In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

When the earth is shaken with its violent shaking, when the earth shakes off her burdens, when man asks, ‘What is happening to her?’; on that Day it will narrate its account, for your Lord has so directed it. On that Day people will come forward in separate groups to be shown their deeds: whoever has done the smallest bit of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest particle of evil will see it. (99:1-8)

These are the verses of Chapter Al-Zalzalah (The Earthquake) of the Quran. The earthquake on Doomsday will be the announcement of the end of the testing period for man. This would mean that the freedom which was theirs on account of their being on trial, has now been snatched away from them. Now the time has come when human beings will be recompensed for their deeds. Today, God’s world is silent, but when conditions change, everything found here will start talking. The inventions of the present day have proved that lifeless or inanimate things also have the capacity to ‘talk.’ A performance in a studio is fully reproduced by a video film and records. Similarly, the present world is, so to say, a big ‘studio’ of God. Whatever a man does or says or even thinks, everything is being recorded at every moment. And when the time comes, this world will repeat everybody’s story in such a way that not a thing, great or small, will be left out. There is a story relating to this chapter in which there is a great lesson.

Whatever a man does or says or even thinks, is being recorded at every moment. And when the time comes, this world will repeat everybody’s story in such a way that not a thing, great or small, will be left out.

It is said that once a man came to the Prophet and after some discussion, he accepted the Prophet’s faith. Then the Prophet said to him: “Stay with Ali ibn Abu Talib [one of the Prophet’s Companions] for your further training.” A few days later, the Prophet asked Ali ibn Abu Talib about the man who had come to him. He replied that he had stayed with him for a while and then he had gone away, and that now he had no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The Prophet announced, “Anyone who meets this man, bring him to me.” After a few days the Prophet was able to meet him again. The Prophet said to him, “I asked you to stay with Ali ibn Abu Talib for your further training. Then why did you leave Ali?” He replied, “You asked me to take training from him and I did so and then I went away.” Replying to a further question, he said that Ali had taught him chapter Al Zalzalah of the Quran, which says: “Whoever has done the smallest bit of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest bit of evil will see it.” (99: 7-8)

Quoting these verses of the Quran, the man said that from these verses, he had found the complete message; so there was no need to stay on any longer with Ali. The Prophet asked: “How did you find the complete message in these verses?” He replied: “These verses tell us that man is accountable to God and every deed of man, big or small, will be evaluated by God. Then he will be rewarded for good deeds and will be punished for bad deeds. Now I always keep this in mind. I always do what is right and I always refrain from what is wrong."

On Judgement Day, whoever has done the smallest bit of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest bit of evil will see it.

This story explains very beautifully how the Quran develops a self-correcting mechanism in each human being. The Quran wants everyone to be on their guard all the time. This concept is bound to make everyone conduct themselves properly. It is the basis of character building system.

This concept inculcates a very strong incentive to always behave well and to refrain from bad behaviour in every aspect of life. This incentive works not only in public life but in private life as well.