Q: Someone asked me whether or not a Muslim would only have to be 51% good to enter Paradise when we were discussing the balancing of the good and bad deeds on the Day of Judgement.

Please give me some more information on that because I was unable to answer that question

A: Allah Says (interpretation of meaning):

{Then as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be heavy, He will live a pleasant life (in Paradise). But as for him whose balance (of good deeds) will be light, He will have his home in Hawiyah (pit, i.e. Hell). And what will make you know what it is? (It is) a hot blazing Fire!}[101:6-11].

Allah also Says (interpretation of meaning): {…So as for those whose scale (of good deeds) will be heavy, they will be the successful (by entering Paradise).}[7:8].

He also Says: {And those scales (of good deeds) are light, they are those who lose their ownselves, in Hell will they abide.}[23:103]

Al-Tabri reported from Ibn Masoud that he said: all people will be called to their account on the Day of Judgment. Even if the good deeds of the person surpass his bad deeds by only one good deed, he will enter Paradise. Likewise only one bad deed more, entitles the person to enter the Fire (Hell). And the one whose good and bad deeds are equal will be among the people of A'araf. The sum of the details mentioned so far is that the people will be of many kinds as far as the matter of weighing the deeds is concerned.

First, those who will enter the Paradise without reckoning, deeds of such category will not be weighed at all (Sahihain).

Second, Kuffars (disbelievers), their deeds will have no weight in the scale.

Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {And We shall turn to whatever deeds they (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) did and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust.}[25:23]. Allah

also Says (interpretation of meaning): {…So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall not give them any weight.}[18:105].

Third, those people whose good deeds will surpass the bad deeds thus they will enter the Paradise.

Fourth, those people whose bad deeds will have more weight than the good ones; they will enter the Fire (Hell) and stay there to the extent of their bad deeds. Finally they will go to the Paradise.

Fifth, those people whose deeds will be weighed, and their good deeds will be equal to their bad ones; their destination will be al-A'araf.

The final abode of these people also will be the Paradise since only Paradise and Hell will last forever.

Author/Scholar : Dr. Abdullah Al-faqih