Surah Al-Baqarah — Verse 134

That nation has passed away like other communities. They gained whatever they did in their lives, earning either good or evil; and you will gain what you have earned. You will not be asked about what they did, and they will not be asked about what you do. No one is held to account for the disobedience of another, but everyone is rewarded according to their own actions. You should not be distracted from paying attention to your own behaviour by looking at what those before you did. Nothing will benefit anyone except his own good actions.

Or were you witnesses when death approached Ya'qub (Jacob)? When he said unto his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We shall worship your AIlah (God ـ Allah) the Ilah of your fathers, Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), One Ilah, and to Him we submit (in Islam)) (133)That was a nation who has passed away. They shall receive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do (134)

This Ayah contains Allah's criticism of the Arab pagans among the offspring of Isma'il as well as the disbelievers among the Children of Israel Jacob the son of Isaac, the son of Ibrahim. When death came to Jacob, he advised his children to worship Allah alone without partners. He said to them,

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن بَعْدِي قَالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلَٰهَكَ وَإِلَٰهَ آبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ

("What will you worship after me?" They said, "We shall worship your Ilah (God ـ Allah) the Ilah of your fathers, Ibrahim, Isma'il, Ishaq,")

Mentioning Isma'il here is a figure of speech, because Isma'il is Jacob's uncle. An-Nahas said that the Arabs call the uncle a father, as Al-Qurtubi mentioned).

This Ayah is used as evidence that the grandfather is called a father and inherits, rather than the brothers (i.e. when his son dies), as Abu Bakr asserted, according to Al-Bukhari who narrated Abu Bakr's statement from Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Az-Zubayr. Al-Bukhari then commented that there are no opposing opinions regarding this subject. This is also the opinion of 'A'ishah the Mother of the believers, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Tawus and 'Ata', Malik, Ash-Shaf'i and Ahmad said that the inheritance is divided between the grandfather and the brothers. It was reported that this was also the opinion of 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, bin Mas'ud, Zayd bin Thabit and several scholars among the Salaf and later generations.

The statement,

إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا

(One Ilah (God)) means, "We single Him out in divinity and do not associate anything or anyone with Him."

 وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

(And to Him we submit), in obedience meaning, obedient and submissiveness. Similarly, Allah said,

وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ

(While to Him submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly. And to Him shall they all be returned)(3:83).

Indeed, Islam is the religion of all the Prophets, even if their rei]spective laws differed. Allah said,

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ

(And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad ﷺ)[but We revealed to him (saying): La ilaha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allah)], so worship Me (alone and none else))(21:25).

There are many other Ayat - and Hadiths - on this subject. For instance, the Prophet ﷺ said,

نَحْنُ مَعْشَرَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ أَوْلَادُ عَلَّاتٍ دِينُنا وَاحِدٌ

(We, the Prophets, are brothers with different mothers, but the same religion.)

Allah said,

تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ

(That was a nation who has passed away) meaning, existed before your time,

لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ

(They shall receive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn).

This Ayah proclaims, Your relationship to the Prophets or righteous people among your ancestors will not benefit you, unless you perform good deeds that bring about you religious benefit. They have their deeds and you have yours,

وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

(And you will not be asked of what they used to do)."

This is why a Hadith proclaims,

مَنْ بَطَّأَ بِهِ عَمَلُهُ لَمْ يُسْرِعْ بِهِ نَسَبُهُ

(Whoever was slowed on account of his deeds will not get any faster on account of his family lineage.)'

Verse 134 tells us that the good deeds of one's forefathers shall not suffice one, if one has not been performing good deeds oneself, and that, similarly, one shall not have to suffer for the misdeeds of one's forefathers, if one's own account is clean. It follows upon this principle that children of mushrikin مشرکین (associators) and Kafirin کافرین (infidels), if they die before having come of age, shall not be punished in the other world on account of the disbelief of their parents. The verse also refutes the claim of the Jews that irrespective of what they had been doing they would go to Paradise on account of the good deeds of their forefathers.

Let this be a warning to those Muslims who, being the descendants of the Holy Prophet ﷺ or of a saint, delude themselves with the hope that their sins would go unpunished in consideration of this privileged position. In fact, the Holy Qur'an is very explicit and very insistent on this point. For example:

وَلَا تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ إِلَّا عَلَيْهَا ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ

"Each man shall reap the fruits of his own deeds, and no one shall bear the burden of another" (6:164).

Addressing his own clan, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

"Beware, 0 Banu Hashim, let it not be that on the Day of Judgment while others bring their good deeds with them, you on your part, having neglected good deeds, bring with you only the trust in being my relations, and so I have to tell you that on that day, I cannot save you from the wrath of Allah."

Another hadith says: من بطابہ عملہ لم یسرع بہ نسبہ :"He who has been pulled back by his deeds cannot be pushed forward by his ancestry."

Attaching oneself to saints and prophets, living or dead, lulls one into a false sense of security. It leads one to imagine that just as one has been attached to them in this life, one will remain attached to them in the next. It makes one feel that their surplus of good deeds will make up for one’s own shortcomings. The People of the Book were immersed in this form of wishful thinking to the extent that they had invented a dogma of ancestral salvation, pinning all their hopes on the holiness of their elders. But it is sheer self-deception to think that one person will receive the reward of another’s actions. In reality, everyone will reap the rewards, and bear the burden of punishment for his own actions. No one will be made to share in the reward, or punishment, which is awarded to another by virtue of his actions on earth. One who submits to God finds that he has to face all kinds of difficulties in this life. His worldly hopes and ambitions will not necessarily be fulfilled. Yet one who is firm in the faith will not be put off by adversity; he will persevere, making sure that he leaves this world as a believer, so that he can look forward to God’s blessings in the next world.