What deeds are you sending forward?
By S N Smith — June 8, 2025
Allah says in Suran an-Nabah verse 40:
We have warned you of a chastisement which is near at hand, on the Day when man shall [clearly] see what his hands have sent ahead, and when he who has denied the truth shall say, ‘Oh, would that I were dust!’
If to the uninitiated it appears that the Quran is obsessed with the Day of Judgment it’s because of the seriousness of that frightening day which every single person must eventually encounter.
Now one might say that these words we revealed 1400 years ago and yet it was stated that the Day of Judgement is near at hand.
The skeptic would be quick to conclude that it looks like after 1400 years of warning that this is not going to happen and that it is all a myth in order to scare people into submission.
But 1400 years compared to the wide expanse of eternity is a mere blip.
How we humans perceive time is altogether different than how Allah, who created time to begin with, perceives it.
In a number of places in the Quran the idea of people sending their deeds ahead via their own hands is made mention of.
See for example Surah Hajj verse 10:
That is for what your hands have sent forth, and verily, Allah is not ever unjust to His servants.
And in Surah al-Kahf verse 57:
And who does greater wrong than one who has been reminded of the signs of his Lord, then turns away from them and forgets that which his hands have sent forth? Surely We have placed coverings over their hearts, such that they understand it not, and in their ears a deafness. Even if you call them to guidance, they will never be rightly guided.
And in Surah al-Anfal verse 51:
Because of (the deeds) which your (own) hands sent forth; for Allah is never unjust to His servants.
And Surah At-Takwir verse 14:
[then] each soul shall know what it has put forward.
And Surah al-Infitar verse 5:
Then everyone will know what he has sent ahead, and what he has left behind.
One may be of the mistaken assumption that once a deed is carried out it has dissipated and that’s the end of it.
But according to the above Quranic verses that is a mistaken assumption.
Every deed that one carries out in this life is, in essence, is deposited into the bank of eternity and is waiting for us upon arrival.
So, dear reader, what deeds are you sending forward?