Permissible deeds and words: Are they in the scale of good deeds or bad deeds?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Noble Shaykh, are permissible deeds and words in the scale of the servant's good deeds or in the scale of his bad deeds? And are there words and deeds for which a person is neither rewarded nor punished?
The Shaykh : We spoke a little while ago about justice. If a deed is neither commanded nor prohibited, and a person does it, what is the justice in that? Answer! Answer, man! A person does a deed in which there is no command and no prohibition?
The questioner : He is neither rewarded nor punished.
The Shaykh : He is neither rewarded nor punished; that is the case. For this reason, the scholars agreed, based on what the Book and the Sunnah indicate, that there is a category in the Islamic Shari'ah called halal or permissible, in which there is no reward and no punishment, unless it is a means to something required by the Shari'ah, in which case there is reward, or a means to something forbidden, in which case there is punishment. For this reason, if someone were to ask us, "What do you say about buying water for prayer? Is there a reward in it or not?" we would say there is a reward.
The student: There is a reward.
The Shaykh : There is a reward. And if someone were to buy a weapon to fight the Muslims with, is there sin in it or not? There is sin, even though the original act of buying and selling is halal. Did you understand?
The student: Yes, Shaykh. But what about some of the Salaf saying, "I reckon my sleep and my waking with Allah"?
The Shaykh : Because he intends by sleeping to seek assistance for obedience, and by waking to do righteous deeds and call to Allah, and the like of that.
Noble Shaykh, are permissible deeds and words in the scale of the servant's good deeds or in the scale of his bad deeds? And are there words and deeds for which a person is neither rewarded nor punished?
The Shaykh : We spoke a little while ago about justice. If a deed is neither commanded nor prohibited, and a person does it, what is the justice in that? Answer! Answer, man! A person does a deed in which there is no command and no prohibition?
The questioner : He is neither rewarded nor punished.
The Shaykh : He is neither rewarded nor punished; that is the case. For this reason, the scholars agreed, based on what the Book and the Sunnah indicate, that there is a category in the Islamic Shari'ah called halal or permissible, in which there is no reward and no punishment, unless it is a means to something required by the Shari'ah, in which case there is reward, or a means to something forbidden, in which case there is punishment. For this reason, if someone were to ask us, "What do you say about buying water for prayer? Is there a reward in it or not?" we would say there is a reward.
The student: There is a reward.
The Shaykh : There is a reward. And if someone were to buy a weapon to fight the Muslims with, is there sin in it or not? There is sin, even though the original act of buying and selling is halal. Did you understand?
The student: Yes, Shaykh. But what about some of the Salaf saying, "I reckon my sleep and my waking with Allah"?
The Shaykh : Because he intends by sleeping to seek assistance for obedience, and by waking to do righteous deeds and call to Allah, and the like of that.