As-Sajdah · Makki · ayah 25 of 30

As-Sajdah 32:25

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا۟ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ

“Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every dispute about faith that cannot be finished here will be settled by your Lord Himself, who parts truth from falsehood at the joint.

A reflection

Not the judge in your own case

In a village cricket match short of officials, the batting side's captain agrees to umpire at the bowler's end. Every appeal against his own batsmen is 'not out'. By tea, nobody believes a word he says, and he half suspects they are right.

That is the trouble with being the judge in your own case. And it is exactly the seat the ego wants. We do not only want to be right. We want to be the one who declares who is right.

This ayah removes the seat. Inna rabbaka huwa yafṣilu, 'truly your Lord, He, will judge between them'. The Arabic doubles its emphasis, with inna at the front and the separate pronoun huwa. Two similar sentences elsewhere simply say 'your Lord will judge' (10:93; 45:17). Here the pronoun is added, as if to close the door on anyone else claiming the role. It is He, not the loudest voice, the cleverest debater or the largest following.

There is relief in this, and also something humbling. The relief is that you do not have to win every argument by tonight. The humbling part is that your own certainty is not the verdict either. You, too, are among 'them'.

Someone may ask whether a God who reserves the final verdict for Himself is simply insisting on being right. Does He need it? A human judge with a stake in the case is corrupt precisely because he gains from the outcome. Allah gains nothing from anyone's being right or wrong. He is free of all need (35:15). That is what makes Him the only judge with no conflict of interest.

He is also called 'your Lord' here: Rabb, the One who raises, tends and sets things right. The verdict comes from the One who made both parties and wants their good.

So the next time you feel the urge to have the last word, notice whose seat you are reaching for. It is already taken, by the only One who can fill it fairly.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.