There's a constant emphasis in Islam on seeking to be in a position where you're helping others rather than needing the help of others. Al-yadu al-ulya khayru min al-yadu al-sufla The upper hand is better than the lower hand. That mindset should have an akhira component to, a hereafter component to. Like I can't look at my own self and be like, I can afford to slack because I know my parents or my spouse or my children will bail me out. I just need to get to jannah, maybe the lowest level and then hopefully they can be that booster. You want to aim to be the one that gets to the highest place and then brings everyone up with you. You want to be in such a comfortable place on the day of judgment that you are interceding on behalf of others rather than needing their intercession. Now, to some extent, all of us need the intercession of one man, salallahu alayhi wasalam. But there's a world of difference between a unanimous and a split decision victory or someone who's hoping for that last testimony to sway in their favor and someone who has a chorus of voices on their behalf on the day of judgment. Shafa'ah is greater than Shahada On the day of judgment, shafa'ah is greater than shahada. Intercession is greater than witnessing. Now, most of the scholars say it's just another level of witness, but the difference is clear and powerful. See, almost anyone can be a witness on the day of judgment, but very few can be an intercessor on the day of judgment. And the greatest intercessor of them all is none other than the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasalam. And he doesn't just intercede at one point on the day of judgment. He's constantly doing so at every stage. And that's because his status is so much higher than everyone else. And everyone is going to recognize that on the day of judgment. So in the very beginning of the day, when people are looking around and going to the prophets even to intercede,
everyone sends us to the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam says, ana laha, I am for it. He said, fa asjudu taht al arshi, I will prostrate under the throne. And the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned that Allah will inspire him with words of praise and prayer that he even didn't know Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Fa yuqalu ya muhammad irfa'a raasak, wa shfa'a tushaffa'a, wa sal tu'ta. Then Allah will say to him, Oh Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, raise your head, intercede and your intercession will be accepted. Ask and you shall be given. Then we break it down. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam has special intercession for special people from this ummah. So he raises his head and he keeps going back to Allah throughout the day and prostrating and interceding. And he says, ummati ya rab, ummati, my ummah, oh my Lord, my ummah. So Allah says, ya Muhammad, adkhil man laa hisaaba alayhim minal baab al-aymani min abwaab al-jannah. Oh Muhammad, go and admit from your ummah those who will not be brought to account and admit them from the right hand gate of paradise. And these are the best people on the day of judgment. Now we also find that the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, whoever says when he hears the call to prayer, Allahumma rabba hadihi da'awata attamma wa salatil qa'ima, aati Muhammadin alwaseelat wa alfadheela wabaathhum maqaman mahmoodan allathee wa'atta Oh Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer to be offered, grant Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wasallam the privilege of intercession and grant him an eminent position and resurrect him to the praised position that you have promised. And then you can also say, innaka laa tukhriful miAAad You do not go back on your promises. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, whoever does that, hadlat lahoo shafaAAati yawm alqiyamah He will be granted my intercession on the day of judgment. The connection of this that the ulama mentioned is that just like when you send salawat on the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam,
Allah and the angels and the messenger himself all respond. When you make dua for the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam to attain this praiseworthy station, what does he do? He uses that praiseworthy station to elevate yours. Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, I once asked the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, Ya Rasulullah, where do I find you on the day of judgment so you can intercede for me? The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, look for me at the mizan, or look for me at the sirat, or look for me at the help. And he said, fa inni laa uqti'u haa bihi thalatha almawatin I will not be missed at these three locations. You're going to find me in one of these three places. So the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam's whole day is between the questioning, the mizan, the sirat, until the very last moment going around and interceding for people, and even for the very least of this ummah. Not the least in worldly rank, but the people that were the least in righteousness. Abdullah ibn Umar radiAllahu anhu said, you know, we used to hold ourselves back from istighfar, from seeking forgiveness, li ahli kabair, for people who would commit major sins. I mean, imagine the status of the sahaba and they're seeing people that would still drink alcohol or commit adultery or deal in major sins. And then ibn Umar radiAllahu anhu says, we heard our Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam say, verily I have delayed my intercession, li ahli kabair min ummati yawmul qiyamah, for the people of major sins amongst my ummah for the day of resurrection. And ibn Umar radiAllahu anhu said, thus we restrained much of what was inside of us, and we started to have hope for them. I mean, imagine how amazing is the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam that he's going to want to go around interceding for the major sinners of this ummah. Now, you don't want to be a major sinner on the day of judgment, waiting for that last intercession, right? But there's the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He says, I keep going back to my Lord until I say,
ya rab adkhilil jannata man kana fee qalbihi khardana. Oh my Lord, enter into Jannah, just someone who has even a mustard seed worth of faith in their heart. And Allah grants it to them. Then he comes back and he says, ya rab adkhilil jannata man kana fee qalbihi adna shayt. Oh my Lord, enter into Jannah, someone who even has less than that, the least amount of faith in their heart. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la accepts that from the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So that's the intercession of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam throughout the day. But here's the thing, other people amongst the righteous also can intercede on the day of judgment. The angels come forth and they start to intercede on behalf of those that they used to record for. The prophets come forth and they start to intercede on behalf of people from amongst their nations. The shuhada, the martyrs come forward and they intercede for 70 people from amongst their families. SubhanAllah, what a gift. They were taken from their families and they lost their families in this dunya for the sake of Allah. And now they get to intercede on behalf of their families to be joined with them in paradise. Then the awliya, the devout worshipers, they come forth and they intercede on behalf of their people. Imagine how beloved you are to Allah because I want you to really understand this. When you can walk to the hisab of someone else and plead to Allah, knowing that he loves you that much and that you have that much of a position with him, that he will listen to you on behalf of someone else. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said in an authentic hadith, yadkhulul jannata bishafa'ati rajulun min ummati akhtharu min bani tamim That more people than Bani Tamim, which is this huge tribe, will enter into Jannah by the intercession of one single man from my ummah. They said, other than you, Ya Rasulullah? He said, other than me. And some of the scholars, they said, perhaps it's Uthman ibn Affan radiAllahu anhu. And others said, maybe it's Uwais al Qarni radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And the reality is, we don't know for sure,
but what we do know is that there are some people that are so righteous on the day of judgment that they will intercede on behalf of large groups of people. And then you have the children, children that died before reaching the age of maturity. And this is a very touching hadith. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Allah says to them on the day of judgment, udkhulul jannah, all of you enter into paradise. And they say, oh, our Lord, hatta yadkhula aba'una wa ummahatuna Oh, our Lord, not until our fathers and our mothers come with us. So Allah will say, ma li araahum muhbanti'een Why is it that I see these children are hesitant? They're holding back to enter into Jannah. And they protest and they say, our Lord, with our fathers, with our mothers. So Allah says, udkhulul jannah antum wa aba'akum wa ummahatukum Enter Jannah, you and all of your parents as well. This is the shafa'ah, the intercession of the child that died and had parents who remained patient. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, that's even the case for the miscarried fetus. He said, by Allah, the miscarried fetus will be pulling its mother into paradise, even by the umbilical cord, so long as she was doing ihtisab, so long as she was seeking the reward for her calamity. So dear brother and sister, that were tested by this tragedy, some people leave behind children that do deeds that increase their likelihood of getting into paradise after they leave. But you have sent forth children that are already waiting at the gates of paradise for you, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. You gave birth to an intercessor for you on the day of judgment, inshallah. May Allah make it easy for all of you that are suffering through this. And then you have these two specific intercessors on the day of judgment. And they are most prominently nurtured in this month of Ramadan. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, you're fasting and you're a Qur'an. They show up on the day of judgment and you're fasting as a person says,
Ya Rabb, my Lord, I prevented him from his food and his desires during the day. Fashaffi'ni fihi. So let me intercede for him. And then the Qur'an shows up and says, my Lord, I prevented him from sleeping at night. Fashaffi'ni fihi. So let me intercede for him. Fayushaffi'an. So Allah lets both the Qur'an and fasting intercede on your behalf. Now, all of these forms of intercession, whether they're from the prophets, the angels or the righteous, are in fact part of the mercy of Allah, right? Because no one could intercede without his permission in the first place. But remember that Allah will not be outdone by anyone else in mercy and grace. So after all the intercessors, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Allah will say, Baqiyat shafa'ati. There now remains my intercession. And Allah will take a handful from the fire and bring forth these people whose bodies have been burnt and cast them into a river at the entrance of Jannah that is called Ma'ul Hayya, the water of life. So Allah's intercession is for the largest group of people on that day. Now, here's the thing. Why wait to hope to be amongst that group of people who get cast into the water of life? Instead, istajeebu lillahi walirrasuli idha da'akum lima yuhyikum Respond to Allah and his messenger when they call you to that which gives you life. And that is the Qur'an. And seek a position of not just being interceded for, but being in such a position with Allah that you get to intercede for others on the Day of Judgment. fa amma man faqulat mawazinuh
fahua fi eeshatin raaziya