To understand how we will be ‘judged’, it is
important to understand that human actions fall
into one of two categories. The first comprises
of matters in which no ‘moral’ choice has to be
made. These are purely accidental happenings
whose outcome, whether good or bad, cannot
be judged from a moral standpoint because they
contained no ‘purposeful’ element. The second
category is very different in nature because it
covers a wide and complex range of actions—
the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of which have to be
scrupulously and purposefully considered before
being carried out. This is known as the ‘ethical
category’.
To understand the difference between the two
let us take the example of a stone balanced
precariously on the branch of a tree. If you walk
under it, it falls and hits you, subsequently you
find yourself badly injured. Do you strike the
tree and bear a grudge against it? Of course not!
But suppose a man picks up a stone, throws it
at you with the intention of injuring you and
actually does so, won’t you become enraged
and feel an urge to retaliate in like manner? You
would be perfectly justified in feeling that this
wrong should be ‘punished’ because the act was
‘intentional.’ Here it is a question not just of some
random happening, but of right and wrong
action, good and bad intentions, in a word, of
‘ethics’.
The examples chosen to clarify this point are
of a simple nature in that the outcome of the
action is immediately apparent and, moreover,
in the second case, it is possible to make an
instant moral judgment. But there are other much
more complex situations in life where
wrongdoing goes undetected, its effects may
be hidden or delayed for long periods, and the
culprits may never be brought to book either by
moral condemnation of society or in a court of
law. Sometimes evildoing is, of course, perceived
as such, but the miscreant is so clever and
resourceful that he is able to escape punishment,
or the human resources required to inflict
punishment are lacking and so the evildoer goes
scot-free.
Crimes are often repeated for just
Crimes are often repeated for just
such reasons. But the perpetrator of evil should
not congratulate himself too soon on the success
of his schemes or on his ability to escape, for it
is exactly this type of action that he will be called
to account for by his Creator on the Day of
Judgment. Everyone, no matter from what walk
of life he hails, will be required to stand before
his Maker and lay his life absolutely bare before
Him. On the basis of the actions which fall into
the ‘ethical category’, where moral precepts or
scruples, are of overriding importance, he will
either be ushered into Paradise or cast down into
the flaming pits of Hell. If all this was kept hidden
from him in this world, it was because it was
God’s plan to put man on ‘trial’. If he knew about
all this, his trial would have been meaningless.
Every action of man has some consequences
for him and every state that he finds himself in
precipitates a ‘favourable’ or ‘ unfavorable’
reaction. He then ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ himself
depending upon how he reacts to these situations
and the manner in which he employs his faculties.
If he reacts ‘favourably’, he passes the test and
if he reacts ‘unfavourably’, he fails the test.
--Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
( Ref - Reality of Life )
