I read that one of the favours of Allaah is that He will raise the status of children in Paradise to that of their parents who are higher than them, and that on this basis the children of the Companions will be raised to the status of their fathers, and grandchildren will be raised to the status of their forefathers, and so on, every generation will raise the following generation, down to our generation, so we will be raised to the status of the Companions if we are their descendants. This may lead to people being heedless about their actions and relying on this divine honour. What is your opinion?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The question raised here stems from discussion of the verse
in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in
Faith, — to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease
the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that
which he has earned”
[al-Toor 52:21]
The scholars differed concerning the word offspring -- did it
refer to young or old? Those who said that it refers to young children did
not have any confusion about the meaning of the verse. Rather the confusion
arises if the meaning of the word offspring is grown-up children. The more
correct view concerning the meaning of it is that it refers to young
children. Based on that, it does not refer to that which caused confusion
for the questioner. The raise in status is for offspring in the sense of
young children, otherwise the implication would be that all the people of
Paradise would be of the same status.
1.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
the commentators differed concerning the meaning of offspring in this verse.
Does it refer to young, old or both? There are three opinions ... Then he
said: The specific meaning of offspring here as referring to small children
is apparent, otherwise it would imply that those who come later would be
equal in status to those who came before, but there is no such implication
if what is meant is small children, because the children and offspring of
each man will be with him at the same status level. And Allaah knows best.
End quote.
Haadi al-Arwaah ila Bilaad al-Afraad,
p. 279-281.
2.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said:
If the children are destined for Paradise and the father is
destined for Paradise, then Allaah says in His Book (interpretation of the
meaning):
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in
Faith, — to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease
the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that
which he has earned”
[al-Toor 52:21]
Meaning that if a person has offspring, and they are people
of Paradise, then they will follow their father, even if their status is
lower than that of their father. Hence He said: “and We shall not
decrease the reward of their deeds in anything” meaning, We will not
decrease the reward of the fathers; rather the fathers will retain their
abundant reward and the offspring will be raised to the status of their
fathers. This refers to the children who are not excluded from the word
offspring when they have their own wives and families. These will have a
special virtue and will not be joined to their fathers, because if we were
to say that each person will join his father even if he has a wife and
children or he is on his own, then all the people of Paradise would be of
the same level, because everyone is the offspring of the previous
generation. Rather what is meant by offspring is those who were with him,
and did not leave and have wives and children of their own. These people
will be raised to the status of their fathers, and nothing of their fathers’
deeds will be lost. End quote.
Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb (tape
no. 324, side 1).
3.
And he (may Allaah have mercy on him) also said:
Moreover, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, — to them
shall We join their offspring…”[al-Toor 52:21]. Those who believed and
whose offspring followed them in Faith -- the offspring who follow their
parents in Faith are small children. Hence Allaah says “to them shall We
join their offspring”, i.e., We will cause their offspring to join them
in their levels in Paradise.
With regard to grown-up children who have got married, they
will be in their own levels in Paradise, and will not be joined to their
fathers, because they have their own offspring, so they will be in their own
places. As for offspring in the sense of small children who follow their
fathers, they will be joined to their fathers, but this joining does not
imply any detraction from the reward or status of the fathers. Hence Allaah
says, “and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything”,
meaning that their offspring will be joined to them, and it cannot be said
that a deduction will be made from the fathers' degrees commensurate with
the rise in status of the offspring, rather Allaah says “and We shall not
decrease the reward of their deeds in anything”. End quote.
Tafseer al-Qur’aan min al-Hujuraat ila al-hadeed,
p. 187.
And Allaah knows best.
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