The Scales (Al-Mizan)

The scales of justice on the Day of Judgment — al-Mizan — are one of the most theologically significant and epistemologically challenging elements of Islamic eschatology. They are real scales on which deeds are weighed, and the Quran describes them in concrete terms: 'And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, and no soul will be treated unjustly at all. And if there is the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as accountant.' Al-Ashqar affirms the reality of these scales against any purely metaphorical interpretation, while acknowledging that the precise nature of how spiritual realities are given weight is among the mysteries that the intellect cannot fully comprehend but that the believer affirms on the basis of revelation.

Deeds — which are spiritual and non-physical realities — will be given forms and weights that can be placed on these cosmic scales. The most compelling illustration comes from a famous hadith: the Prophet described two words that are 'light on the tongue but heavy on the scales, beloved to the Most Merciful: Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, subhanallahil-adhim.' The specific quality of heaviness on the Mizan does not refer to physical mass but to a form of spiritual weight — a value and significance in the divine reckoning that exceeds the word's apparent smallness in the human experience.

The word 'mizan' (scales) may also refer to the general principle of justice — that the Day of Judgment will involve absolute fairness with no injustice to any soul. Al-Ashqar presents the scholarly view that both meanings may be affirmed simultaneously: there is a literal scale, and it embodies the principle of absolute justice. Nothing is overlooked, nothing is distorted, and the weight of every deed is precisely what Allah determined it to be.

For practical purposes, this doctrine should motivate the believer to take small good deeds seriously. The hadith about the two phrases illustrates that seemingly minor acts of worship — daily dhikr recited from the heart — can carry extraordinary weight on the Mizan, potentially outweighing much larger-seeming actions that were performed with less sincerity or understanding. Conversely, the Prophet warned against dismissing small sins: 'Beware of minor sins, for they accumulate on a person until they destroy him.' The scales register everything, in both directions.

The outcome of the weighing determines a person's final destination. Those whose scales of good deeds are heavy will find themselves among the successful, admitted to the abode of mercy. Those whose scales of evil outweigh their good deeds face the abode of distress. But between these two outcomes, divine mercy operates through intercession, forgiveness, and the Prophet's intercession for those whose fate lies in uncertainty. The Mizan is not a mechanical transaction but a divinely administered justice within which mercy finds its fullest and most consequential expression.