Guidance on the use of the saying of Allah the Exalted, “And say: We have done, so Allah will see your deeds,” as evidence
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the ruling on some people using the saying of Allah the Exalted, [At-Tawbah 9:105], as evidence for certain matters, such as congratulating someone with a certificate of appreciation or the like, even though the verses were revealed in the context of mentioning the hypocrites in Surat al-Tawbah? What is your guidance on this, Honorable Shaykh?
The Shaykh : First, we say that this verse cannot be applied to the present age, because His saying,[At-Tawbah 9:105], is impossible. There is no doubt that Allah sees at all times, but the Messenger does not see. This is an application of the verse to something other than what Allah intended by it. The Messenger sees their deeds only if he is alive and observing them. As for presenting deeds to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that is not of this nature. Therefore, when someone is congratulated for a deed, we say to him, [Al-An'am 6:160], and we congratulate him in this manner.
And say, "Do [as you will], for Allah will see your deeds, and [so, will] His Messenger and the believers
وَقُلِ اعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَThe Shaykh : First, we say that this verse cannot be applied to the present age, because His saying,
for Allah will see your deeds, and [so, will] His Messenger
فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُWhoever comes [on the Day of Judgement] with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof [to his credit]
مَن جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
Source
ابن العثيمين - لقاءات الرياض - اللقاء الأول — archive.org (51:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.