The word Makafat-e-amal simply means, What Goes Around, Comes Around. It is the outcome or the result of one’s action. This Urdu word is akin to Hindi word, Karma, according to which all actions have consequences which will affect the doer of the action at some future time.

Almost everyone on this earth faces unpleasant situations in life every now and then. This could be in the form adversaries, neglect of parents in their old age, unexpected losses, painful reactions from your loved ones, deceit from someone you love in your family, even illness and injuries, and so on. There would be cause and effect for every happening in life and one of such causes is, Makafat-e-amal. Here we are discussing this one specific cause and will try to understand how does the Quran endorses law of Makafat-e-mal or law of Karma.

There is not one but multiple ayaats in the holy Quran which endorses the inevitable system of Makaft-e-amal. The message is crystal clear as is evident from the following ayaats:

1. Any good thing that happens to you comes from Allah. Any bad thing that happens to you comes from yourself. We have sent you to mankind as a Messenger. Allah suffices as a Witness. (4:79)

2. When We give people a taste of mercy, they rejoice in it, but when something bad happens to them because of what they themselves have done, they immediately lose all hope. (30:36)

3. Why is it that when a calamity happens to you, when you have already inflicted twice as much, you say, ‘How could this possibly happen?’ Say, ‘It has come from your own selves.’ Allah has power over all things. (3:165)

The above ayaat in Surah Aal-Imran,  An-Nisa, and Al-Rum provide a clear indication that anything bad is the return of your own action. It is what your own hands have earned. Multiple ayaats in the Quran reinforces the message loud and clear.

Law of Karma is not only inevitable, it is ruthless as well. It does not spare anyone, good or bad. We will see a few real-life examples and try to understand it.

Example: Helpless Parents in Old Age

A common tragedy found in the society is the neglect of parents in old age, mistreatment by their own children and sometimes abandoning them in old age homes. This is the most condemnable act which people wonder why this at all happens. Here too is the cold-blooded law of karma working in silence. If we go back to the lives of these old parents, we would find amazing similarity in what they themselves did to their parents. When these miserable old couples were young, the wife never wanted her mother-in-law and brother-in-law to be around and never liked her husband’s proximity to his mother. She enjoyed in making her husband neglect his mother. Miseries of her mother-in-law was a matter of satisfaction and a sense of victory for her. Time flies and soon she happily gets her own son married. Now she assumes the place of her mother-in-law, her daughter-in-law steps into her position and her son to her to her daughter-in-law is what her husband was to her. Law for karma starts without warning and soon both the parents start tasting their own medicine. They would blame their son and daughter-in-law but do not realise it is what their own hands has earned.
This example should not be taken as offensive to any particular gender. I picked this example as it is the most common and extremely painful. Not every couple would do this but we are concerned with the majority of the cases. 
Usurping anyone’s right, conspiring, taking the help of witchcraft to harm someone, causing separation in sincere relations, etc. The list would be endless. The law of Karma is inescapable. This is in addition to what awaits you in the hereafter. Therefore, be just and kind. Do not let your selfish motives inflict harm on others. You may win for the time being but the law of karma would envelop you so strongly that you will not find a way out.

Remember the golden word of the Quran