وعن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: الظلم ظلمات يوم القيامة
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Injustice will be many darknesses on the Day of Resurrection.”
Takhrij:
,
. See Tuhfat al-Ashraf
Benefits:
➊ According to most lexicographers and scholars, zulm (injustice) means placing something somewhere other than its proper place, such as giving someone else’s right to another. Moreover, the truth, like the central point of a circle, is one and only one, and crossing it is also called zulm, whether the deviation is small or large. Therefore, the word zulm is used for both a major sin and a minor one. Consider: when Adam (peace be upon him) committed a fault, he was called a zalim, and Iblis was also called a zalim, although there is a vast difference between the two.
➋ Injustice is of three kinds:
A: Injustice concerning Allah:
Its greatest forms are kufr, shirk and nifaq, because the mushrik gives the right of Allah to creation. For this reason Allah the Exalted said:
إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
“Indeed, shirk is a great injustice.”
And He said:
وَيَقُولُ الْأَشْهَادُ هَـٰؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ ۚ أَلَا لَعْنَةُ اللَّـهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ
“And the witnesses will say, ‘These are the ones who lied against their Lord. Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.'”
B: Injustice against people: The following verses refer to this:
وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا
“The recompense for an evil is an evil like it.”
– – up to His saying – –
إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ
“Indeed, He does not love the wrongdoers.”
And He said:
إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَظْلِمُونَ النَّاسَ
“The blame is only upon those who wrong people.”
Injustice against people, whether against their lives, their wealth or their honour, is haram in every form.
C: Injustice against oneself:
The following verses refer to this:
فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ
“Then among them is one who wrongs himself.”
And He said:
ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِ
“I have wronged myself.”
And He said:
فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“Then you both would be among the wrongdoers.”
In all three kinds, a person in reality wrongs only himself, because the consequence of all of them falls upon his own soul. Allah the Exalted said:
وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَـٰكِن كَانُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ
,
“And they did not wrong Us, but they were wronging themselves.”
➌ Injustice will be many darknesses on the Day of Resurrection. The darknesses may refer to real darkness, meaning the wrongdoer will not be granted light on the Day of Resurrection by which he could find the right path, whereas the state of the believers will be that:
نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ
“Their light will run before them and on their right.”
Or the darknesses may refer to the hardships of the Day of Resurrection, as in:
قُلْ مَن يُنَجِّيكُم مِّن ظُلُمَاتِ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ
“Say: Who saves you from the darknesses of land and sea?”
It has also been explained that the darknesses mentioned in this verse are hardships. Or the punishments for injustice that will be given on the Day of Resurrection are meant.
➍ Injustice will be many darknesses on the Day of Resurrection, because if it takes the form of kufr and shirk, its perpetrator is forbidden Paradise:
إِنَّهُ مَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ
“Indeed, whoever associates others with Allah, Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire.”
And if it is injustice against a servant, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said concerning it:
من كانت عنده مظلمة لاخيه فليتحلله منها فإنه ليس ثم دينار ولا درهم من قبل ان يؤخذ لاخيه من حسناته فإن لم يكن له حسنات اخذ من سيئات اخيه فطرحت عليه
“Whoever has wronged his brother in any matter should seek his forgiveness for it, for there will be no dinar or dirham there, before his good deeds are taken from him to be given to his brother, and if he has no good deeds, the sins of his brother will be taken and placed upon him.”
Now it is clear that when good deeds are taken away, from where will the light come? Then only darkness upon darkness will remain.
