In one of his articles, Mr Jochen Katz has raised a
question regarding the position of Jesus (sws), according to the Qur’ān, in the
Hereafter. Mr Katz, in his introduction to the article, writes:
Jesus is raised to Allah
(4:158), near stationed with him (3:45), worshiped by millions of Christians,
yet 21:98 says, that all that are worshiped by men besides Allah will burn in
Hell together with those who worship them.
There is no doubt about the fact
that, according to the Qur’ān, Jesus (sws), like the other prophets of God shall
be blessed with the most elevated of ranks among those who are successful in the
Hereafter. Thus, I agree, to a great extent, with Mr Katz’s interpretation of
those verses, which expressly state that Jesus (sws) shall be among the people
of the highest of ranks in the Hereafter.
However, Mr Katz feels that 21:98
is contradictory to the aforementioned belief regarding the elevated position of
Jesus (sws) in the Hereafter. The verse states:
You and whatever you worship shall, surely, be the fuel
of hellfire. You shall all, indeed, come to it. (21:98)
Mr Katz writes:
The logic is clear, Jesus is
not God (5:75), millions of Christians are worshipping Jesus (sws) today and
even the Qur’ān acknowledges this (5:119); therefore Jesus will be fuel for the
Hell fire (21:98) together with the Christians. This clearly contradicts the
verses on Jesus’ special place near to Allah (3:45; 4:158 and other verses).
Although, it apparently seems that
21:98 implies that those, who worship others besides God and the stones as well
as the personalities – which these stones denote – that are worshipped besides
God, shall all be thrown in the fires of Hell; however, a close analysis of the
referred verse, in the light of the concept of justice as well as the general
principles of accountability given in the Qur’ān raises a few questions
regarding this interpretation of the verse. For instance, the Qur’ān clearly
states that on the Day of Judgment, a person shall only be rewarded or punished
for his own good or bad deeds, respectively. For example:
Has he not been informed about
what was in the scriptures of Moses and of Abraham, who fulfilled his covenant,
that [on the Day of Judgment,] no one shall bear the burden of another and that
[on that day], man shall have only what he strived for. (53:36-9)
According to the aforementioned as
well as a number of other verses of the Qur’ān, on the Day of Judgment, one
shall neither be made to bear the burden of the sins of another person nor shall
he be rewarded for the deeds of another person. Keeping this general principle
regarding the accountability and the reward and punishment of the Hereafter in
perspective and then reconsidering the implication of 21:98, one feels that if a
person is falsely worshipped and is wrongfully elevated to the position of a god
by his followers, the wrongfulness lies in the actions and beliefs of the
followers, not in that of the person, who is so elevated. The only exception, of
course, would be if the person is worshiped by his followers, in accordance with
his own teachings. In such a case, the wrongfulness of the act of worshipping a
false god, would be shared by the worshippers as well as the worshipped. Under
the circumstances, one is obviously faced with the question as to why, according
to 21:98, would both the worshippers as well as the worshiped be thrown in
Hellfire. In other words: ‘Why should the worshipped be punished for the acts of
the worshippers.’
This, in my opinion, is precisely
the question, which has led Mr Katz to consider 21:98 to be contradictory to the
other verses referred to in his article as well as the general concept of
justice stipulated by the Qur’ān, with reference to the accountability of the
Hereafter.
However, the stated question
easily finds an answer if we interpret 21:98 in the light of the basic principle
given in 53:36-9 (cited above). Thus, a Muslim mind restricts the warning
mentioned in 21:98 to those false deities, who were worshiped by their
followers, in accordance with their own teachings. This would imply that if the
false gods mentioned in the verse had actually urged their followers to worship
them, then they would (and should) share with their followers the painful
punishment of the Hereafter. On the contrary, if these false gods had not
preached falsehood and had no part or contribution in being made false gods
then, obviously, they would not deserve (and, therefore, would not be made) to
share the painful punishment with their followers, Thus, the Qur’ān has, in
fact, clarified that on the Day of Judgment, it would be ascertained whether or
not a particular personality, that was worshipped by his/her followers, did
actually preach this false worship or not. The Qur’ān says:
And on that Day, We shall
gather them [all] and whatever they worship besides God, then He [i.e. God] will
say [to those that were falsely worshipped]: ‘Did you lead these of my people
astray or did they stray from the right path themselves?’ They shall say: ‘You
are indeed clear of all wrong. It was not our right to [teach others to] take
any guardians besides You. And [thus, it was not our teachings, which led them
astray, but] actually you blessed them and their forefathers with so much
comfort [in life] that they disregarded Your reminders [of the Hereafter] and
[thus] became a people [bound to be] destroyed.’ Now [to the worshippers of
false deities, God will say:] ‘They have denied what you say [regarding their
leading you astray]. Now, you shall neither be able to avert your doom nor shall
you be helped [by anyone]. And those of you who have committed this grave
injustice, We shall cause him to taste an extreme punishment.’ (25:17-9)
A similar dialogue is also
reported to take place between God and Jesus (sws):
And God shall say: ‘O Jesus son
of Mary, did you teach people: “Take me and my mother to be two gods besides the
One God?” He would reply: ‘You are absolutely clear of all wrong. I could never
have claimed what I had no right to. Had I said so, You would have known it. You
know even that, which resides in my heart, while I do not know what resides in
Your heart. Indeed, You are the one, who knows all that is hidden [from others].
I did not say anything to them except that which You directed me to [say, which
was]: “Worship the One God, my Lord and your Lord.” I bore witness upon them [of
this fact] as long as I remained with them. Then, when you finished my term. You
were the one watching over them. And You are indeed a witness on all things.’
(5:116-7)
Thus, after their innocence is
made known to their followers, all such false deities shall get the great
rewards awaiting them, if they deserve to. While, on the other hand, all the
worshippers of such false deities; the followers of falsehood shall be led to
meet their ultimate doom.
The Qur’ān also tells us that with
these idolaters, the stone images and idols that they held as their gods shall
also be thrown into Hell, adding insult to their injury:
And if you cannot do so – and
surely, you shall never be able to do so – then fear the [great] fire, of which
these [rejecting] men and these [worshipped] stones shall provide the fuel. [The
fire] that is [specially] prepared for these rejecters. (2:24)
Believers, save yourselves and your families from a
great fire, the fuel of which shall be these [rejecting] people and these
[worshipped] stones. (66:6)
Seen in the light of the foregoing
explanation, it should be clear that ‘whatever you worship’ referred to in
21:98, who shall be thrown in the great fire of hell, are:
1. Those who falsely preached
their followers to worship them and, therefore, deserve to be punished; and
2. The stones and wooden images,
which were falsely worshipped by people. This, as should be clear, would not be
to punish these stone and wooden images, but to add insult to the injury of the
worshippers.
Moreover, Jesus (sws), in the
company of the other prophets of God, shall most certainly be in the everlasting
bliss of Paradise.
I would ask Mr Katz to kindly point out any inconsistency
in the foregoing explanation of the referred verses.
Courtesy: Understanding-Islam (
http://www.understanding-islam.com/articles/responses/tpojith.htm)
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