You have quoted the Qur'anic verse correctly, although I would have suggested a slightly different way of rendering its meaning in English: "Indeed, he who earns a bad deed and becomes engulfed by his error ... it is such people that belong to the fire where they will dwell forever," (2;280). In its context, this verse is stated as a reply to the claims of the Jews who asserted that they would be made to endure the punishment of hell only for a few days, despite their persistent disbelief in Allah and His revelations. There is no doubt that what this Qur'anic verse tells us applies not only to those Jews who made that assertion but to everyone. The Qur'anic verse is general in its import. However, in order to arrive at a proper understanding of its meaning, we have to take it within its context. The Jews made all sorts of false claims against Allah and the Prophet, taking themselves, by so doing, out of the realm of belief altogether. They tried to kill the Prophet and went to war against him, knowing that he was Allah's messenger and recognizing that it was their duty according to their own religion to believe in him and support him against all non-believers. We have only to remember the example of Huyaie ibn Akhtab who was one of the best known Jewish scholars at the time of the Prophet. When the Prophet arrived in Madinah, he went out with his brother to meet him in order to establish for themselves whether he was truly the messenger mentioned in their sacred book, the Torah. After spending a whole day on their mission, they went back home. Huyaie confirmed to his brother that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was truly Allah's final messenger. When his brother asked him about his intentions Huyaie answered blatantly: "I will fight him for the rest of my life." It is for such Jews who claimed to be Allah's beloved sons and that He would not punish them for their errors that Allah answers them that those who are engulfed by their errors will certainly suffer in hell forever.

The Qur'anic verse then speaks of errors of a certain type. They are gross, grave and can engulf the perpetrator. What type of errors do Muslim scholars mention in their interpretation of this verse? This, as you realize, is the worst type of disbelief that can be perpetrated by anyone. Many famous scholars and commentators on the Qur'an agree that the term "bad deed" refers in the context of this verse to the most serious of sins. It is true that for a sin to engulf a sinner, it has to be done persistently, without any feeling of repentance, until the person dies. It is only in such a case that a sin can have such a serious effect.

Your scholar should have explained this in order not to leave his listeners with the mistaken notion that any bad deed can lead them to hell-fire. If the case was such, what room do we leave to Allah's forgiveness which He mentions as available to everyone who seeks it? Moreover, He can wipe all sins. He says: "Allah will certainly not forgive that partners be associated with Him. He may forgive any lesser sin to whomever He pleases." (4;116). This verse means that even grave sins can be forgiven once a person repents and turns to Allah, seeking his forgiveness and pledging not to return to these sins.

I am not happy with people who over-stress punishment in connection with sins. There is no doubt that we should fear committing sins. Anything that we may commit is recorded against us. Unless Allah forgives us, we would have to account for it. On the day of judgment, our bad deeds are weighed against our good ones. If our good ones are preponderant, then we are forgiven for the bad ones. If it is the other way round, Allah forbid, then we may have to endure punishment, unless Allah bestows His grace on us and forgives us what we have committed. When we read the Qur'an and when we study the Sunnah, we cannot fail to notice that there is a perfect balance between warning us against Allah's punishment and raising the much happier prospect of gaining Allah's reward. This is due to the fact that keenness to achieve happiness and reward and the fear of punishment are two of the basic constituent elements of human nature. Therefore, overemphasizing one of the two will result in an imbalanced appeal that will be counter-productive. When people hear too much about what punishment may await for this or that sin, they may wrongly form the notion that they will have to suffer for their past deeds, no matter what their future ones are like. They may be helped in formulating such a notion by the Evil One and this may lead them to despair of ever being forgiven. Therefore, they continue in their sinful ways.

Let us remember in this context that Allah states in the Qur'an: "Good deeds wipe away bad ones." At no point in the Qur'an is the reverse mentioned as true, meaning that bad deeds may render good ones useless. This cannot be the case. Once there is basic faith in the person's heart, all his good deeds will be credited to him. Moreover, Allah rewards us for every good deed at least ten times its value. He may even multiply this reward to 700 times or even higher. Bad deeds are punished at their bare value only.

It is true that Islam puts greater emphasis on the concept common to all divine religions which states that in order to have any value at all in Allah's scales, good actions must be based on faith. If we examine this concept carefully, we find that it ensures two very important qualities. First, it assigns a very high value only to action which are free from any ulterior motives, sincere, and undertaken with the aim of earning reward from Allah. Hypocrisy and personal prestige are thus given no value at all. Some people may be willing to do good actions if such actions ensure good returns for them either materially or morally. But if they feel that their actions will go unnoticed by their community, they will think twice before doing them. In this respect, we find that faith provides the right motive for the good actions any person undertakes. The second advantage is that it provides people with the motivation to do good all the time. When a person is faced with a choice between two actions, he or she will always choose the better one in order to gain a greater reward. Even when the other action may give the person himself a more immediate or personal benefit, he chooses the better one because it serves his ultimate purpose more fully.

A further advantage is that faith makes a man's actions more consistent and coherent. They all have the same ultimate aim and seek the same final purpose. Therefore, they tend to strengthen one another. That is bound to impart a particular color to the personality of man himself. His way of thinking will move in a certain direction. As a result, he is a better person because he always tries to determine what is better for him and for his community and do it.

There is another relationship between faith and action. When the Prophet was asked to define faith, he said: "It is a belief that is deeply entrenched in one's heart and to which credence is given by action." From this definition we learn that it is not sufficient for a person to say that he believes in a particular religion or that he is totally committed to a particular religion or that he is totally committed to a particular faith, unless he follows that statement by actions which confirm his claims. Thus, faith does not come about merely by an intellectual acceptance of a certain creed. It must translate itself into a practical example. Once this relationship is established, actions require an additional value. They have one unifying motivation and have a superior aim.

It is true that the overwhelming majority of people tend to follow the religions of their parents. But Allah wants something extra from us. It is not sufficient for any one of us to say to Allah on the day of judgment that he has lived as a Muslim only because his parents brought him up as one. He is required to make a conscious choice, whether to follow Islam or not. At one point or another in the life of every single one of us, he finds himself facing a clear choice, brought about by his personal circumstances. He or she will not fail to realize that the choice in front of him or her is whether to be a believer or not. Once I was mentioning this to a friend of mine who was brought up by parents who did not care much for religion. He told me: I go further than that. It is not merely the choice that is presented to him, but the great advantage that he is about to have when he follows the proper faith is also made clear. When he makes this choice, he is conscious that if he turns his back on faith, he is making the wrong choice in the long run. He then told me about his life and how he was brought up. He also explained how he faced the choice when the issues presented themselves clearly to him. He said: I cannot praise Allah enough for enabling me to make the right decision.

When we remember that Allah holds us to account individually, we are bound to realize that divine justice requires that individual accountability should be based on individual choice. It is for this reason that Islam considers that a person who goes through his life following the teachings of Islam only because he was brought up as a Muslim fails in his duty to make the choice consciously. Everyone is required to make use of the great gift Allah has given every single one of us, namely, the ability to reason and examine. When we do, we alleviate ourselves to the exalted human standard Allah wants us to achieve. We believe in Him as a result of an intellectual choice.

Whether good actions done by unbelievers are of any great value or not is something with which we should not concern ourselves over much. As human beings, we are not in a position to judge others. We accept the criterion Allah has told us, through His last Messenger, that applies to us. Actions acquire their value through faith. What He does with His servants on the day of judgment is His own concern. What we know is that He does not deal unjustly with anyone. In the Qur'an we read:

When people point to different spots at the burial place of Fatimah, or any particular companion of the Prophet, that is understandable. As you realize the sunnah which was certainly followed at the time of the Prophet is to make a grave very simple and to make its mark also simple. There is no prestige in making a great tomb for any deceased person. Simple graves are bound to be lost with the passage of time. Later generations will at best be able to point to a particular area as having been the burial place of any particular person.