Ramadan Day 3: Verses from the Quran
Fri Oct 07, 2005 at 07:33:33 PM PDT
Each day during
Ramadan, I am presenting a verse from the Quran with a few thoughts or comments. An introduction to this series is
here. Inshallah (God willing), I hope that this may be of benefit to any who are interested in learning a bit more about Islam and Muslim belief.
Quran 2:261:
The parable of those who spend their wealth in the path of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it grows seven ears and in each ear are a hundred grains. Allah gives increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing
The
commentary on this verse links it to this hadith, among others:
Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said: Every good deed that the son of Adam performs will be multiplied ten folds, to seven hundred folds, to many other folds, to as much as Allah wills...
Another hadith says something similar:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet ... said, "Allah ordered that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed how. If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed; and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him with Him from ten to seven hundred times to many more times (in reward): and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed with Him, and if he intended to do it and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed."
Think about this in regard to times when you're struggling to avoid sin and do right. If you intend to do something wrong, but you refrain from it, God will reward you. And if you intend to do something good, but you aren't able to do it, God will still reward you. When you finally do complete the good thing, God will reward you ten, seven hundred, or many more times. And if you do commit a sin, it only counts as one bad deed.
We don't want to fall into a tally-sheet mentality, but this little mathematical exercise illustrates in a clear way how much God wants us to do good and how much He encourages us, and how forgiving He is when we do wrong.
