Sheikh Tabarsi’s Analysis and Critique on the Issue of the Embodiment of Actions

The issues of the afterlife and the reward and punishment of the hereafter of human deeds have always been important theological aspects in different religions. In the Shiite theology, due to the detailed discussion of the issue of resurrection in verses and hadiths, this discussion has been considered by scholars and theologians. Amin al-Islam Tabarsi is one of the commentators of the fifth and sixth centuries AH. He believes that God has determined a special punishment or reward for every action and everyone should be punished for his deeds according to the divine rules. Every reward and punishment is a creation of God, and the verses indicating the independent existence of heaven and hell convey the same meaning. In this regard, the purpose of the present study was to analyze Tabarsi’s ideas regarding the issue of the embodiment of actions. Although Tabarsi does not explicitly mention the relationship between action and punishment, his words require the validity of the relationship between the notions of action and punishment in the hereafter and opposition to the theory of the embodiment of deeds. Among his reasons are: 1) Talking about the existence of heaven and hell in the verses of the Holy Qur’an: He refers to verses from the Holy Qur'an whose appearance gives reward and punishment to God and considers heaven and hell as independent and unrelated to the embodiment of human deeds. Among the verses are: verse 25 of Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 30 of Surah Al-Faslat, verse 68 of Surah Tawbah, and also in the interpretation of verse 51 of Surah Ibrahim and verse 47 of Surah Ar-Rum; 2) The presentation of actions: in the interpretation of Majma al-Bayan, he states that human beings in the hereafter will find the reward of their worldly deeds, while the deeds themselves are annihilated by death and their restoration is not permissible. Rather, God rewards His servants, while there is no trace of worldly deeds left. But, what is clear is that Tabarsi has considered only the outward aspect of actions and their change while neglecting the esoteric and heavenly aspect of actions which has the necessary stability and order. In fact, our actions and deeds are not substance, and according to the rational and philosophical rule of "non-existent existence", what was realized and put on the garment of existence will no longer be annihilated, and therefore human deeds will not disappear with death. Moreover, God says in the Holy Qur’an: “From the knowledge of God, not a particle of what is in the earth and the sky is hidden, and there is nothing wet or dry unless it is recorded and preserved in the Book of Revelation” (Surah Yunus, verse 61). Mystics use theoretical and practical methods to prove the embodiment of deeds and according to explicit religious teachings and belief in inherent monotheism, God is not the creator of evil while hell is evil and attributing it to God is against divine purification. Tabarsi and his associates’ beliefs about rewards and punishments were the product of the intellectual atmosphere of the fifth and sixth centuries AH. He lived in a time when the philosophical system was in the form of Peripatetic and Aristotelian and the theory of categories was considered as the most important principle in the interpretation of the universe. In particular, according to the principles of transcendent wisdom and the union of science and the known world, all our thoughts and actions become one with our soul, which is itself the perfect state of our body. Since the ideal body and soul continue their eternal life after death, all our thoughts and actions will be immortal. Also, according to the transcendent wisdom, our thoughts and actions are of the type of existence and the decline of existence is impossible, so our actions and thoughts are eternal and will be with us in purgatory, resurrection, and the hereafter, and we will see them. And this is the exact meaning of the Qur'anic phrase “showing their deeds” (Surah Zelzal, verse 6).