Every good and evil act has two consequences, immediate and delayed. If a person works for a company and fulfills his task assiduously, at the end of the month he receives his pay which is immediate reward and after a few years, on retiring, he receives a pension which is a delayed reward. All these years of service have added to his pension.

Another person works for a company but on pay day, he was caught accepting a bribe. Immediately he will be disgraced and humiliated and later on, he will be sent to jail for a few months.

Similarly, a good deed done today has two rewards and an evil deed done has two punishments.

The provision of electricity is such that by simply getting connected we benefit from it in various ways. On hot days we switch on the air-conditioner and on cold days we use heaters. Similarly, we use fridges, lights, stoves, water coolers etc. Now, what would happen, when one day all of a sudden the electricity is cut off? After enquiries with the council, we are told that the previous bill was not settled. So when the councils of the world apply this principle, then Allâh too applies the same principle – no cash, no delivery.

We desire our children to be obedient to us, but how obedient are we (the subjects of Allâh) to Allâh. Hence, together with inward commitment to Allâh, outward commitment should also be given its importance. If a shopkeeper has all his goods in the store (behind closed doors) but he does not lock the store, then his goods are in danger of being stolen. This shows that external and internal commitment is necessary.

Sinning causes difficulty for a person even in this worldly life. It has been reported in the Hadith that sinning causes a decrease in one’s sustenance – "Verily a man makes forbidden upon him the sustenance (that was written for him) due to the sins which he commits" [Sunan ibn Majah]. Similarly, the heart is filled with restlessness and worries and a person feels distanced from Allâh, and he has adverse feelings towards pious people and their gatherings. Similarly, good deeds have the direct opposite effects. For a more detailed discussion, the book ‘Jazâul A’mal’ by Ml. Ashraf Ali Thanwi Rahimahullah should be studied.

Once after delivering a lecture somewhere, a person asked me why his sustenance was always constrained whereas he was reading the four Wazâif (daily supplications) prescribed by a pious person for increase in sustenance. I asked him, "Is it perhaps not due to the fact that you may be doing eight such acts which result in decrease of sustenance?" If it is so, then while four deeds are inviting sustenance eight are repelling it and the consequence is logical.