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Recompense of Deeds refers to the worldly punishments or rewards resulting from an individual's voluntary actions. These consequences, which manifest within the world as the direct effects of human conduct, are also technically termed the "existential effects" (āthār-i waḍʿī) of deeds. The existence of such reactions to human actions is attributed to the unitary Divine plan governing the system of existence.

The Qur'an and hadith frequently allude to this correlation between human actions and their outcomes. This principle is also a recurring theme in literature and poetry, where it is depicted as a governing law of worldly life.

The recompense of deeds constitutes one of the established Divine Sunnas within the world. However, Islamic thinkers emphasize that the consequences of human actions are not confined to this earthly realm. Consequently, an individual may perform an action without witnessing its result in this world, often because the world lacks the capacity to manifest the full implications of many deeds. From this perspective, Divine Justice necessitates a hereafter where individuals encounter the detailed effects of their actions. Furthermore, not every calamity or blessing that befalls a person is necessarily a direct result of their conduct; rather, the world system involves various factors such as spiritual growth, Divine trial, and istidraj (gradual deception).

Numerous verses and narrations delineate the specific consequences of good and evil deeds. For instance, legislative guidance is identified as a fruit of faith, relief and provision as the outcome of piety, and a life of hardship as the penalty for forgetting God.

Definition and Importance

Recompense of deeds represents the worldly reward or retribution for a person's voluntary acts.[1] Morteza Motahhari (d. 1979), a prominent Shi'a thinker, posits a causal relationship between human actions and their worldly consequences. For instance, he cites social maladies and physical ailments as the natural recompense for drinking wine. He classifies these consequences as existential effects,[2] attributing this causal link to the fact that the world possesses a unified system and administrator. Thus, in the cosmic order, every action elicits a proportionate reaction, a portion of which may manifest in this life.[3]

Verses of the Qur'an explicitly address the relationship between voluntary human actions and their worldly results.[4] 'Allama Tabataba'i (d. 1981), a renowned Shi'a exegete, identifies Qur'an 4:9, 41:46, 99:8, 12:90, 22:9, and 42:30 as instances illustrating the worldly reflection of deeds.[5]

Traditions narrated from the Infallibles (a) indicate that those who perform good deeds will encounter goodness in their lives, while evildoers will face the repercussions of their actions in this world.[6] For example, Imam Ali (a) states[7] that a person may sometimes receive the rewards of their kindness from an entirely unexpected source.[8]

Recompense of Deeds as a Fixed Divine Sunna

In his exegesis of Qur'an 13:11, 'Allama Tabataba'i asserts that if a people possess faith and gratitude, God bestows His blessings upon them in this world. Conversely, if they exhibit ingratitude (kufrān-i niʿmat), these blessings are transformed into trials until the people return to gratitude and faith. This correlation—between gratitude/faith and the descent of Divine blessings, and between disbelief/ingratitude and trial/Divine Punishment—is regarded as a certain decree and an immutable Divine Sunna.[9]

Recompense of Deeds within the Mechanism of Recompense

According to Morteza Motahhari, the mechanism for recompensing actions is not limited to the worldly realm; rather, every individual will witness the complete and final result of their deeds in the Hereafter. Consequently, the ultimate consequence of a sin is not necessarily manifested in this world, nor is every adverse event necessarily a punishment for sin.[10] Furthermore, worldly recompense applies only to certain deeds, while the reward and punishment for others are reserved exclusively for the afterlife.[11] As noted in Tafsir-i nimuna, worldly reactions alone are insufficient to establish absolute Divine Justice. Therefore, the execution of Divine justice necessitates the establishment of a universal court in the Hereafter where the details of all good and evil deeds are adjudicated.[12]

Recompense of Deeds is Not the Sole Factor for Calamities and Blessings

Shi'a exegetes interpreting verses related to recompense emphasize that the calamities and blessings affecting individuals stem from various factors. These include the cultivation of potential through the pressure of adversity, warnings for the future, Divine Trial, awakening from pride and negligence, istidraj (gradual punishment disguised as blessing), and atonement for sins. Consequently, not every calamity should be interpreted as the result of a sin, nor every blessing as the reward for a good deed.[13]

Historical reports indicate that following the Event of Karbala, Yazid b. Mu'awiya (d. 64/683), the second Umayyad caliph, cited Qur'an 42:30 to Imam al-Sajjad (a), implying that the tragedy of Karbala was a result of Imam al-Husayn (a)'s own actions. In response, Imam al-Sajjad (a) cited Qur'an 57:22, which identifies the wisdom behind such calamities as cultivating detachment from transient worldly gifts and serving as a means of spiritual training and trial.[14]

Examples of Recompense of Deeds

Verses and narrations enumerate various instances of the recompense for human actions, which can be categorized into rewards for good deeds and consequences for evil deeds.

Recompense of Good Deeds

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  • Increase in sustenance through charity[22]
  • Expiation of sins through secret charity[23]
  • Protection against a tragic death through public charity[24]
  • Increase in wealth, longevity, purification of property, repulsion of calamity, increased sustenance, and familial affection as a result of observing kinship ties[25]
  • Repulsion of calamity through supplication[26]
  • Experiencing kindness from one's own children as a result of kindness to parents[27]


Recompense of Evil Deeds

  • A life of hardship as a result of forgetting God[28]
  • Alienation from Divine mercy and hardening of the heart as a result of breaking God's covenant[29]
  • Hypocrisy in the heart as a result of stinginess and persistence in lying[30]
  • Deprivation of guidance as a result of oppression and injustice[31]
  • Decrease in rainfall as a result of oppression by rulers[32]
  • Earthquakes as a result of public sin[33]
  • Premature death, loss of blessings, interruption of lineage, and the dominance of the wicked over property as a result of severing kinship ties[34]
  • Severing of lineage as a result of false oaths[35]
  • Prevalence of sudden death as a result of the spread of adultery in society[36]
  • Loss of facial radiance, poverty, and premature death as a result of adultery[37]
  • Humiliation and disgrace as a result of breach of trust[38] and lying[39]
  • Loss of blessings and goodness due to mutual enmity[40]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kawtharī, Uṣūl-i mukāfāt-i ʿamal az manẓar-i riwāyāt, 1392 Sh, p. 8.
  2. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿih-yi āthār (ʿAdl-i ilāhī), 1384 Sh, vol. 1, p. 227.
  3. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿih-yi āthār (Waḥy wa nubuwwat), 1384 Sh, vol. 2, p. 236.
  4. ↑ Kawtharī, Uṣūl-i mukāfāt-i ʿamal az manẓar-i riwāyāt, 1392 Sh, pp. 8-10.
  5. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 4, pp. 201-202.
  6. ↑ Kawtharī, Uṣūl-i mukāfāt-i ʿamal az manẓar-i riwāyāt, 1392 Sh, p. 10.
  7. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 505.
  8. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿih-yi āthār (Guftārhā-yi dar akhlāq-i Islāmī), 1384 Sh, vol. 29, p. 72.
  9. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 11, p. 310.
  10. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿih-yi āthār (Āzādī-yi maʿnawī), vol. 23, p. 558.
  11. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmūʿih-yi āthār (Āshnāʾī bā Qurʾān), 1384 Sh, vol. 26, p. 422.
  12. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 18, p. 482.
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 15, p. 39; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 20, p. 441.
  14. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, 1374 Sh, vol. 20, p. 442; see: Huwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, 1415 AH, vol. 4, p. 580.
  15. ↑ Qur'an 64:11.
  16. ↑ Qur'an 65:2.
  17. ↑ Qur'an 65:3.
  18. ↑ Qur'an 2:245; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 2, p. 284.
  19. ↑ Qur'an 3:101; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 3, p. 365.
  20. ↑ Qur'an 30:39; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 16, p. 185.
  21. ↑ Qur'an 11:52; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 10, p. 300.
  22. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 494.
  23. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 163.
  24. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 163.
  25. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, p. 157.
  26. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 495.
  27. ↑ Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarrānī, Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl, 1404 AH, p. 359.
  28. ↑ Qur'an 20:124; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 14, p. 225.
  29. ↑ Qur'an 5:13; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 3, p. 267.
  30. ↑ Qur'an 9:76-77; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 9, p. 350.
  31. ↑ Qur'an 61:7; Qur'an 62:5; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1393 AH, vol. 2, p. 355.
  32. ↑ Daylamī, Irshād al-qulūb, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 39.
  33. ↑ Daylamī, Irshād al-qulūb, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 39.
  34. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, pp. 346-348.
  35. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, p. 347.
  36. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, p. 374.
  37. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 5, p. 541.
  38. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 383.
  39. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 117.
  40. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, 1374 Sh, p. 118.

References

References

  • Daylamī, Ḥasan b. Muḥammad, Irshād al-qulūb, Qom, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1409 AH.
  • Huwayzī, ʿAbd ʿAlī b. Jumʿa, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, Qom, Ismāʿīlīyān, 1415 AH.
  • Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarrānī, Ḥasan b. ʿAlī, Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl ʿan āl al-rasūl ṣallā Allāh ʿalayhim, Qom, Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1404 AH.
  • Kawtharī, Ḥujjat Allāh, Uṣūl-i mukāfāt-i ʿamal az manẓar-i riwāyāt bā taʾkīd bar Nahj al-balāgha, Master's Thesis, Qom, University of Quran and Hadith, 1392 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb, al-Kāfī, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1407 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i nimūnih, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā, Majmūʿih-yi āthār, Tehran, Ṣadrā, 1384 Sh.
  • Saʿdī, Muṣliḥ al-Dīn, Kullīyāt-i Saʿdī, ed. Muḥammad ʿAlī Furūghī, Tehran, Boroukhim Printing House, 1320 Sh.
  • Ṣāmit Burūjirdī, Muḥammad Bāqir, Kullīyāt-i dīwān, Tehran, Islāmiyya, 1383 Sh.
  • Sharīf al-Raḍī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn, Nahj al-balāgha, ed. Ṣubḥī al-Ṣāliḥ, Qom, Nashr-i Hijrat, 1374 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, al-Aʿlamī lil-Maṭbūʿāt, 1393 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan, Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 1372 Sh.
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