In one of his articles,*
Mr Jochen Katz has raised a question regarding the position of Jesus (sws),
according to the Qur’an, 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’an, 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’an
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’an
raises
a few questions regarding this interpretation of the verse. For instance,
the Qur’an 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’an, 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’an, 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’an 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’an 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’an 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.
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