judgement
Ayesha Siddiqa narrated that, once, a person came in the august
presence of the Apostle of God and sat in front of him. He, then, said,
“I have some slaves [whose condition is that sometimes] they tell
me a lie or steal my property or disobey me, and I [on such occasions]
scold them and, sometimes, I also punish them. How is it going to turn
out for me on the Day of Final Judgement [i.e., how is God going to
judge between me and the slaves]?” The Prophet replied, “God
will dispense justice correctly on the Day of Requital. If the punishment
you mete out to them is proportionate to their faults, you will neither
get nor have to give anything. You will be quits. If the punishment
turns out to be of a lesser degree than what they merited, you will
be recompensed for it. If the punishment proves to be excessive, you
will have to recompense the slaves.” On hearing the Prophet’s
reply, the enquirer drew aside and began to cry. The Prophet, thereupon,
said to him, “Have you not heard the Quranic verse:
“We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgement, so
that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least. And if there
be [no more than] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it [to
account] and enough are We to take account.”
The man said, “Then,
O Prophet of God, the best thing for me is to send them away [in the
name of God]. I declare before you that I have set them free, and now
they are free-men.”
-Tirmidhi
Commentary.-Such is the resplendent beauty of Faith and this is what
is expected of truthful Believers. When they fear the loss of the Hereafter
in anything they should give it up immediately however disadvantageous
it may appear from the worldly point of view.