The Meaning of the Hadith: (If Allah Were to Punish the Inhabitants of the Heavens and the Earth, He Would Not Be Unjust to Them)

The questioner : Regarding Allah (Mighty and Majestic) punishing the disobedient or the obedient, meaning regarding the issue of the obedient and the disobedient in the hadith in Sunan Ibn Majah: Some people with defective understanding take this hadith to their own issue...

The Shaykh : That is, He would not be unjust to them, because it is decreed for them to disobey Him, or He does not punish them while they are obedient. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known hadith, which is his saying: This contains an indication that no matter how complete a person is, he must be deficient. Because of this deficiency, in light of this hadith, he does not deserve to enter this Paradise in which is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has not occurred to the heart of any human being. Likewise, if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) were to punish them, He would punish them while being just, because something must occur from them for which they deserve punishment, whether little or much. This is the answer regarding this hadith.