Al Dayyan (The Recompensor) & Day of Judgement

The three letter root of this name carries the meaning of compliance and humility, so the term “Dīn” is in reference to obedience. Similarly, the Day of Judgement has been given the name of Yawm Al-Dīn/The Day of Dīn for the same reason. It is the day when creation shall be recompensed for their doings, which will involve complete obedience and compliance.

“Surely you shall die and they (too) shall surely die. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will dispute one with another before your Lord.” [Al-Qur’ān, 39:31]

Never utter a statement, carry out an action, or see through a decision only after it has been passed through a rigorous process of accountability, realising that the lightest of unjust behaviour today will cost very heavily tomorrow in the court of Al-Dayyān. It is off the back of this reality that ‘Umar b. Khattāb said:

“Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable, and weigh up your good deeds before they are weighed for you, for your reckoning will be easier tomorrow if you start with yourself today. Beautify your deeds in preparation for the grand presentation before Allāh, on a day where you shall be exposed. Not a secret of yours shall be hidden.” [Hilyat Al-Awliyā, Abu Nu’aim]

Call upon Allah with this name Al Dayyan. How pertinent is this name to those who have been on the receiving end of an injustice, whether financial, social, marital, reputational, or anything else? Those who find no supporter but Allāh. They are to realise that they have, in fact, found the greatest of support. Place your burdens at His doorstep. With that said, glad tidings to the oppressed person who is inspired to invoke Al-Dayyān, and commiserations to the oppressor who is now on the receiving end of such a Du’ā – your victim has connected himself to the greatest recompensing force in existence and an answer is imminent inasmuch as you have not freed yourself from your victim’s grief.

“The one who is truly bankrupt is the one comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayers, fasting, and Zakāh, but comes having insulted someone, falsely accused someone, unlawfully consumed the wealth of someone, shed the blood of someone, and assaulted others. His deeds will be distributed to the accounts of his victims one after another. If his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then they will load their sins on him and then he would be thrown into Hell.” [Muslim, on the authority of Abu Huraira]

What is the need, therefore, to overstep any mark of Allāh’s religion? What is the need to unjustly harm another via insults, backstabbing, or slurs when the reparation may cost you, say, 15 days of Ramadan? Or cost two occasions of your ‘Umrah? Or cost you 20 of your full recitations of the Qur’ān? Or cost you 5 years’ worth of charity? You have no need to be in this situation. Is it therefore not worth making a courageous apology today and saving your good deeds from forceful distribution, ones that you have worked so hard to amass today?

Belief in Al-Dayyān forces accountability. It drags one to the mirror for a long and hard look, bringing about an honest inner audit of one’s life and behaviours. This propels one to make the necessary changes regardless of their cost today. The more we do this, the lighter our load of sins will be before Allāh, and the lighter that load, the quicker we will be dismissed from the horrors of the Day of Reckoning and granted access to the gardens of joy.

Source: Islam21c.

Suggested good deed

(1) Start by filling the holes in your obligatory acts of worship

“Are my five daily prayers still lacking?”

“Is my Zakāh yet to be issued or properly calculated?”

“Have I visited every country in the world but Makkah for Hajj?”

“Am I still neglecting the book of Allāh?”

“Do I not realise that Al-Dayyān’s first questions will be about these obligations?”

(2) Next, home in to lingering sins

“Am I still involved in secret immoral conversations?”

“Am I yet to quit my prohibited addictions?”

“Is my Hijāb & public presentation of myself still lacking?”

“Is my fallout with such and such yet to be amended?”

“Am I yet to learn how to fear Allāh and lower my gaze?”

“Am I yet to purify my income from the prohibited?”

“Am I one who takes the bait of every sin that pops up online and offline?”

(3) Then, move onto the levels of excellence

“How often does my heart tremble at Allāh’s remembrance?”

“Do I need to sleep less? Am I wasting too much time?”

“Am I yet to crave the moments of privacy with Him?”

“Is my worship still one of a soulless tick-box exercise?”

“Do I have a plan of daily Islamic learning?”

“Am I yet to prepare a project for my Hereafter?”

DUAH OF THE WEEK - Guidance & Uprightness

Transliteration: ” Allaahumma innee as’alukal-hudaa was-sadaada”

Translation: “O Allah! I ask You for guidance and uprightness” [Muslim]