Day 7
Owner of the Day Judgement
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Welcome to day 7 of "Be Quranic" where we take small portions of the Quran every day, extracting practical lessons from it, and apply them to our daily lives so we can be more Quranic.
Insha'Allah, today we will continue our study of Suratul Fatiha and we are going to explore Ayah number 4, "Maliki yawm ad-deen." There are two ways of reading the first word in the Ayah, Malik. You can either read it as "Maliki yawm ad-deen" or "Maliki yawm ad-deen," with a short 'Ma' or a long 'Ma.' When read with a short 'Ma,' it means 'king,' and with a long 'Ma,' it means 'the owner' or 'the master.' The beauty of this is that these two meanings complement each other. Sometimes an owner doesn't have absolute control over his possession, and a king doesn't have control over the minute details within his kingdom.
For example, if you own a car capable of going 300 km per hour, in Perth, you will mostly drive at 60 km per hour or 110 km per hour on the freeway because you are the owner of the car, but not the ruler of the country. The ruler sets the rules, such as speed limits, but doesn't have control over specific details like the car itself. In contrast, when Allah is described as "Malik" (the king) of "Yom Din" (the Day of Judgment), He is also "Malik" (the owner), with control over both the broader aspects and every minute detail of the Day of Judgment.
The first part of this ayah, "Malik," is followed by "yawm ad-deen," the Day of Judgment. "Ad-deen" in classical Arabic means an exact transaction, reflecting the principle of receiving exactly what one has done in this world. "Ad-deen" is also the word for religion and shares the same letters as the word for debt in Arabic, "dain," signifying a relationship between religion and debt. Our obedience is based on gratitude; we owe a debt to Allah for creating and sustaining us.
This ayah, "Maliki Yawmiddin," highlights the Lord as the Master and owner of the Day of Judgment, where all our actions will be accounted for. We hope for Allah's mercy on this day, as justice would be troubling for our sins. The ayah follows "Al-Rahmanir-Rahim," an ayah of love, which itself follows "Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alamin," an ayah of majesty. This sequence teaches us that if Allah were only "Rahman" and "Rahim," people might abuse the religion. But "Maliki Yawmiddin" reminds us that our actions will be accounted for, instilling a balance of hope in Allah's mercy and fear of His justice.
Today's quest is a continuation of yesterday's concept of "Raja" (hope) and "Khawf" (fear). In all we do, we must remember that He is "Maliki Yawmiddin," the King and owner of the Day of Judgment, aware of all our actions, whether in public or private. Before any action, we should remember this, knowing we will answer for everything we do.