In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Clean & Dignified Records
[33:70] O you who believe, reverence GOD and utter only the correct utterances.
[33:71] He will then fix your works, and forgive your sins. Those who obey GOD and His messenger have triumphed a great triumph.
There is a misconception that bad deeds stay on the records of believers and would cause them to suffer from shame or lower their ranks in Paradise. This claim is not supported by Quran. This reminder is to provide evidence from Quran that refutes that claim and prove that believers who die in a state of righteousness are the ones who deal with their sins while on earth, only to return to God, pleased and pleasing, with clean and dignifying records.
Believing in God mandates that we believe and trust in His systems and attributes. Within the general context of Quran, God teaches us these systems and attributes. Believers in God never question them but rather keep them engraved in their memories, rejoice in them, and cherish them wholeheartedly.
One of His clear systems is that God has decreed His forgiveness of all the sins of believers who reverence Him, repent, and strive to reform. When they repent, their sins are transformed into credit ; they are gone, wiped clean. Please read and reflect:
[25:70] Exempted are those who repent, believe, and lead a righteous life. GOD transforms their sins into credits. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[25:71] Those who repent and lead a righteous life, GOD redeems them; a complete redemption.
[8:29] O you who believe, if you reverence GOD, He will enlighten you, remit your sins, and forgive you. GOD possesses infinite grace.
Attributes of the Righteous
[3:133] You should eagerly race towards forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise whose width encompasses the heavens and the earth; it awaits the righteous,
[3:134] who give to charity during the good times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. GOD loves the charitable.
[3:135] If they fall in sin or wrong their souls, they remember GOD and ask forgiveness for their sins - and who forgives the sins except GOD - and they do not persist in sins, knowingly.
[42:25] He is the One who accepts the repentance from His servants, and remits the sins. He is fully aware of everything you do.
Another clear system is that He has decreed that righteous deeds, including our worshiping practices, continue to wipe off our sins. In addition to that, refraining from gross offenses wipes off existing ones. This, too, is an unquestionable divine system and a promise from the Most Merciful. Please reflect:
[11:114] You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) at both ends of the day, and during the night. The righteous works wipe out the evil works. This is a reminder for those who would take heed.
[29:7] Those who believe and lead a righteous life, we will certainly remit their sins, and will certainly reward them generously for their righteous works.
[4:31] If you refrain from committing the gross sins that are prohibited for you, we will remit your sins, and admit you an honorable admittance.
The above two divine systems ensure the full redemption of our souls, which is the only purpose of our second chance on earth (90:4, 51:56). Redemption means there is no further penalty. It means salvation. Believers achieve this redemption on earth while using their chance wisely. The validation of such redemption promised to the believers is God's decree that they do not taste a second death on earth - they are peacefully taken straight to Heaven. Believers know their destiny and rejoice in this knowledge given in Quran. Through repentance, reform, righteous deeds, worship practices, and refraining from gross sins, they are forgiven and redeemed ; there are no sins left on their records to cause them any fear, shame, or pain on the Day of Resurrection. This is God's system, and this is the fulfillment of God's promise for those who worship Him alone. A clear example for us is the righteous man in 36:26-27 who entered Paradise at the moment of his death BECAUSE HE WAS FORGIVEN. The same process applies to all who die in a state of righteousness. Please Analyze and reflect:
The Righteous Go Straight to Paradise
[36:26] (At the time of his death) he was told, "Enter Paradise." He said, "Oh, I wish my people knew.
[36:27] "That my Lord has forgiven me, and made me honorable."
[16:31] The gardens of Eden are reserved for them, wherein rivers flow. They have anything they wish therein. GOD thus rewards the righteous.
They Go Straight to Paradise
[16:32] The angels terminate their lives in a state of righteousness, saying, "Peace be upon you. Enter Paradise (now) as a reward for your works."
The Righteous Do Not Really Die [44:56] They do not taste death therein - beyond the first death* - and He has spared them the retribution of Hell.
When we are all summoned on the Day of Resurrection, reverent believers will be able to read their righteous deeds with dignity and joy. God has promised them that, and He never breaks a promise. Those who have wasted their chance of redeeming their souls will suffer overwhelming pain and remorse. Every single thought, action and utterance will be exposed and read in their shameful records. This has been also promised to them. Please read carefully:
The Day of Judgment [27:89] Those who bring good works (in their records) will receive far better rewards, and they will be perfectly secure from the horrors of that day.
The Believers
[69:19] As for the one who receives his record with his right hand, he will say, "Come read my record.
[69:20] "I did believe that I was going to be held accountable."
[69:21] He has deserved a happy life.
[20:111] All faces will submit to the Living, the Eternal, and those who are burdened by their transgressions will fail.
[20:112] As for those who worked righteousness, while believing, they will have no fear of injustice or adversity.
Heaven and Hell are Eternal
[10:26] For the righteous, the reward will be multiplied manifold. Their faces will never experience any deprivation or shame. These are the dwellers of Paradise; they abide therein forever.
[10:27] As for those who earned sins, their requital is equivalent to their sin. Humiliation is their lot, and no one beside GOD can protect them. Their faces will seem overwhelmed by masses of dark night. They will be the dwellers of Hell; they abide therein forever.
[25:24] The dwellers of Paradise are far better on that day; they will hear better news.
[25:25] The heaven will break apart, into masses of clouds, and the angels will descend in multitudes.
[25:26] All sovereignty on that day belongs to the Most Gracious. For the disbelievers, it will be a difficult day.
[84:6] O humans, you are irreversibly heading for a meeting with your Lord.
[84:7] As for the one who receives his record in his right hand,
[84:8] His reckoning will be easy.
[84:9] He will return to his people joyfully.
[84:10] As for the one who receives his record behind his back,
[84:11] He will be ridden with remorse.
[84:12] And will burn in Hell.
Attaining different ranks in the Eternal Paradise after the Day of Judgment is only based on how much we have grown our souls through our worship and our righteous deeds. Out of His mercy, God multiplies the rewards of the righteous works in order to upgrade our ranks. Stronger souls will land closer to God, while weaker ones will settle in Low Heaven. Purgatory will also settle in that Low Heaven:
[4:40] GOD does not inflict an atom's weight of injustice. On the contrary, He multiplies the reward manifold for the righteous work, and grants from Him a great recompense.
[7:8] The scales will be set on that day, equitably. Those whose weights are heavy will be the winners.
[7:9] As for those whose weights are light, they will be the ones who lost their souls* as a consequence of disregarding our revelations, unjustly.
[99:7] Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it.
[99:8] And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
[101:6] As for him whose weights are heavy.
[101:7] He will lead a happy (eternal) life.
[101:8] As for him whose weights are light.
[101:9] His destiny is lowly.
[56:7] You will be stratified into three kinds.
[56:8] Those who deserved bliss will be in bliss.
[56:9] Those who deserved misery will be in misery.
[56:10] Then there is the elite of the elite.
[56:11] They are those who will be closest (to God).
[56:88] If he is one of those close to Me -
[56:89] then joy, flowers, and gardens of bliss.
[56:90] And if he is one of the right -
[56:91] peace is the lot of those on the right.
[56:92] But if he is one of the disbelievers, the strayers -
[56:93] then an abode of inferno -
[56:94] and burning in Hell.
[56:95] This is the absolute truth.
[7:46] A barrier separates them, while the Purgatory is occupied by people who recognize each side by their looks. They will call the dwellers of Paradise: "Peace be upon you." They did not enter (Paradise) through wishful thinking.
[7:47] When they turn their eyes towards the dwellers of Hell, they will say, "Our Lord, do not put us with these wicked people."
The Majority Doomed
[7:48] The dwellers of the Purgatory will call on people they recognize by their looks, saying, "Your great numbers did not avail you in any way, nor did your arrogance.
[7:49] "Are those the people you swore that GOD will never touch them with mercy?" (The people in the Purgatory will then be told,) "Enter Paradise; you have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve."
Ranking based on sins is exclusively used by God for those who die surrounded by their sins and evil work among the disbelievers. There are no verses in the entire Quran that indicate the ranking of the believers based on the sins that they might have committed on earth. This is a twisted lie from Satan the rejected to confuse the believers, lead them to question God's systems, and cause them to doubt His immense mercy, compassion, and forgiveness towards them. It is the righteous deeds and the quality of our worship that would be listed on our records, and would stratify our souls into different ranks. For example, higher ranks are promised for those who spend and strive before victory comes (57:10), for the strivers over the sedentary (4:95), for those who acquire knowledge(58:11), and for those who meditate with the Quran during night (17:79). The same applies for the disbelievers. Their sins will rank them differently in Hell. Please reflect:
[20:75] As for those who come to Him as believers who had led a righteous life, they attain the high ranks.
[2:81] Indeed, those who earn sins and become surrounded by their evil work will be the dwellers of Hell; they abide in it forever.
[6:132] Everyone will attain a rank commensurate with their deeds. Your Lord is never unaware of anything they do.
[46:18] Such are the ones stamped as disbelievers among every generation of jinns and humans; they are losers.
[46:19] They all attain the ranks they have deserved, in accordance with their works. He will pay them for their works, without the least injustice.
In conclusion,true believers are not going to be condemned by God for the sins they have committed on earth. Believers reverence God, and are conscious about what displeases Him (3:135). When they sin they ask for God's forgiveness, then repent and reform. This is when they are forgiven, and their sins are transformed into credits. Other sins get automatically wiped clean by righteous deeds and worshiping practices. .This is how believers get redeemed on earth. Redemption and forgiveness is the one-way pass to Paradise. Redemption and forgiveness mean no penalty, or deducted fees. Believers experience no shame or pain on the Day of Resurrection. This only means they have thoroughly clean records of righteous deeds. Only righteous deeds stay on the records of those who die in a state of righteousness, and that would rank them as close or the closest to God accordingly. Disbelievers' records will also stratify them in Hell. Submitters must trust in God and His words if they truly believe in Him. They should rejoice in His promises and fully comprehend His attributes of mercy and forgiveness. They should understand the following prayers and mean them when they utter them:
[60:4] ... "Our Lord, we trust in You, and submit to You; to You is the final destiny.
[3:191]... "Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain. Be You glorified. Save us from the retribution of Hell.
[3:192] "Our Lord, whomever You commit to Hell are the ones You have forsaken. Such transgressors have no helpers.
[3:193] "Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith and proclaiming: `You shall believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, forgive us our transgressions, remit our sins, and let us die as righteous believers.
[3:194] "Our Lord, shower us with the blessings you promised us through Your messengers, and do not forsake us on the Day of Resurrection. You never break a promise."
[7:126] ...Our Lord, grant us steadfastness, and let us die as submitters."
[40:7] ... "Our Lord, Your mercy and Your knowledge encompass all things. Forgive those who repent and follow Your path, and spare them the retribution of Hell.
[40:8] "Our Lord, and admit them into the gardens of Eden that You promised for them and for the righteous among their parents, spouses, and children. You are the Almighty, Most Wise.
[89:27] As for you, O content soul.
[89:28] Return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing.
[89:29] Welcome into My servants.
[89:30] Welcome into My Paradise.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.