Right to Choose; Criterion for Valuable Deed
A question sometimes raised about resurrection is why God does not give rewards or punishments to people in this world. Would it not be better to give everyone the reward or punishment he deserves in this world so that there would be no need for the Resurrection Day?
The answer is that in that case, people would avoid bad deeds and do good deeds for fear of punishment or greed for reward. Such deeds are not that valued. The value of doing good deeds and avoiding bad ones is in one having free will and right to choose.
The honor of human beings is having free will. Angels worship God but they don’t have free will. God created mankind so that he would choose good over evil despite all the temptations.
Basically, the Quran mostly praises those who, in choosing between the truth and falsehood, ignore temptations and the attractiveness of falsehood and choose the path of God.
There are many examples of this in the Holy Book, including the following:
1- In the story of Joseph (AS), Zuleikha was ready for sin and the doors were closed, but Joseph (AS) avoided sin by resorting to God: “'In Allah is my refuge!” (Surah Yusuf, Verse 23)
2- Prophet Abraham (AS) waited for having a child for 100 years and prayed so much that God gave him a son like Ismail (AS). Then God ordered him to sacrifice his son on the path of God. Abraham (AS) was to choose between God’s command and his love for his son and he chose the first.
This is the sublime human status. “… they had both submitted, and his son had laid down prostrate upon his forehead.” (Surah Saffat, Verse 103) Abraham (AS) and his son both submitted to the will of God.
3- Imam Ali (AS), Hazrat Zahra (SA), Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS), who had fasted the entire day, gave their meal to a poor person although they were hungry themselves and broke their fast with water. The Quran says about this: “They feed the destitute, orphans, and captives for the love of God.” (Surah Al-Insan, Verse 8)
4- Pious people get up in the middle of the night to worship God although sleep seems very attractive at that time. The Quran says about them: “Their sides give-up rest in beds in order to pray before their Lord in fear and hope. They spend for the cause of God out of what we have given them.” (Surah As-Sajdah, Verse 16)
“… and askefor forgiveness in the early morning.” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Verse 18)
So the criterion for the value of good deeds lies in the fact that man has the free will to choose between good and evil.
Because paradise and hell are not in this world, people do not feel compelled to do good and avoid evil and that is why their choice of good deeds is valuable.
