Living The Quran

The Record
Ya Sin - Chapter 36: Verse 12

"We shall surely raise the dead to life and We record what they did and the traces of their deeds that they have left behind. We have encompassed that in a Clear Book."

One learns from this that the record of one's deeds consists of the following three types of entries:

1. All that one does, good or bad, is recorded.

2. All the impressions that one leaves on the objects around her or on the organs of her own body are recorded. All these will, at a given time, stand out with utter clarity. As a result, it will be possible to hear the words she spoke in the past in her own voice. It will also be possible to observe a person's ideas, intentions and motives in their fullness for all this will appear as though inscribed on her mind's tablet. Thus it will be possible to have a full picture of a person's good and bad deeds, and of all her movements.

3. The full impact of a person on others, both good and evil: the impact on her own future generations, on her society and on mankind at large, will also be entered in this record.

As long as a person's impact lasts, it will be credited to her account. A complete record of her impact after her demise on subsequent generations, on her own society and on humanity at large, with all its ramifications, will be entered into her record. The good or bad upbringing of her children, the contributions she made to spreading good or evil in her society and among mankind will also be maintained and will be kept as long as her deeds continue to affect human behaviour in the world.

Compiled From:
"Towards Understanding the Quran" - Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi, Vol. 9, pp. 245,24