Your Actions Will be Returned to You

The Prophet Muhammad is said to have remarked: “When a person dies, the reckoning begins for him.” (Kanz ul-Ummal 42123) This means that death is not the end of life (contrary to what atheists, for instance, contend).  Rather, it is to exit from one phase of life and enter into another. There is no gap between these two phases. Life is a continuity, and death is simply a matter of being transferred from one phase of life into the next one.

This present world is the place for building our character. Here, each one of us is engaged, whether we recognize it or not, in this process. Character-building is of two types: positive character-building, and negative character-building. Those who develop a positive character for themselves in this world will, after death, be admitted into the gardens of Paradise. Contrarily, those who develop a negative personality while in this world will, after death, be devoid of the great blessing of Paradise. This is expressed in a hadith in these words: “Surely your actions will be returned to you.”

Between an individual and his actions there is no distance at all. Where a person is, his actions also are. In the present world, all of our actions are not apparent. But after death they will suddenly become stark clear. All at once, a person will find himself amidst all his actions. A person who has done good actions will find himself surrounded by them. Someone who has done evil will find himself in the midst of his evil actions.