Hadith Explanation: “Oppression will be in the form of darknesses on the Day of Judgement”
Disclaimer: This hadith is taken from زاد الطالبين (Provisions for the Seekers) originally written by Shaykh Maulana Muhammad Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri in Arabic. Provision for the Seekers is the English version, with the translation and additional commentary by Mufti Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever. All rights belong to the publisher(s).
Original & Translation
الظُّلمُ ظُلُمَاتٌ يَومَ القِيَامَةِ
“Oppression will be in the form of darknesses on the Day of Judgement.”
Note: This is an authentic Saheeh hadith from Bukhari and Muslim, narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, the son of Umar ibn Khattāb رضي الله عنه.
Sentence Analysis (Tarkeeb)
الظُّلمُ is the mubtada. ظُلُمَاتٌ is mawsoof. يَومَ is an ism zarf so the following word, which is القِيَامَةِ, is its mudhaaf ilayh. So يَومَ القِيَامَةِ is murakkab idhaafiyy and this murakkab is the sifah to the mawsoof that is ظُلُمَاتٌ. Now ظُلُمَاتٌ يَومَ القِيَامَةِ is murakkab tawseefiyy and then becomes the khabar. Mubtada and khabar form jumlah ismiyyah khabariyyah.
Commentary of “Oppression will be in the form of darknesses on the Day of Judgement”
On the Day of Judgement, the mu’mineen (believers) will have a nūr (light) and that nūr would precede them. This light would be due to their good ‘āmaal (good deeds). “Darknesses” could also be a symbolic reference to the hardships and torments of the Day of Judgement. [Mirqāt al-Mafātīh 8:846]
The zulm (“oppression” or “wrongdoing”) is of two types: (1) a person doing injustice to others or (2) the oppressor is doing zulm on themselves in the form of neglect of deen (deprivation of imān, sleep, eating, reading Qur’an, etc.). Because of the oppressor’s oppression, they will have darknesses surrounding them on the Day of Judgement.
This could also mean museebat (intense pain/difficulty). On the Day of Judgement, the oppressor will be in a state of museebat and in a form of oppression of themselves. This person could be emotionally, mentally, and physically burdened by their wrongdoings.
The main point of this hadith is that Allah (SWT) wants us to be merciful. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه و سلم taught us that through this hadith. Even though we may not want to willingly follow some rules of the Shari’ah (like wearing hijab, for example), we have to save ourselves from oppression on the Day of Judgement. If not, we have oppressed ourselves.
Additional Note:
In addition to the disclaimer, please note that I have not created this information. Rather, I have shared my notes on what was taught to me by my reputable teachers as I am a student of the deen (religion) Islam. All thanks to Allah, the Most High. Any mistake, misuse, or misinterpretation of the teachings would be entirely due to my lack of knowledge. If you have any questions or concerns about these notes, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach me privately through my blog here or @hadithexplained on Twitter.
