| Answer:
Islam wants a person to be constantly reminded of the Hereafter. In this regard,
we have been told by the Qur’ān at various places that the people who
succeed in the Hereafter will be given their account in the right hand and those
who are condemned and punished in the Hereafter will receive their reward in the
left hand:
Then he who is given his record
in his right hand will say: ‘Take this and read it. I always thought that [one
day] I shall have to face my reckoning’. Consequently, he will be in a life of
bliss in a lofty garden whose fruits will be hanging low -- Eat and drink to
your heart’s content as reward for what you did in days gone by. And he who is
given his record in his left hand will say: ‘Would that I had not been given my
record nor known what my account was. Would that [my] death had been final’.
(69:19-26)
In order that a person keep the ideal of receiving his
account in the right hand as a constant target before him, the Prophet (sws) has
asked his followers to start certain routines like eating, drinking water etc
with the right hand. This is a symbolic guidance. One should therefore try to
follow it as much as possible.
However, a person who is born left-handed is an exception. He
is not required to change his ‘real’ hand. He will certainly receive his account
in the right hand in the Hereafter if he has done good deeds. |