watch him by the command of God, Lo! Allah does not change the
condition of a folk until they (first) change what is in their own selves
(13:10-11).
Whatever man desires, he must get through his own efforts. If it
were offered to him as a free gift, it would not benefit his personality.
He cannot hope to deceive God by a pretence of striving. He must
strive earnestly;
There are guardians over you, who are honourable reporters (82:9-10).
And again it is said:
We created man and We know what his mind whispers to him; and We
are nearer to him than his jugular vein (50:16).
The Qur'an assures man that his actions are not like ripples on the
surface of a lake, vanishing one after the other for good. On the
contrary, they leave indelible imprints on his personality. They are
entered on the debit or credit side of the ledger kept for him:
And on every man We have fastened his record about his neck; and We
will bring forth to him, at the time of judgment , a book offered to him
wide open (17:13).
Man bears responsibility for all those actions in which his self
was involved. If the action was wrong, he has no option but to
submit to the "punishment" which is the necessary result of his
action. It will not avail him to offer excuses, that he acted heedlessly
in a fit of abstraction, or with a good intention. His own heart will
bear witness against him:
Oh, but man is a telling witness against himself, although he tenders his
excuses (75:14).
The Law of Requital works unerringly. There is a necessary
connection between acts and their effects. Good actions are
necessarily rewarded and wrong actions are invariably punished. In
social life, however, the connection between a socially approved act
and its reward is external and contingent. Let us illustrate this point.
A man undertakes to perform a job on the understanding that he
will be paid an agreed sum of money on its completion. He may do
the work but may not get the reward. His employer may die, become
insolvent or prove faithless. On the other hand, the connection
between moral actions and their effects is internal and necessary.
The effect is on the personality of the doer. If the effect is good, the
doer is carried forward towards his goal of self-realisation; if it is
bad he is necessarily thrown back. Every moral act works
consequential changes in the human personality. These changes
The Law of Requital 153