Will the Good Deeds of Disbelievers Benefit Them?
Taken from: Fatawa Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Will the good deeds of disbelievers benefit them?
❖ Answer:
On the Day of Judgment, correct belief is a condition for the acceptance of deeds. None of the actions of the disbelievers will be accepted. Even if they perform welfare work in the world, help the needy, or even build mosques and madrasahs for Muslims, none of their good deeds will benefit them in the Hereafter. However, if Allah rewards them in this world, that is a separate matter.
In reality, shirk nullifies all good deeds, and no action of a polytheist is accepted.
✿ Allah Almighty says:
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
(Surah al-An‘am: 88)
“If they had committed shirk, their deeds would surely have been nullified.”
With shirk present, no deed is accepted, and even past deeds are wasted — so how can salvation be possible?
✿ Qadi ‘Iyad (رحمه الله, 544H) said:
قد انعقد الإجماع على أن الكفار لا تنفعهم أعمالهم ولا يثابون عليها بنعيم ولا تخفيف عذاب لكن بعضهم أشد عذابا من بعض بحسب جرائمهم
“There is consensus that the deeds of the disbelievers will not benefit them. They will not be rewarded with blessings, nor will their punishment be lessened. However, some of them will suffer more severe punishment than others, depending on their crimes.”
(Ikmal al-Mu‘lim, 1/597; Sharh al-Nawawi, 3/87; Fath al-Bari, 9/145)
