Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Tawbah informed us; Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us; Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Kisa'i informed us; Abdullah ibn Mahmud informed us; Ibrahim ibn Abdullah ibn al-Khallal informed us; Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from Layth ibn Sad, who said: Amir ibn Yahya related to me, from Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Ma'afiri, then al-Jili, who said: I heard Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with them both, say that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Allah will single out a man from my ummah in the presence of all creation on the Day of Resurrection. He will spread out before him ninety-nine records, each record extending as far as the eye can see. Then Allah will say, ‘Do you deny anything contained in these? Have My watchful scribes wronged you?’ He will reply, ‘No, my Lord.’ Allah will say, ‘Do you have any excuse or any good deed?’ The man will be left speechless, and he will say, ‘No, my Lord.’ Allah will say, ‘Rather, you have a good deed with Us, and today no injustice will be done to you.’

“Then a card will be brought forth for him, bearing: ‘I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.’ Allah will say, ‘Present your weighing.’ He will say, ‘My Lord, what is this card compared with these records?’ Allah will say, ‘You will not be wronged.’ The records will then be placed in one pan of the scale and the card in the other. The records will fly up, while the card will weigh heavily. Nothing is weightier than the name of Allah.” (1)

Some have said: This concerns disputes between litigants.

It is related from Abdullah ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him: When the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah will gather the first and the last. Then a caller will proclaim: “Let whoever seeks redress for a wrong come forward to claim his due.” A person will rejoice to have a claim (2) established in his favor against his father, his child, his wife, or his brother, and he will take it from him, even if it is small. This is confirmed in the Book of Allah, exalted is He: “Then, when the Horn is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.”

Then a servant will be brought forth, and a caller will proclaim before the first and the last: “This is so-and-so, son of so-and-so. Whoever has a right against him, let him come forward to claim it.” He will be told, “Give these people their due rights.” He will say, “My Lord, from where can I do so, when the world has passed away?” Allah, exalted is He, will say to His angels, “Look into his righteous deeds and give them from these.” If an atom’s weight of a good deed remains, the angels will say, “Our Lord, an atom’s weight of a good deed remains for him.” He will say, “Multiply it for My servant and admit him into Paradise by the grace of My mercy.” This is confirmed in the Book of Allah, exalted is He: “Indeed, Allah does not wrong anyone by as much as an atom’s weight. If there is a good deed, He multiplies it.”

But if he is a wretched servant, the angels will say, “Our God, his good deeds have been exhausted, while claimants still remain.” Allah, exalted is He, will say, “Take from their evil deeds and add them to his evil deeds; then issue for him a writ committing him to the Fire.” (3)

Thus, according to this interpretation, the meaning of the verse (4) is that Allah does not wrong one litigant by as much as an atom’s weight in favor of another; rather, He takes it from the latter on his behalf, nor does He