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The more deceptive the times get,
the harder it is to tell who is a deceiver.
And that's why the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
in those years that are sinin khida'a,
years of deception,
yukhadhabu fi hassadiq wa yusaddaqu fi hal kadhib
the truthful are belied and the liars are believed
and people lose all notions of who is credible
and who is not.
And that's often because liars get good at their craft
and they don't have any boundaries.
The truthful on the other hand,
they suffer because they refuse
to depart from their principles
and they refuse to act like their enemies.
So imagine if we had reviews on people
but they were written by the angels
and they were certified by Allah,
like a Yelp for Mala'ikah, for angels.
And you could look that up before even dealing with someone.
And on top of that, the inspection of the angels,
would be on the window of each person's home
or on their business or wherever it is
that you're going to deal with them.
Now if you remember, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
said, no one goes out from his house,
except that there are two banners in hand,
one in the hand of an angel
and the other in the hands of a devil.
Verily if a person goes out for a reason
that Allah loves, than the angel will follow him
with his banner and he will continue to be
under the Angel's banner until he returns home.
And if he goes out for a reason that is displeasing
to Allah, then a devil will follow him with his banner
and he will continue to be under the banner of that devil
until he returns home.
But here we don't see those banners,
on the day of judgment they are raised high
for all of mankind to see.
In the last days when dajjal rises,
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
maqtubun bayna 'inaihi kaffir
"That you look at him
and written between his two eyes
is the word disbeliever
and that's so that every believer can know him."
After he's done away with by the Messiah
and the earth as a whole is done away with,
Allah raises us on the day of judgment.
And we have our identities
but those identities are determined by our deeds.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
inna sidqa yahdi ilalbihr wa innal birrah yahdi illal jannah
wa inna rajula la yastuq hatta yuqta ba'indhallahi siddiqah
"Verily truthfulness leads to righteousness
and righteousness leads to Jannah."
And a person keeps on telling the truth
until he's written with Allah as a truthful person.
Wa innal khadhibah yahdi illal fujur wa innal fujurah yahdhi
illannar wa inna rajula la yaqdhibu hatta yuqta
ba indhallahi khaddhaba
And verily lying leads to wickedness
and wickedness leads to the fire
and a person keeps on telling lies
until they're written before Allah as a liar.
And so when they're raised up on the day of judgment,
that distinction is made clear.
And it's very interesting
because many times people can regret being truthful
when others aren't
because it puts you at a disadvantage in this world, right?
And look what Allah says,
hādhā yawmu yanfaʿu l-ṣādiqīna ṣid'quhum
"This is the day that the truthful
will benefit from their truthfulness." (5:119)
And that will be apparent in so many ways
including the banners that are erected above them.
So what are these banners?
As for the worst banner,
the Prophet Sallallhu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"When Allah gathers the first
and the last generations on the day of judgment,
yur fa'u li kulli ghadibin li wah
He will raise a banner on top of every treacherous person.
Fa qil hadhihi ghadratu fulan ibn fulan
It will be announced that this is the treachery
of this person, the son of this person."
So their reviews are public now
and the dishonest and deceitful person no longer benefits
from their deception.
And in fact they're tainted with it,
with this banner that's raised over their head
as we're still waiting for the accountability.
As for the praiseworthy banners,
it starts with the greatest banner.
And that is the banner of Mohammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
ana sayyidu waladi Adama yawmul qiyamah wala fakhar
"I am the chief of the children of Adam
on the day of judgment.
And I'm not boasting."
wabiyaddi li wa'ul hamd wala fakhar
"And in my hand is the banner of praise
and I am not boasting."
Wa ma bin nabbiyin yawma idhin illa wa huwa tahtaliwa'i
"And there is not going to be a Prophet
since Adam on that day,
except that he's also standing under my banner."
May Allah allow us to be
under the banner of our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Now the scholars say that the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
has the ultimate liwa al hamd
the ultimate banner of praise
and we all want to be under that banner
but the praise where these stations will also
have banners above them.
So you have the banners of 'as-sadiqeen'
people of truth.
You have the banners of 'as-sabireen' and 'as-shakireen'
people of patience and people of gratitude.
May Allah grant us those stations Allahuma Ameen.
And the banners of praise are certainly
not awarded to anyone except those that are distinguished
by those stations.
So a person who's distinguished by their truthfulness
to Allah and seeking his reward,
even if being truthful meant losing
out on something in this world.
And that's why there are some narrations that suggest
that the honest merchants are with the martyrs,
they're with the 'shuhada' on the day of judgment.
Because the martyrs were truest in their promise to Allah,
and you have these merchants
that are truthful in their dealings.
Why, because they're witnessing the sight of Allah
upon them, at all times.
And then you have this one story that really
encapsulates this in the most beautiful way.
Saleh the son of Imam Ahmad Rahimullah ta'ala,
He said, "You know, my father forgave each and
every single person who tortured him or backbited him."
Think about all the rulers that tortured him,
all the guards, all the people that betrayed him,
all the people that backbited him,
all the people that mocked him.
Imam Ahmad Rahimullah said, "I forgive all of them."
And you have narration of many guards
coming to him and asking for his forgiveness before death.
I mean they lashed him
almost to death and he forgave them all.
And you have people who backbited him.
And they came to him and they asked him for forgiveness.
And he always granted that forgiveness.
So Saleh said, I asked my father,
"What about the people who died
before they could seek your forgiveness?"
Imam Ahmad Rahimullah said,
"You know what?"
Aqaja'altu mayyitah fi hillin min dharbihi 'iya
"I have forgiven, even the dead people
for the harm that they caused me."
And he said," O my son, don't you know that Allah says,
faman AAafa waaslaha faajruhu AAalaAllah
"That whoever forgives
and reconciles then his reward is on me."
His rewards on Allah,
meaning Allah is going to take it upon himself
to properly compensate their grievances.
And then he said to me, "O my son,
I heard that Imam Hasan Abbasi Rahimullah
said about this ayah,
idha kaana yawmul qiyamah jathatil ummahmu kulluha
bayna yadhayillah
"That when the day of judgment comes,
all of the nations are brought
forth before their Lord, on their knees."
thumma nudiya an la yaqumah illa man ajrahu 'allalah
And then a voice calls out and says, "No one stand up
except those who Allah has guaranteed their reward."
fala yaqumu illa man afafiddunya
So no one will stand up
except for those people who used to forgive
in this dunya.
And he repeated, faja'altu mayyitah fi hil,
"So I've forgiven all of them.
I've even forgiven the dead ones
that beat me and didn't live to seek my forgiveness."
And he went on to say that, "You know, a man shouldn't want,
that Allah is going to punish someone else on their behalf."
Now we can agree that it takes a big heart
to do what did Imam Ahmad Rahimullah did,
but it also warrants a beautiful banner on that day,
when the gracious benefit from the grace of Ar-Rahman,
the most gracious.
The question is, what quality would describe you right now
and what would be printed on your head
and what banner would be erected over you,
to describe the way that you used to interact with people?
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