Will Allah reward the good deeds of disbelievers? These two verses say the disbelievers will not be rewarded
Surah at-Tawbah (9:17): “It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah while they openly profess disbelief. Their deeds are void, and they will be in the Fire forever.”
Surah at-Tawbah (9:69): “˹You are˺ like those before you: they were far mightier than you, and had more wealth and children. They enjoyed their share ˹in this life˺, and you have enjoyed your share as those before you enjoyed theirs. And you have indulged ˹in idle talk˺ as they did. Their deeds are void in this world and the Hereafter. It is they who are the ˹true˺ losers.”
Meanwhile this verse indicates that everyone who does good will see it.
Surah az-Zalzalah (99:7):
“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.”
Translation: Abu Dawud narrated to us that,: ʿImran narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed, Allah does not wrong a believer for a single good deed—he is rewarded for it with provision in this world and is recompensed for it in the Hereafter. As for the disbeliever, he is given reward for it in this world, but when the Day of Judgement comes, he will have no good deed left.”
Muhammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazi, said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There is no one who does good—whether believer or disbeliever—except that his reward is received from Allah, either in this world or it is delayed until the Hereafter.”
ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs,said: “When the verse ‘When the earth is shaken with its final earthquake…’ (az-Zalzalah: 1) was revealed, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq was sitting, and he began to cry. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, ‘What makes you cry, O Abu Bakr?’ He said, ‘This surah makes me weep.’ So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘If you did not commit mistakes and sins, then Allah would not forgive you. Allah created people so that He may forgive them, Allah created a people who make mistakes and commit sins, and He forgives them.”
Imam At Tabari says: These narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ inform us that the believer faces the punishment for his bad deeds in this world, and the reward for his good deeds in the Hereafter. As for the disbeliever, he is given the reward for his good deeds in this world, and the punishment for his bad deeds in the Hereafter. The good he did in the world will not benefit him in the Hereafter as long as he dies in disbelief.
Tafsir At Tabari (24/568-569)
Translation: “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it”—Ibn ʿAbbas used to say: whoever among the disbelievers does an atom’s weight of good will see it in this world, but he will not be rewarded for it in the Hereafter.
And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil among the disbelievers will be punished for it in the Hereafter, along with the punishment for shirk. As for the believer, whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it in this world and will not be punished for it in the Hereafter if he dies upon faith—it will be overlooked. And if he does an atom’s weight of good, it will be accepted from him and multiplied for him in the Hereafter. And in some narrations: the atom has no weight.
Muhammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazi said: whoever among the disbelievers does an atom’s weight of good will see its reward in this world—in himself, his wealth, his family, and his children—until he leaves this world with nothing good left for him with Allah. And whoever among the believers does an atom’s weight of evil will see its punishment in this world—in himself, his wealth, his children, and his family—until he leaves this world with nothing evil remaining against him with Allah.
The proof for this is what trustworthy scholars have narrated from the hadith of Anas: this verse was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ while he and Abu Bakr were eating. He stopped and said, “O Messenger of Allah, will we really see what we have done of good and evil?” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Do you not see what you dislike? That is the weight of atoms of evil, and the atoms of good are being stored up for you until you are given them on the Day of Judgement.”
Abu Idris said: its confirmation is found in the Book of Allah: “Whatever affliction befalls you is because of what your hands have earned, and He pardons much” (ash-Shura: 30).
Tafsir Al Qurtubi (22/421-422)
