Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

15. “Whoever gets guided aright, has only got guided aright to his own gain, and whoever goes astray, it is only to his own loss; and no one laden bears the burden of another, nor do We punish (anyone) until We raise a messenger.”

Keeping the contents of verses 25 of Al-An‘am, 13 of Al-‘Ankabūt, as well as Islamic quotations under consideration, one may conclude that the main pioneers of paganism and seduction must shoulder the burden of the mounting guilt of their followers as well as that of their own without decreasing anything from the guilt of the followers, for they have provided their means of seduction.

Man is free to select his own way. Accepting guidance, of course, is to his own advantage, while infidelity and rejection are to his own detriment. They are of no benefits or losses to Allah.

At any rate, this noble verse provides four fundamental and principal commandments in connection with Reckoning and compensations for one’s performances:

1. At first, it implies that he who is led straight on, has been guided to his own advantage and the consequences of his actions will benefit his own self solely.

“Whoever gets guided aright, has only got guided aright to his own gain…”

2. He who is misled, is seduced to his own detriment, and will eventually suffer the consequences of his own actions.

The verse continues saying:

“…and whoever goes astray, it is only to his own loss…”

3. And no one will ever shoulder the burden of the guilt of someone else and no one will be held responsible for the crime or the offences which are committed by another person.

The verse says:

“…and no one laden bears the burden of another…”

Certainly, this general rule, which states that no one will shoulder the burden of the guilt of someone else, has got no discrepancy with the verse in Surah An-Nahl which indicates that the seducers will also have to bear the burden of the responsibility of those whom they have misled,¹ for their act of seduction of others will frame them as the performers of those evil acts and, in fact, it is their own sins which they are shouldering.

4. The fourth commandment is eventually stated that Allah shall not punish any person or any nation unless He has sent a prophet to them so as to explain to them their duties in detail and to complete the argument.

The verse says:

“…nor do We punish (anyone) until We raise a messenger.”