What is your opinion of the one who says, “Since guidance is decreed, why should I do good deeds?” based on the hadith, “Indeed, among you are those who do the deeds of the people of the Fire until there is nothing between him and it but…”
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers.
In the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih al-Bukhari, part of the hadith, the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): the hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : There are among the youth those who say: If guidance is decreed or dependent on the will, then there is no need for me to do good deeds, or to adhere to the obedience of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). What is your opinion, O honorable Shaykh, of this statement?
The Shaykh : Yes, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed his companions:.
So if someone says: If the matter is decreed, then there is no benefit in action, and he insists on that and carries out what he said, we know that he is among the people of misery, refuge with Allah, because he was not facilitated for the deeds of the people of happiness. Then we say to this man: Do you know that Allah has decreed for you to be among the people of misery so that you do their deeds?
So he will say: No.
We say: Then Allah has decreed that He wrote you among the people of happiness, so do the deeds of the people of happiness.
Then we say thirdly: If you were told now: Such and such a country has great trade, and it is a safe country with abundance of provision, and another country is far less than that, would you say: I will not go to the first country, because if it were decreed for me, I would go! And you go to the second country? Or do you go to the first country and say: It has been decreed for me?
The answer: He will say the latter, he will go to the country he sees is more beneficial for him, and say: It has been decreed for me to go to it. So it is also the path to Paradise and the Fire. Let us suppose that Paradise and the Fire are two countries, would you go to the country of misery and punishment or the country of bliss and happiness? He will go to the second.
Therefore, no one says this statement you mentioned except a man who has been abandoned, refuge with Allah. We know that if he insists on that, it is decreed for him that he is among the people of misery, and he will taste the wrath of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-An'am 6:148-149].
And as for the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him):Sahih Muslim 2643a: This necessitates caution so that a person does not do the deeds of the people of Paradise in what appears to people, without what is in the inner part of his heart. And what indicates this is what is established in the authentic hadith also: : It was hard for them, how can this be among the people of the Fire while he is in this state! Then one of them, meaning one of the Companions, said: : -I will stick to this man and walk with him- until I see what the matter becomes. He says: -An arrow struck this brave, good man- : And on this basis, the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud contains a warning against bad disposition and bad intention, and that a person must, if he does the deeds of the people of Paradise, have his work built on sincerity and tawhid (the oneness of Allah) so that it is beneficial for him at his death and his departure from this world.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers.
In the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih al-Bukhari, part of the hadith, the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
By Allah, there is no god but Him, indeed among you are those who do the deeds of the people of the Fire until there is nothing between him and it but an arm’s length
والله الذي لا إله غيره إن منكم من يعمل بعمل أهل النار حتى ما يكون بينه وبينها إلا ذراعThe Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : There are among the youth those who say: If guidance is decreed or dependent on the will, then there is no need for me to do good deeds, or to adhere to the obedience of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). What is your opinion, O honorable Shaykh, of this statement?
The Shaykh : Yes, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed his companions:
That none of you is except that his seat in Paradise and his seat in the Fire has been written. They said: O Messenger of Allah! Should we then leave the work and rely on the record? He said: Work, for everyone is facilitated for what he was created for. As for the people of happiness, they are facilitated for the deeds of the people of happiness, and as for the people of misery, they are facilitated for the deeds of the people of misery
أنه ما من أحد إلا وقد كتب مقعده من الجنة ومقعده من النار قالوا: يا رسول الله! أفلا ندع العمل ونتكل على الكتاب؟ قال: اعملوا فكل ميسر لما خلق له، أما أهل السعادة فييسرون لعمل أهل السعادة، وأما أهل الشقاوة فييسرون لعمل أهل الشقاوةSo if someone says: If the matter is decreed, then there is no benefit in action, and he insists on that and carries out what he said, we know that he is among the people of misery, refuge with Allah, because he was not facilitated for the deeds of the people of happiness. Then we say to this man: Do you know that Allah has decreed for you to be among the people of misery so that you do their deeds?
So he will say: No.
We say: Then Allah has decreed that He wrote you among the people of happiness, so do the deeds of the people of happiness.
Then we say thirdly: If you were told now: Such and such a country has great trade, and it is a safe country with abundance of provision, and another country is far less than that, would you say: I will not go to the first country, because if it were decreed for me, I would go! And you go to the second country? Or do you go to the first country and say: It has been decreed for me?
The answer: He will say the latter, he will go to the country he sees is more beneficial for him, and say: It has been decreed for me to go to it. So it is also the path to Paradise and the Fire. Let us suppose that Paradise and the Fire are two countries, would you go to the country of misery and punishment or the country of bliss and happiness? He will go to the second.
Therefore, no one says this statement you mentioned except a man who has been abandoned, refuge with Allah. We know that if he insists on that, it is decreed for him that he is among the people of misery, and he will taste the wrath of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(148) Those who associated with Allah will say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything." Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying." (149) Say, "With Allah is the far-reaching argument. If He had willed, He would have guided you all."
سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلا آبَاؤُنَا وَلا حَرَّمْنَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ كَذَلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّى ذَاقُوا بَأْسَنَا قُلْ هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ * قل فلله الحجة البالغةAnd as for the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him):