What does ‘Owner of the Day of Judgment’ mean?

Allah is merciful but at times, when we do bad things, we seem to get away with it because His Wrath doesn’t come upon us immediately. We tend to think that maybe there isn’t a God, because we got away with bad things we did and continue to do so. But Allah reminds us that He is the owner of the Day of Judgment.[1]

A day will come when everything will be taken into account, so no matter what we or others seem to get away with here and now, no one actually gets away with anything. We will be held to account and judged. Allah didn’t put us in this world allowing certain things to happen that are not fair. That will be injustice because it is Allah who determines the circumstances we are in. Others may oppress us, not that Allah oppresses us, but He gave them the power to oppress us. If He gave them the power to oppress us and we didn’t have the power to prevent their oppression, then it would be unfair if they were not called to account in the end for what they did. Therefore, Allah reminds us that He is the owner of the Day of Judgment. So, when such things happen in life which we don’t like, we try to correct them and stop them but in the end we can’t. Some people become so frustrated that they may end up committing suicide[2] or go berserk. But we must know that Allah reminds us that He is the Master of the Day of Judgment and it belongs to Him. Everything belongs to Him, but He stresses as being the Owner of that day, to emphasize that out of all the things that He owns, including us, that day is of particular significance. If we are able to grasp this concept, then life will become so much easier. Our hearts can be at rest knowing that no one will get away with anything. If Allah is Merciful, He may not hold us to account for something that we’ve done, because the other good things we have done may have erased those bad things we did. Allah says in the Quran:

إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ

“Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.”[3]

That is His Mercy. But for the truly evil, they will have to pay on that day.[4]

References:

[1] Sheikh Muhammad ibn ‘Ashoor, At-Tahreer Wa-Tanweer, Vol 1: p 174

[2] http://islamqa.info/en/111938

[3] Surah Hud, 11:114

[4] Ibn Tamiya, Sharh Al-Aqeedah til Wasatiyah, p.166