Quran 53:39 (Humans Can Have Only That For Which They Make Effort)
أَلَّا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى (38) وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى (39) وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَى (40) ثُمَّ يُجْزَاهُ الْجَزَاء الْأَوْفَى (41) وَأَنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الْمُنتَهَى (42) That no soul shall bear another’s burden and that a man shall only receive [in the Hereafter] that which he has earned [in this world] [63] and what he has earned shall soon be shown to him; he shall then be fully rewarded and that all things shall in the end return to Allah [64] (Quran 53:38-42) (Excerpt from Quranic Exegesis: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi) (Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem) __________________________ [63] . This not only is a refutation of all the baseless concepts of intercession but also a clear statement of the fact that in the Hereafter, the good or bad deed of a person cannot benefit or harm someone except if his effort has a role whether directly or indirectly in his good or bad deed. Thus everyone must be well aware that in the Hereafter no one will be able to benefit anyone else; everyone will have to carry his own burden and whatever a person gets there will be the result of his own deeds; neither could Noah (sws) save his son nor Abraham’s supplication could be of any avail to his father nor could Lot (sws) become a shield for his wife. About repentance and seeking forgiveness however, it should remain in consideration that this is a person’s own effort. Thus the intercession which the Qur’ān validates is the one in which a person seeking forgiveness from the Almighty is joined by someone in beseeching God for this forgiveness. is called intercession. This is the real meaning of intercession. Thus without a person first taking the initiative in seeking forgiveness from God, it has no basis. A person who intercedes for someone is one who seeks forgiveness together with him and is another voice raised for this purpose and he in fact becomes a means for him in imploring and supplicating before God. The Qur’ān has explained some further aspects of this intercession: Firstly, only God has the authority of intercession. Without His permission, no one can intercede for anyone. So much so, even the angels who are very close to Him cannot take the initiative in saying anything on their own. Thus it is essential to first please God so that intercession is allowed by Him and then also accepted. Secondly, even after being permitted by God to speak, intercession shall be possible only for those about whom God wants. No one shall be able to say anything about anyone out of his own will: Thirdly, the person who is acceptable to God to be interceded for – about him too whatever is allowed to be said will have to be the absolute truth. [64] . That is no one should remain in the misconception that after dying someone other than God will become his protector or helper and save him from the accountability of God. Every one will return to God only and all His verdicts will be implemented the way He wants without any intervention from anyone.