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Rebuttal to Jochen Katz's Article "Qur'an Contradiction: Will Allah reward the good deeds of Unbelievers?"
Jochen Katz said: All religions exhort their followers to do good deeds, i.e. to help the weak and the poor.[1] Even people who do not believe in God at all, i.e. who do not believe that there will be eternal reward or punishment for what they do in this life, still make it a point that people should do good and help those in need. The topic of reward and punishment for all we do in this life is a very prominent theme througout the Qur'an. Many passages speak about the good deeds of the believers or the bad deeds of the unbelievers, and there is little surprise when looking at the outcome of those. Things become more difficult when we want to know what the Qur'an teaches regarding the good deeds of those who reject Islam.
This verse promises Muslims that their good deeds will not be rejected by Allah. On the other hand, this condition implies that those who are not (Muslim) believers are at least at risk that their good deeds will be rejected. That this is indeed so, is made explicit in some other passages. Unbelievers, i.e. those who rejected the message of Muhammad, cannot hope that their good deeds will receive any reward from God:
The next verse states something similar, but this time the context deals with the specific case of a Muslim who leaves Islam. It seems to be irrelevant whether he subsequently becomes a polytheist, an atheist, or a Christian:
On the other hand, speaking of the last days and God's final judgment of mankind, Sura 99 states:
This whole sura is completely general, there is no restriction to (Muslim) believers, but it says in verse 7 that everyone who does good, even if only a little, will see it, and this certainly implies some kind of reward. The passage speaks of all of mankind (6). Thus, S. 99:7 contradicts those other passages which explicitly state that there will be no reward whatsoever for the good deeds of the unbelievers. My Response: Yes indeed the Surah is general and says that everyone who does any good shall see it. However, we must understand this in light of how the companions of the Prophet understood it from the Prophet and in accordance with the rest of the Quranic verses, which state that the disbelievers will not be rewarded in the afterlife... Allah then revealed the
following verse about a group of people who thought that they are not
rewarded for any small goodness they do nor punished for any small evil
they commit, and so Allah urged them to do acts of goodness even if they
are small and warned them against acts of evil even if they are small
acts: (And whoso doeth good an atom’s weight) the weight of the smallest
ant (will see it then) in his register and then will be happy with it;
it is also said: the believer sees his works in the Hereafter
while the disbeliever sees his works in the life of the world, (Tanwîr
al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs, Commentary on Surah 99:7,
Source) So as we see, the reward of the disbelievers is in this life. They can enjoy the pleasures of this life, but no reward will be given to them in the next life. Jochen Katz said: Apart from this very general statement in S. 99:7, the Qur'an also gives Jews and Christians an explicit promise of reward for their good deeds:
This passage promises even more. "No fear" and "nor shall they grieve" can only mean that they will go to Paradise and not to Hell, which is even more than a certain reward for some good deeds. Just as there are plenty of Muslims who do not truly believe and do not live according to the rules of Islam, so there are plenty of people who consider themselves to be Jews or Christians but do not truly believe in the teachings of the Bible nor live according to its moral standards. Therefore it makes sense that the Qur'an specifies some minimum requirements: (1) Belief in Allah, (2) belief in the Last Day (the Final Judgment), and (3) doing righteous good deeds. Whoever meets those three requirements among those who are either Muslims, Jews, Christians or Sabians, they shall have their reward for their good deeds. Even more, they shall not have any fear or a need to grieve in regard to the life to come. The very fact that this verse is formulated as it is, presupposes that — according to the Qur'an — Jews and Christians believe in the same God as the Muslims. The conditions (1) - (3) merely emphasize that this promise holds only for those who are serious about their faith and live according to the teachings of their scriptures. People of religions that worship other gods are not included. My Response: This statement by Ibn `Abbas indicates that Allah does not accept any deed or work from anyone, unless it conforms to the Law of Muhammad that is, after Allah sent Muhammad . Before that, every person who followed the guidance of his own Prophet was on the correct path, following the correct guidance and was saved. (Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Commentary on Surah 2:62, Source)
The faith of the Jews were those who stuck to the teachings of the Torah and the Sunnah of Moses until Jesus came. When Jesus came those who used to stick to the teachings of the Torah and followed the Sunnah of Moses and if he did not leave it and follow Jesus then he was in the wrong. And the faith of the Christians are those who stuck to the teachings of the Gospel and the Sharia of Jesus was a believer acceptable by Him (God) until Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came so those who don't follow Muhammad (PBUH) and let go of what they followed from the teachings of Jesus and the Gospel are in the wrong. (Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Commentary on Surah 2:62, Source)
So Surah 2:62 are talking about those TRUE Christians and Jews that stuck to the TRUE teachings of the previous Prophets and the true uncorrupted revelations of God. Read this for further elaboration. Jochen Katz said: Add to this the specific statement:
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