Children and Allah’s Justice Concerning Them

I asked the Messenger of Allah (SA): “Tell me: Will Allah, the Mighty and High, punish His Creation without evidence?” He (SA) replied, “Allah forbid.” I asked, “Then, do the children of monotheists go to Heaven or Hell? Hence, he (SA) replied, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is more adequate for them. When the Day of Judgment comes and Allah, the Mighty and High, assembles creation to deliver His Judgment. He will bring forth the children of the monotheists, and will ask them: “O My Servants! Who is your Lord? What is your religion? And what deeds have you brought forth?” They will reply: “O our Allah, our Lord, You created us, while we did no create anything. You made us die, while we did not make anything die. However, You did no make our tongues speak, nor our ears hear, nor did you give us a Book to guide us or send us a messenger to follow. We know nothing more than what You have taught us.” The Mighty and High will reply to them: “O My Servants! If I gave you an order, would you follow it?”” They will say: “O our Lord, listening and obedience belongs to You.” The reporter says: he (SA) said: Allah, the Mighty and High, will command a fire from Hell, called al-Falaq, which is the most severe in punishment in Hell. Thus, it will come out of its place, black, darkened, and covered with chains and shackles. Allah, the Mighty and High, will command it to blow in the face of creation, and it will blow. As a result of the blow, the heaven will be covered, the starts will be obliterated, the oceans will freeze, the mountains will crumble, the vision will be impeded, pregnant women will miscarry, and the hair of children will turn grey out of horror on the Day of Judgment. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, will command the children of the monotheists to cast themselves into that fire. Thus, whoever was privileged in the Knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and High, from before will cast themselves into the fire. The fire, however, will become cool for them, and a source of safety, as it was for Ibrahim (AS). Those whomever Allah, the Mighty and High, knows to be adverse, however, will refuse to throw themselves into the fire. Hence, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, will command the fire to gather them for failing to heed Allah’s command, and for refusing to enter the fire. As a result they will be in Hell in succession to their forefathers. Such is the Word of the Mighty and High: Then (some) of them shall be unhappy and (others) happy. So as to those who are unhappy, they shall be in the fire; for them shall be sighting and groaning in it: Abiding therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord please; surely your Lord is the Mighty Doer of what He intends. And as to those who are made happy, they shall be in the garden, abiding in it as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord please; a gift which shall never be cut off.

I asked him, “For what reason did Allah, the Mighty and High, drown the whole of the earth in the time of Nuh (AS), while there were children among them who were free of sin?” So he (AS) replied, There were no children among them, because Allah, the Mighty and High, made the male reproductive system infertile and the female wombs barren for forty years. Thus, their lineage was cut. So He drowned them while there were no children among them. Allah, the Mighty and High, does not destroy with His Punishment anyone who is without sin. As for the rest of Nuh’s (AS) people then they were drowned for belying Nuh, the Prophet of Allah, (AS). They were all drowned for agreeing with the belying ones. Whoever is absent from a matter, and agrees to it, is like one that witnesses it and commits it.

3. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Walid (RA) said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan alSaffar said, on the authority of al-`Abbas ibn Ma`ruf, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Sinan, on the authority of Talhah ibn Zayd, on the authority of Ja`far ibn Muhammad (AS) that His father al-Baqir (AS) said Verily, the children of the Muslims are known to Allah, the Mighty and High, as intercessors, and those who will receive intercession. When they become twelve years of age, the merits are written for them, and when they reach the age of puberty, their offences are also noted down.

When the Day of Judgement comes, Allah, the Mighty and High, will hold objection against seven: the child, the one who died during the period between two prophets, the elderly senile man who lived during the period of prophecy, the simple-minded person, the mentally ill, the deaf and the dumb. Each of these defendants will plead their case to Allah, the Mighty and High. Allah, the Mighty and High, will send to them a messenger. He will light a fire for them and say: Verily, your Lord has commanded you to jump into it. Thus, whoever jumps in it, it will become cool, and a means of peace for him, and whoever resist will be driven to the Hell.

I saw Abu Ja`far al-Baqir (AS) praying over the small son of Ja`far (AS), so he said the Allhhu Akbar then said: “O Zurarah! Verily, this and its likes do not require the prayer (of the deceased). If it were not for the fact that people would say “the Hashimites do not pray on the children,’ I would not have prayed.” Zurarah says: I asked him, “No, by Allah?” He (AS) answered, For Allah, the Mighty and High, is the divine will for them. When the Day of Judgement comes, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, will hold evidence over seven: the child, the one that died between the time gap of two prophets, the old man that grasped the era of a prophet while he was not sane, the simple-minded, the mentally ill, the deaf and the dumb. Then each one of these will seek evidence on Allah, the Mighty and High, on the Day of Judgment. Allah, the Mighty and high, will send to them a messenger, who will make a fire for them and will say: Verily, your Lord has commanded you to jump in it. Thus, whoever jumps init, it will become cool and a means of peace for him, and whoever resists will be drive to the Hell.

6. My father (RA) said: Sa`d ibn `Abd Allah said, on the authority of al-Haytham ibn Abu Masruq al-Nahdi, on the authority of al-Hasan ibn Mahbub, on the authority of `Ali ibn Ri`ab, on the authority of al-Halabi that Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) said, Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, made Ibrahim and Sarah feed the children of the believers from the tree in Paradise, which has udder like the udder of a cow. They are in palaces made from pearls. When the Day of Judgement comes, they will be dressed up, perfumed, and brought to their parents. Both the children and their parents will be royalty in Paradise.

“The sons fall short of the deeds of the fathers, so Allah, the Mighty and High, unites the sons with the fathers so that their eyes may rest.”

When the child of believing parents passes away, a caller warns the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth: Beware! Verily, the son of the so and so has passed away. If the child’s father, mother, or relatives have passed away, he will be given to them so that they can feed him. If the child does not have any immediate relatives who have passed away, then he is handed over to Fatimah, blessings of Allah be upon her, to feed him until his parents or relatives pass away, and then he is handed over to them.

It is atonement for his parents.”

Messenger of Allah (SA) said: Marry virgins! Verily, they are the purest in speech, the best in morals, and the most fertile. Have you not come to know that on the Day of Judgment, I would be proud of you over other nations, eve for a miscarriage? The child who died during the birth will reach the Gate of Paradise covered in camphor. Allah, the Mighty and High, will say to it: “Enter Paradise!” It will reply: “No, not until my parents have entered.” Allah, the Mighty and High, will say to an angel: “Bring Me his parents.” The child will then be sent to Paradise in the company of his parents. Thus, Allah will say: “This is due to My Mercy upon you.”

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS) about the children of the Prophets (AS). He replied, “They are not like the children of other people.” The reporter sys: I asked him about Ibrahim, son of the Messenger of Allah (SA), that had he lived, would he have become a truthful one [siddiq]? He (AS) answered, “If he had lived, he would have followed in the footsteps of his father (SA).”

Verily, the process of recognizing justice and injustice, and the way of differentiation between the two or aversion from them, is not something innate. In fact, it is due to the approval or disapproval of the intellect. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to refuse the evil of an action due to our ignorance of its causes. Nor should we take it out from the boundary of justice based on its apparent from. Rather the method, when we intend to understand the reality of a category of actions that is hidden to us, should be the rational one. We should turn to proofs that indicate the wisdom of their doers, and we should be devoted to proofs that introduce us to the state of its doer. If He acts wisely and justly, then it must necessarily apply to all of His actions, whether or not we are ignorant of their causes. This is because, as far as the intellect is concerned, there is no shortcoming in one category of actions without the other, or specification for one genus without the other. Take the case of a father, for example, who we know to be just. If he amputates a limb from his son for a reason that we are ignorant of, we cannot declare that he is unjust since we are unaware of the reason for which he did so. As a whole, this is due to his fair appearance and good intent for his son. The actions of Allah, the All-Knowing of the ends and beginnings, are similar, Blessed and Exalted be Hi. Reason requires us to believe that His Actions must be wise and just. We cannot limit ourselves to what we know because we are ignorant of all the details which motivate His Actions. We understand that we are unable to understand the causes of all things, since we do not understand them in full. This is when we intend to understand a sentence that enables its ignorance from the rules of His Actions, the Mighty and High. However, if we intend to explore its meanings and discuss its causes then we are not short of intellects, with the praise of Allah, that may make us recognize the rational reasoning in their details, what confirms the indication on a whole. The proof that the actions of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, are based on wisdom is that they are far form contradiction and secure from differentiation. The proof can also be found in their interconnectedness, the need of things to their likes, and the damaging of its shape and connecting of every category to its resemblance until it is imagined that it is other than what is seems. The rotation of the heavens and the movement of the sun and the moon, and the travel of the stars would certainly obliterate and be destroyed. Thus, when the actions of Allah, the Mighty and High, execute what we have mentioned regarding the reasons for justice and injustice, we can only conclude that they are based on wisdom. The proof the Mighty and High does not oppress can be found in the fact hat He, Blessed and Exalted, is Eternal, Self-Sufficient, and All-Knowing. Furthermore, He cannot act ignorantly. Oppression only occurs among the ignorant or those who seek personal benefit. Since He, the Blessed and Exalted, is Eternal and Self-Sufficient, He does not benefit or lose anything fro knowing what was, and what will be good and evil. Everything He does is out of wisdom, and everything He does is Right. Do you to see that those who are wise do not commit evil, as he has sufficient self-control to refrain from evil. Whoever commits a major sin deserves criticism. Therefore, the existence of evil is not feared from Him and this is clear. All praise is due to Allah.

I asked Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Baqir (AS): O son of the Messenger of Allah! Some children are born dead. Some are miscarried. Some are born deaf or dumb. Some die the hour they are born. Some die at puberty. And some live until they reach old age. Why is that? And what is the cause?” Thus, he (AS) replied, Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is the Best of Planners when it comes to the affairs of His Creation. He is their Creator, and He is their Master. Whoever He prevents from aging, verily, he prevents him from what was not (allocated) for him. And whoever he allows to reach old age, He bestows upon him what was (allocated) to him. He gives out of favor and prohibits due to Justice. He is not questioned about what He does, yet people will be questioned about what they do. Jabir says: I asked him, “O son of the Messenger of Allah! How is He not questioned for what He does?” He (AS) replied, (He is not questioned for what He does) because everything he does is wise and just. He is the Possessor of Greatness, the Supreme, the one (and Only), and the Subduer. Therefore, whoever feels distressed over something that Allah has destined has disbelieved. And whoever rejects anything from His Actions has disclaimed.