Word 12: People’s Worth is What They Believe

Word 12: People’s Worth is What They Believe

We have three levels in a human’s existence and each of them has a heaven and a hell just for that level. The first level is related to the actions and ethics of a human and has a heaven and a hell scaled appropriately for that level. The second level is related to behavior, habits, attitudes, and has a scale appropriate for that level. The third level is beliefs which also has a scale appropriate for that level and is the highest level of them all. Now, you will understand the following hadith from Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali (A): “If someone has done many bad deeds and loves us, he/she will go to heaven.” Meaning, that he/she is safe in heaven in the beliefs level, but that does not mean that he/she will not be punished for the bad actions and bad habits that he/she did in the first (actions) and second (habits) levels. The better the person’s actions, habits, and beliefs; the more he becomes like Prophet Muhammad (S) and would be closer to pure heaven. That is why we have a lot of traditions which highlight the superiority of knowledge compared to actions without knowledge. There is a tradition that someone asked an Imam: “If someone did many bad deeds during his lifetime, let’s say 70 years, why does he have to stay in hell forever?” Imam replied: “Because his intention was to do that action forever as long as he was alive.” (The question was related to the level of action; the reply was from a higher level).

All praise is to God to the extent that He deserves it.