Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 31 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:31

ثُمَّ إِنَّكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ تَخْتَصِمُونَ

“Then indeed you, on the Day of Resurrection, before your Lord, will dispute.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every quarrel you leave unsettled in this life will be reopened before your Lord, where the evidence is complete and nothing can be talked away.

A reflection

'Will it be repeated for us?'

When these ayat came down, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwam asked the Prophet ﷺ a direct question. Will what passed between us in this world be brought back to us, along with our particular sins? The Prophet ﷺ said: yes, it will be repeated for you, until every holder of a right is given his right. Al-Zubayr said: by Allah, the matter is severe. Al-Tirmidhi recorded it and graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.

Notice what al-Zubayr understood at once. This was not only about believers against idolaters. It was about him, and the people he knew. Every argument with a neighbour, every debt half paid, every sharp word to a servant, still had an open file.

Picture a builder in his sixties going through an old ledger while clearing his loft. He finds a page from twenty-two years ago. A young labourer worked six days for him on a kitchen extension. The final day was never paid; the lad left town, and the builder let it slide. The figure is small. The builder sits down on a box and cannot stop looking at it.

The ayah says that page is not closed because the lad left town. It will be opened again, before the Lord of both men. Al-Zubayr's response is the honest one: the matter is severe. The mercy hidden in it is that the ledger can still be settled from this side.

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.