What Is the Scale and What Is the Relationship between the Scale and Making the Right Decision?
In the journey of life, we inevitably face many decisions—each of which can open a different path before us and shape a unique destiny. But amidst all these decisions, a fundamental question arises: how can we make sound and purposeful decisions and select the best path among so many options? The answer to this question leads us to a key and foundational concept: “the scale.”
“The scale” is not just a simple criterion for assessment; it plays a role in all personal, social, and spiritual aspects of life. Without a scale, distinguishing the right path from the wrong one is impossible. The scale enables us to evaluate values, prioritize goals, and make decisions aligned with truth and real bliss.
Understanding the scale and learning how to apply it in our daily decisions not only guides us toward worldly success but also helps us achieve perfection and happiness in the Hereafter. The importance of this concept is so profound that religious sources describe the scale as a divine standard by which human deeds and decisions are measured.
In this article, we aim to answer the question: What is the relationship between the scale and making the right decision? By exploring the sources about understanding the scale and the factors that increase its weight and value, we will seek ways to improve the quality of our decisions—choices that can make our scales heavy and lead us on the true path of growth and perfection.
Knowing the Appropriate Scale and Their Importance in Making the Right Decisions
One of the most important issues in both religious and rational discourse, and one that plays a key role in the relationship between the scale and making the right decision is the concept of destiny and decree, which is closely linked to cause and effect. The essence of this issue returns to our choices. Through making decisions, we choose different decrees, and accordingly, we receive different destinies. Each decree brings its own specific destiny and result.
The laws of creation are designed in such a way that, by choosing the right decrees and striving to act upon them, we can change our destiny and achieve success. As the Quran says: “Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition [1].” This rule applies to both worldly and eternal destinies. If we learn the formulas related to correct decision-making, then by knowing the appropriate destinies, we can understand the potential outcomes that follow our choices. Therefore, if we seek to attain a heavy scale in the hereafter, we must know the decrees suitable for this goal and make decisions accordingly.
The Role of Scale in Our Daily Decisions and Life Paths
Knowing the scale is not only important for making major life decisions or critical turning points; it also plays a vital role in simple, everyday decisions. Every day when we wake up, we face a multitude of choices:
- How should we spend our time?
- What should we say?
- How should we behave?
- What should we love or avoid?
In all these instances, the scale acts like a hidden weighing machine. If it has been properly regulated, it guides us toward truth, goodness, and personal growth.
We should take divine standards and criteria into account even in minor decisions. Conscious and purposeful decisions made based on the scale gradually shape our lives into a more organized, beautiful, and fruitful form. That is why individuals whose inner scale is grounded in truth are less likely to experience confusion, regret, or moral downfall.
The scale is not merely a criterion for evaluating deeds on the Day of Judgment—it is a light that illuminates our path through the twists and turns of this very life. The more precise and divine our scale is, the easier it becomes to discern the right path among ambiguous and flashy decisions. In reality, our life’s journey is shaped by these seemingly small decisions, and every step we take in accordance with the scale brings us closer to our ultimate purpose: human perfection and divine satisfaction.
Thus, the scale is not merely an evaluative tool at the end; it is our constant companion in every moment of life.
Sources for Understanding the Criteria for the Scale and Making the Right Decision
The Quran and the infallible Imams (Peace be upon them) are the best and most perfect sources for understanding the criteria for making correct decisions based on the truth and the scale, as they are directly related to the scale. In verse 25 of Surah al-Hadīd, Allah mentions this relationship and the revelation of Quran along with the scale [2]. Imam Baqir (Peace be upon him) also identifies the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) as the embodiment of the scale in the interpretation of this verse [3]. Likewise, in a passage from the Ziyarah of Imam Ali (Peace be upon him) he is referred to as the scale of deeds [4].
The Quran, as the foundational charter and guidebook of creation, introduces the scale as a tool for measurement and illustrates how one’s scale can be made weighty. God has established a rule in the Quran that, if we adhere to it, our decisions will never deviate from the truth. This rule
prioritizes three beloveds—Allah, the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them), and jihad (struggle in the cause of Allah)—over other beloveds [5]. If we remember this when making our decisions, we will no longer seek relationships, thoughts, actions, and behaviors that are light and cannot fill our scale. This principle structures the inner system of our being and helps us understand the relationship between the scale and making the right decision.
There are many rational and logical reasons that prove the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them), alongside the Quran, are the primary sources for identifying the criteria for making the right decision. Paying attention to fitrah )innate human nature( and its characteristics is one of the factors that supports this truth. In the final part of this lesson, we seek to discover the role of the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) in the heaviness of the scale and making the right decision.
The Role of the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) in the Heaviness of the Scale and Making the Right Decision
In previous lessons, while introducing the concept of the scale, we mentioned that according to God’s words in the Quran everything will be measured based on truth [6]. To weigh our scale heavily, we must be able to distinguish truth from falsehood and make decisions according to the truth. Due to the Divine Breath that has been breathed into all human beings, we are inherently capable of discerning truth from falsehood [7]. God often refers us back to our fiṭrah in many matters. But can fitrah alone truly serve as a sufficient standard for discerning truth from falsehood and guiding our decisions?
There are several reasons why innate human nature alone cannot be relied upon as the sole means for distinguishing truth from falsehood:
- First, people differ in their capacity to understand truth and falsehood. It would be against God’s justice to judge all human beings based solely on a standard in which they do not share equal ability.
- Second, over time, a layer of dust and darkness often settles on the pure and luminous fitrah of almost every person. This obscures the clarity of innate human nature, making it insufficient on its own to illuminate the path of truth.
- Third, the level of understanding and intellect required to grasp the complex issues we face often exceeds the capacity of the average human mind. We need a more complete and elevated intellect to guide us in such matters.
These three points show that our fitrah is not enough to guide us toward truth and right decisions. To make decisions based on the truth that fill our scale, we need another factor. It is inconceivable that the same God who made attaining a valuable scale the purpose of our creation and the key to our salvation would leave us without the necessary guidance and support to reach it. God has placed a divine innate human nature within all of us and sent individuals with complete and radiant intellects to help us identify the path and criteria for making right decisions. These perfect individuals are the infallible Imams (Peace be upon them), whom we refer to as mathal A’la or the Most Perfect Example of God.
The infallible Imams (Peace be upon them), as interpreters of the divine word, are the best option for interpreting the rules that God has introduced in the Quran for achieving a heavy scale and making the right decision.
One of the ways to attain proper scale and make the right decision in various matters is to become familiar with the lifestyle of the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace be upon them) and to constantly evaluate our own way of life—our decisions, actions, and speech—against theirs. The closer our lifestyle and decisions align with their life story, the more hopeful we can be of possessing a heavy scale.
Ultimately, the scale serves as the primary criterion for making correct decisions and guides us toward perfection, playing a vital role not only in significant matters but also in our daily lives. By understanding and strengthening this divine scale within ourselves, we can make conscious and purposeful decisions that solidify and correct our life path. Knowing the scale as a tool for accurately assessing decisions is our guiding light on the path of truth and evolution.
References
[1]. Quran, 13:11
[2]. Quran, 57:25
[3]. “’And what is the scale?’ He said: ‘You have increased in strength and consideration, O Sa’ad! The Prophet (PBUH) is the rock, and we are the scale” Abu Ja’far Muhammad Bin Al-Hassan Bin Al-Farookh AlSaffaar, Basa’ir al-darajat, pp.531
[4]. “Peace be upon the Scale of the deeds” Ziyarat Imam Ali (PBUH) at Najaf Shrine
[5]. Quran, 9:24
[6]. Quran, 7:8
[7]. Quran, 91:8