-in-law had a lot of faith in his priest who had assured him that he would intercede for him on the Day of Judgment as long as he remained loyal to him. That gave me the idea that there is no one like my father. Therefore, his intercession would save me too”.

I said, “You got it absolutely wrong, my son! You know that priest was unable to save your father in-law. The truth of the matter is that neither the last Prophet nor the Qur’an ever advocated intercession as a way to salvation. The only reason the last holy book was sent towards us was to clearly explain how to succeed in the hereafter. It repeatedly stressed that the only means of salvation on the Day of Judgement are faith and good deeds. At the time of the revelation of Qur’an, the Christians had the misconception that Christ’s intercession would lead to their salvation, while the idol worshippers of Arabia believed that their idols would intercede on their behalf. That is why the Qur’an repeatedly clarified that intercession could not lead to salvation. Man would reap whatever he sowed”.

“But intercession has been mentioned in the Qur’an, and also in the sayings ascribed to the last Prophet”, said Jamshaid.

“Ok, tell me, is there any saying ascribed to the holy Prophet or a verse of the Qur’an that advises us to rely on intercession as a means to salvation or to pray for it?” I asked.

Anwar, my younger son, replied instead of Jamshaid with full confidence, “No! This was not mentioned anywhere”.

However, Jamshaid disagreed, “No, my friend! Did not we use to pray for intercession after listening to every call for prayer?”

I replied, “Actually, the people themselves added to the saying ascribed to the holy Prophet. All the last Prophet had said, May there be peace upon him, was that if we were to pray for him to get the praised place on the Day of Judgement, then it would be obligatory for him to intercede. He did not ask us to also pray for intercession and based on it, set side good deeds and carelessly indulge in sins”.

Saleh said to me, “Abdullah, hold on, let me explain the concept of intercession in detail. The real criterion for success is adherence to true faith and righteous deeds. If someone is pardoned today despite weakness in above, it is not due to anyone’s intercession but it is because of God Almighty’s infinite knowledge, authority, and benevolence. This point has been explained in the Qur’an in the words that God will never forgive knowingly sharing partners with Him; Apart from that, He may forgive any sin and any person. In the previous world, he used to forgive minor sins in exchange for hardships as well as for good deeds. However, those people who chose a life of sin on a persistent basis without repenting have had to pay the price for it today. Although, if such a person with some degree of true faith has paid a significant price for his sins today …”

“Just as I and Leila paid for, through tribulations in the Plain of Judgement.” Jamshaid interjected.

“Exactly”, Saleh continued, “So, I was saying that when a pious person, after paying for his sins through sufferings in the Plain of Judgement, becomes eligible for pardon as per the Almighty’s Law of Justice, the Almighty then uses the testimony of a few select pious people as an excuse for his salvation. This testimony is in reality a statement confirming the good deeds that the person had performed in the previous world. Your parents’ testimony in your favour that led to your forgiveness is an example of such intercession, or the testimony that the last holy Prophet gave at the outset led to Leila’s salvation. However, even in such cases you may notice that the presence of true faith and good deeds is obligatory; even in these cases, one still has to pay the penance. So, tell me, is it better to be pardoned after paying such a penance or is it better to gain salvation without suffering any punishment by choosing a life of good virtues and regular repentance?”

This time Arifa answered, and in turn asked a question from Saleh, “It is obvious which the better way is, but what was really meant by the reference to the last Prophet’s intercession”?

“If the Prophet’s intercession had meant that people could get pardoned even if they had no good deeds to their credit, then the Qur’an would not have even mentioned anything about righteous deeds. Instead, all that would have been necessary would have been a simple statement by the Prophet in the Qur’an, advising the people to believe in him in exchange for unquestionable intercession in the Hereafter”, Saleh answered the question.

This was in fact the faith of the Christians, and see how they paid for it today”, Naimah commented.

Saleh agreed with her, “We know that no such thing has been mentioned in Qur’an. On the contrary, all the emphasis is upon having true faith and doing righteous deeds to go to Heaven. As for the Hadith, which you know were sayings ascribed to the last holy Prophet, whatever was mentioned in them about intercession would have been crystal clear and consistent, had people tried to understand them in the light of the
Qur’an; the latter of course, is the ultimate source of guidance in such matters”.

“And what is that truth”? Jamshaid asked.

“The truth is that today, all the sinners received due punishment for their sins. Thereafter, the last Prophet’s prayer resulted in the possibility for the salvation for the people. The first time it happened was when he prayed to the Almighty to initiate the
accountability of the humanity. As a result, people were relieved from further agonising stay in the Plain of Judgement. The second instance when intercession took place was when he along with the rest of the Prophets, gave testimony about the teachings that they had passed on to their people. This testimony resulted in salvation for those people whose actions on the whole, were in accordance with these teachings”.

“People like me!” Said Leila.

“Yes, people like you benefitted from that intercession. The third time the Prophet will intercede will be when the accountability of certain people will be adjourned.  Their accountability will be delayed until the very end, and they will continue to suffer the consequences of their sins in the Plane of Judgement. He will pray for them repeatedly, however, he will only be allowed to say anything in
their favour when the Almighty decides that the time for their accountability is appropriate, in accordance with his infinite knowledge and wisdom. Thus, following the request of the Prophet, their accountability will start that may lead to their salvation. All this will happen at the very end when these people will already have
been heavily punished for their misdeed, thereby becoming eligible for forgiveness, on account of their good deeds and belief in one God”.

“I have a question”, Anwar asked Saleh. “If everyone is being pardoned only after receiving full punishment, then it is being done as per the norms of justice. What is the role of our Lord’s mercy and kindness in it”?

“This is a very good question,” Saleh replied.

“If the Almighty were to deal with these sinners only on the basis of his justice, then their correct punishment would be to go to Hell. The punishments in Hell are hundreds of thousands of times worse than the hardships of the Plain of Judgment. According to the rules of justice, all such people should have been sent to Hell. It is the manifestation of God’s mercy that he will accept these tribulations as a substitute for the punishment in Hell. Hence, his attributes of compassion and justice have become manifest simultaneously”.

As Saleh finished, Jamshaid exclaimed, “So this is the fact of the matter! I had remained under this misconception that intercession meant that no matter how many sins we did, the Prophet, May there be peace upon him, and other pious people would save us in the hereafter”.

“This line of thinking is against the very concept of God’s justice. It was a misconception that arose because people did not read the Qur’an with due regard to its meanings. Salvation can only be a consequence of good deeds and true faith. As for forgiveness, it is only granted because of God’s beneficence. All he does is that he makes the testimony or request of a noble person an excuse for declaring the forgiveness. The purpose of this exercise is to recognise and honour his beloved and noble servants. Salvation is granted only in accordance with the laws of the Almighty. Who knows this better than you that even if a person is not sent to Hell, he still has to pay penance for his sins in the shape of the extreme hardship and suffering in the Plane of Judgement”?

“Is there still a possibility of being forgiven even after one goes to Hell?” Alia asked.

Silence ensued until Saleh replied, “Does not the Qur’an state that the Almighty shall never forgive associating partners with him but other than that, he may forgive any sin and any person, if he wishes to do so”?

“Meaning thereby?” Anwar asked for further explanation.

“It means that there are certain sins that can take a person all the way to Hell. However, those who had even an iota of faith within them may still be pardoned eventually despite committing these sins. However, no one has the knowledge or ability to decide who these people are and when they will be pardoned. My friend! Hell is not a place worth living in, even for a moment. Nobody knows how long it will take before such people are eventually allowed to come out of it after having completed their punishment. This period may be so long that even billions and trillions of years may equal just a few seconds of it. It is better to not even think about it!”

“My God!” Anwar cried out.

“What to talk of Hell, even spending a moment in the Plane of Judgement is unbearable”, said Jamshaid, in the light of his experience.

Leila added, “These sins are such a huge calamity. If only we had understood this in the previous world!”

Saleh concluded the discussion by adding, “There have always been two great misfortunes of the mankind. Firstly, the principal theme of the Day of Judgement was accountability, but people changed it to intercession. Secondly, the pivotal position in the life of human beings was that of God, the most merciful lord of the entire Universe. However, the human beings assigned this pivotal position to others”.

Agreeing with Saleh, I commented, “You gave such a true statement, Saleh! I wish people had realized this in the previous world!”

I then addressed my children, “My children! Life of the previous world is now a tale from the past. Your destination now is a never-ending kingdom in the paradise. Get ready to enjoy its peace, comfort, ease, love, blessings, enjoyment, and gratification … all of them are yours! See! How beneficent and generous is our Lord. Let’s praise him together and recite the words,  ‘Al-Hamdulillahi Rabbil-Aalamin - Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds’.

All of us joined in to recite these words, as loud chant.

 

After a while, Saleh said to me, “Abdullah! The events in the Plane of Judgement are about to reach their conclusion. If you are still interested, now is the time to go back”.

“How far is the accountability process from its conclusion”? Naimah enquired.

“Most of the mankind was born in the later eras. They have all been through the process of accountability. Muslims, Christians, and others living in the same period, have gone through the general accountability process. Presently, Jews are going through it. In a nutshell, the destiny of the majority of the mankind has now been decided. The followers of other Prophets were much less in numbers anyway, so it won’t take long now.” Saleh replied.

“Do you know what happened to my teacher, Farhan Ahmed?” I asked.

“No, I don’t know, as I do not have anything to do with him directly. All I can tell you is that he is not here at the pond. Only God knows about his outcome. I think it may be better if you get up and go to the Plane of Judgement”, Said Saleh.

“Ok! Let’s go”, I replied as I got up from my chair.

Naimah also got up along with the rest of the family, saying to me, “I am going to go and visit the families of our children. Only your children are allowed here with us in the VIP lounge; however, their own kids cannot come in here. They are waiting for them downstairs so I am going to go and meet them. Oh yes, I also need to find a bride for my Jamshaid!”

All of us broke into laughter on her final declaration, except Jamshaid. I think he could not decide whether to laugh at her comment or show remorse on the misfortune of his previous wife.

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Source: http://www.understanding-islam.org.uk/archives/when-life-begins-preface/chapter-4-naimah/946-when-life-begins-chapter-11.html