Deviating from the Messenger
Allah (T) said addressing His Messenger (saws):
"Say, 'Were I to go astray, I would only stray to the hurt of myself; but if I am guided, it is because of what my Lord reveals unto me; He is indeed All-Hearing, Ever-Near.'" [Saba' 34:50]
This carries a clear evidence that the Messenger's guidance occurs only through the wahy1 How surprising it is then to find men with confused minds and conflicting opinions claim to be guided! How does this guidance reach them? Indeed, "He whom Allah guides is rightly guided; but as for him whom He leaves to stray, you will find no protector to lead him" [Al-Kahf 18:17]
What misguidance is worse than that of one who claims that guidance does not occur through the wahy! He would rather refer matters to the opinions of this and that person! Great indeed is Allah's bounty toward one whom He guarded from such a serious deviation and a great disaster. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the peoples.
FOLLOWING FALSEHOODS
Also, Allah (T) said:
"A Book has been revealed unto you, so let there be no tightness in your chest about it - that you might warn [people] with it, and remind the Believers. Follow [people] what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow other than Him - as allies or protectors. How seldom do you remember [the admonition]." [Al-A'raaf 7:2-3]
Here, Allah (T) commands people to follow what He revealed to His Messenger, and He forbids following others. One can either follow the Revelation or follow others - as allies; Allah does not give other than these two alternatives. Thus, anyone not following the wahy is indeed following falsehoods and other allies instead of Allah. By Allah's Grace, this should be clear and obvious.
THE CONFIDANTS
And Allah (T) said:
"On the Day when the wrong-doer will bite his hands [in despair], saying, 'Oh! Would that I had followed the path shown to me by the Messenger! Ah! Woe is me! Would that I had never taken so- and-so for a confidant! Indeed, he lead me astray from the Message (of Allah) after it had come to me! Ah! Satan is ever a betrayer of man.'" [Al-Furqan 25:27-29]
Anyone who follows a person other than the Messenger (saws), abandoning his guidance for the sake of that person's words or opinions, will surely say these same words. This is why Allah refers here to the confidant as 'so-and-so', which is a generic term that could apply to any person taken as a confidant instead of Allah.
This applies then to confidants whose friendship is based on anything other than obeying the Messenger (saws): their friendship will eventually turn to enmity and accusations, as Allah (T) said:
"The confidants on that Day will be foes unto one another - except the pious." [Az-Zukhruf 43:67]
THE FOLLOWERS AND THE FOLLOWED
Allah (T) describes the plight of the followers and of those whom they followed in several places of His Book; He says for instance:
"On the Day when their faces will be tossed about in the Fire, they will say, 'Woe to us! Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!' And they will say, 'Our Lord! We obeyed our chiefs and our great men, and they lead us astray from the right path. Our Lord! Give them double suffering, and banish them utterly from Your Grace!'" [Al-Ahzab 33:66-68]
Those people will wish that they had obeyed Allah (T) and His Messenger (saws). But they will do it at a time when wishes avail them nothing. They will confess that they had obeyed their chiefs and leaders and disobeyed the Messenger (saws), acknowledging that they had no excuse for doing so. This realization will lead them to request doubling the punishment and curses for those leaders.
This carries an important lesson and a useful admonition for a man of reason, Indeed, assistance [in seeing the truth] is from Allah (T) only.
Partners In Deviation
Allah (T) said,
"Who could be more unjust than one who devises lies against Allah or rejects His messages? For such, their appointed portion must reach them from the Book [of Decrees] until, when Our messengers [of death] arrive to take their souls, they say, 'Where are the things that you used to invoke besides Allah?' They will reply, 'They have forsaken us!' And thus they will testify against themselves that they had been denying the truth (kaafirs).
He (Allah) will say, 'Join those peoples who have preceded you, of men and jinn2, in the Fire.' Every time a new people enters, it curses its sister people [that went before].
Once they have all joined each other in it, the last of them will say about the first, 'Our Lord! It is these who have misled us, so give them a double suffering in the Fire.' He will reply, 'Every one of you will have a double suffering, but this you do not understand.'
Then the first of them will say to the last, "See then! You have no advantage over us, so taste of the suffering for all that you did!'" [Al-A'raaf 7:37-39]
A sensible person should reflect on these ayat, and on the lessons they carry. The first aayah (al-A' raaf 37) mentions the two classes of evildoers:
Those who start fallacies, establish injustice, and call people to it. Thus they distort the truth and initiate falsehood.
Those who reject or deny the truth.
Every evildoer belongs to one of these two classes. If, in addition, he invites people to his evil and drives them away from the truth, then he deserves a double penalty because of his disbelief and evil. For this reason Allah (T) says:
"Those who disbelieve and hinder people from the Path of Allah, for them will We add penalty to penalty because of the mischief that they used to spread" [An-Nahl 16:88]
They deserve a double punishment because of their double evil. But as for those who commit kufr (disbelief) without coaxing others toward it, Allah (T) does not threaten them with a doubled suffering:
"For those who disbelieve, there is a grievous punishment..." [Al-Mujadalah 58:4]
In the above ayat (7:37-39), Allah (T) informs that what had been decreed for the evildoers in their first life reaches them, such as their life span, sustenance, etc.
Then, when death comes to them, they part with their old claims, acknowledge their falsehood, and become witnesses against themselves.
Allah (T) commands them to enter into the Fire where many previous peoples have preceded them. Every time a new people enters, its members curse their ancestors who preceded them into the Fire. When they are all in it, the later nations request doubled penalties for the previous ones because they led them astray and drove them away from obeying Allah's messengers.
Allah (T) replies that the punishment will be doubled for both the "followers" and the "followed", in accordance with their deviation and disbelief, and that a generation does not know what doubled suffering other generations deserve.
The former generation then tells the later, "You do not possess any advantage over us. You had your own messengers who showed you the truth, warned you against our deviation, and forbade you from following or imitating us. Yet you rejected them and insisted on following and imitating us, and on forsaking the guidance of the messengers. Thus what advantage do you have over us, when you strayed just as we did, and when you gave up the truth just like us? You strayed because of us, just as we strayed because of other people. You can claim no advantage over us, and thus you should taste the suffering because of what you earned yourselves."
By Allah, this is indeed a strong admonition and an eloquent advice for any living heart! These, and similar ayat would awaken the hearts of those who migrate to Allah (T). But as for the lazy people, they have no effect on them.
Untrue Followers
The above discussion deals with the followers who share in the deviation with those whom they follow.
Another case is that of the followers who turn away from whom they claim to follow, taking a different course than theirs, while maintaining false claims of true compliance with them. Allah (T) mentions such people in the following:
"Then would those who had been followed disown their followers; they (the followers) would see the suffering [awaiting them], and all relations between them would be cut off. And then those followers would say: 'If we can only have one more chance: we would disown them as they have disowned us.' Thus will Allah show them the fruits of their deeds as nothing but bitter regrets. Nor will there be a way for them out of the Fire" [Al-Baqarah 2:166-167]
The followed ones are truly guided. Their "followers" claim to adhere to them when, in reality, they follow a different way and guidance. They claim to love them, presuming that this love would benefit them despite their deviation. But they will discover on the Day of Judgement that they will be disowned by them. They take them as allies instead of Allah, imagining this to benefit them!
Great indeed is the deviation of a person who takes other than Allah (T) and His Messenger (saws) for allies and confidants, making peace or hostility for their sake, and getting satisfied or infuriated for their cause. Regardless of how numerous his deeds are, or how much effort and toil he puts into them, they will be futile on the Day of Judgement, and will only add to his misery and regret.
His allegiance and enmity, love and hatred, satisfaction and anger, and so on, are not sincerely maintained for Allah and His Messenger; because of this, Allah will shatter his deeds and sever his connections.
The Only Un-severed Tie
Thus, on the Day of Resurrection, all connections and allegiances that had not been for Allah will be severed, leaving only one tie: that which connects a 'abd to his Lord.
This tie is maintained by:
Continued migration to Allah and to His Messenger (saws).
Continuously purifying one's acts of worship to Allah (T). This includes love, hatred, giving, preventing, taking as allies or enemies, and the like.
Continuously purifying one's adherence to the Messenger (saws). This includes abandoning others' opinions for what he says, discarding anything that disagrees with his guidance, and associating none with him in this adherence.
This is the only tie that will not be severed. It is the true relationship between a 'abd and his Lord: the relationship of pure 'uboodiyyah. It is the only thing that he continues to long for, no matter how far he departs from it. It is as a poet once said:
Let your heart wander in love affairs as you wish:
True love will only be for the first lover.
How many houses does a man habituate!
But he will always long for his first home.
This relationship [with Allah] is the only one that profits man. Nothing else will profit him in any of his three lives: the first, the intermediate (barzakh), and the final eternal life. He cannot endure or live or be happy and successful without this relationship. A poet once said:
When ties (of communion) will be severed (between lovers),
The bond of the true lovers [of Allah] will not be possible to sever,
And when their unity shatters,
The unity of the true lovers [of Allah] will be impossible to splinter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, on the Day of Judgement Allah will sever all connections and ties that are among people in this life, sparing only the ties between them and Him - the ties that reflect pure 'uboodiyyah (servitude), which can only be accomplished through true adherence to the messengers (saws). Allah (T) said:
"And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did (in the first life), and We shall make such deeds as floating dust scattered about" [Al-Furqan 26:23]
So all the deeds of the first life conflicting with the way and guidance of Allah's messengers, and with which was sought anything other than Allah's Countenance, will be turned by Allah (on the Day of Judgement) into scattered dust, availing their owners nothing.
This is indeed one of the greatest miseries on the Day of Judgement: for one to find all he did completely lost and worthless, at a time when one will be in the greatest need for every good deed.
FOOTNOTES
Wahy: The revelation.
Jinn: An invisible creation that Allah (T) made from fire and smoke. Like human beings, the jinns have a choice of action, and are accountable for their deeds. Satan is one of the jinns.
The People of Misery
By Imaam ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
From the book Ar-Risaalat ut-Tabukiyyah
Translation & Comments by Muhammad al-Jibaali
© Al-Qur'ân was-Sunnah Society of North America.