Are you ready for your reckoning?
۞ يَوْمَ تَأْتِى كُلُّ نَفْسٍۢ تُجَـٰدِلُ عَن نَّفْسِهَا وَتُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍۢ مَّا عَمِلَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
˹Consider˺ the Day ˹when˺ every soul will come pleading for itself, and each will be paid in full for what it did, and none will be wronged. [16:111]
This ayah is Allah opening a window for us to the unseen. It lets us walk through this scene from the akhira to experience it and understand the gravity of it. This will be the moment when you will reap the investment you made in the dunya, either by losing everything or by seeing the returns from a good investment.
No matter how much money or power or nuclear weapons you have, you will still be alone on the Day of Judgement. Every person will be pleading for themselves, even the prophets and messengers – all except our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who will be pleading for his ummah.
Your limbs will testify against you
The word tujaadil means to argue. People will dispute with Allah and claim other reasons for their bad deeds, e.g. peer pressure from the wrong crowd, the whispers of Shaytan, etc.
This is when their limbs will start to testify against them. Your feet will say, he’s a liar, he used to go to this place so often; your hands will say, he used to do this or that action; your eyes will say what you looked at of your own volition.
This will only happen if you are lying; if you are telling the truth there will be no need for it. Imagine having the guts to lie in front of Allah, even until this last moment. This is why these people deserve punishment forever, because they are not willing to change even right up to the end.
There won’t be a jury on the Day of Judgement, the only judge will be Allah and He is _al-Hakam al-‘Adl_, the All-Just Judge. Justice will be served 100%. There won’t be any fabrication in the files, or blackmail and threats like we see in the people’s courts which persecute people who stand up for the truth. This is Allah’s court, where criminals will be put in their place in Jahannam.
Everyone will face their reckoning
The ayah goes on to say everyone will be paid in full for what they did. When they read their files, Allah will ask, have my angels written down anything you never did, or forgotten anything you did do? And the answer will be no. This is why Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used to make dua for an easy reckoning.
اللهُمَّ حَاسِبْنِي حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا
O Allah, bring me to account with an easy reckoning.” [Ahmad]
Everyone will be rewarded according to their actions.
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًۭا يَرَهُۥ
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًۭا يَرَهُۥ ٧ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍۢ شَرًّۭا يَرَهُۥ
So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it. [99:7-8]
The difference is that Allah will multiply every atom of good by ten, seventy, seven hundred, or however much He wants. But out of His mercy, evil deeds will only be counted once.
I know the last of the inhabitants of Paradise to enter it and the last of the inhabitants of Hell to come out of it. He is a man who would be brought on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said: Present his minor sins to him, and withhold from him his serious sins. Then the minor sins would be placed before him, and it would be said: On such and such a day you did so and so and on such and such a day you did so and so. He would say: Yes. It will not be possible for him to deny, while he would be afraid lest serious sins should be presented before him. It would be said to him: In place of every evil deed you will have a good deed. He will say: My Lord! I have done things I do not see here. I indeed saw the Messenger of Allah laugh till his front teeth were exposed. [Muslim]
May Allah forgive our major and minor sins and make us among those who have an easy hisab.
Ameen.
Based on the Ramadan Reflection by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on Night 9.Transcribed by Hana Khan.
Night 9 Ramadan Reflections – Pleading alone before the most just
By Samia Ahmed
On the ninth night of Ramadan, Shaykh Haytham’s reminder shifted the horizon of our thinking from this world to the next. Here are some of my thoughts inspired by the reminder.
He spoke about the Day when a person will stand alone.
Pleading. (tujaadilu)
The Qur’an describes how a soul will come forward tujaadilu, arguing for itself, presenting excuses, trying to defend its record before Allah. But that pleading will not benefit if it is built on denial. Excuses will not rewrite reality.
Before the limbs testify, we may attempt to speak.
But what if we lie.
What if we deny.
What if we try to minimise.
Then our own limbs will speak.
Our hands.
Our feet.
Our tongues.
They will testify to what they were used for.
That image alone is enough to awaken the heart.
And so, the reminder was not meant to frighten us into despair. It was meant to awaken responsibility.
If our limbs will testify, then let us use them now for the purpose they were created for so they testify well.
Let our eyes testify that they looked at what was halal.
Let our tongues testify that they carried dhikr.
Let our feet testify that they walked towards prayer.
Let our hands testify that they gave, that they helped, that they restrained harm.
Because on that Day, there is no crowd to hide in.
You stand alone.
And this is where we witness the attribute of Allah, Al-Adl, The Just.
He decides.
Not culture.
Not public opinion.
Not social narratives.
He The Almighty decides.
His judgement is precise. Perfect. Free from bias. Free from oversight.
And that is why we should be cautious in passing judgement on others. We do not see full stories. We do not know intentions. We do not know the unseen struggles between a servant and their Lord.
If Allah, The Most Just, has reserved ultimate judgement for Himself, then perhaps wisdom lies in redirecting our scrutiny.
Instead of judging others, judge yourself.
Instead of analysing their record, examine your own.
This is the more intelligent use of energy.
Often, we feel frustrated in the dunya. Outcomes seem unfair. Situations appear unbalanced. Injustice unsettles us.
But when we lift our gaze to the grand court of Allah, perspective shifts.
The magnified becomes smaller.
The overwhelming becomes temporary.
The unanswered becomes deferred.
Because nothing escapes His justice.
And yet, alongside His justice, is His name Ar-Rahman.
The Most Merciful.
He is Just in His accounting, but He is also Merciful in His opportunities.
In this dunya, we are not given one chance.
We are given many.
Every breath is a chance.
Every prayer is a chance.
Every moment of regret is a chance.
His justice does not eliminate hope. It structures it.
Through His justice, we are never left without the opportunity to be guided. Guidance remains open until the soul reaches the throat. The door of repentance remains open until the sun rises from the west.
What is required from us is sincerity.
An open heart.
An honest reckoning.
A willingness to stop defending the ego and start correcting the self.
When we truly internalise that every small deed is recorded, good or bad, something shifts within us.
Taqwa begins to form.
Awareness that transforms action.
When faith in the Hereafter becomes real, behaviour changes. Belief in accountability and guidance to faith go hand in hand. One nurtures the other.
You cannot truly believe in the Hereafter and remain careless.
And you cannot build taqwa without believing you will stand before Allah.
The image of standing alone is heavy.
But it is also clarifying.
It reminds us that the only record that ultimately matters is the one written by the angels and judged by The Most Just.
So let us use our limbs now.
Let us correct ourselves before correcting others.
Let us soften our frustration with dunya by remembering the Akhirah.
Because one day, excuses will fall silent.
And only truth will speak.
May Allah make our limbs witnesses for us, not against us.
May He envelop us in His mercy before we stand in His justice.
May He grant us sincerity that prepares us for that meeting.
Ameen.