The more deceptive the times get, the harder it is to tell who is a deceiver. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said, in those years that are سنين خداع, years of deception, يكذب فيها الصادق ويصدق فيها الكاذب
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 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 ﷺ 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, then 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 ﷺ said, maktoobun bayna aynayhi kafir 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 ﷺ said,
inna al-sidqa yahdi ilal birri wa inna al-birri yahdi ilal jannah wa inna al-rajula layasduq hatta yuqtaba ind Allahi siddiqa 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 inna al-kathiba yahdi ilal fujur wa inna al-fujura yahdi ilal nar wa inna al-rajula layakthibu hatta yuqtaba ind Allahi kathaba
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.
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, hatha yawmu yanfa'u sadiqin as-siddiqoon
This is the day that the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness 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 ﷺ said, when Allah gathers the first and the last generations on the day of judgment, yurfa'u li kulli ghadirin liwa
He will raise a banner on top of every treacherous person. faqeel hadhihi ghadratu fulan ibn fulan It will be announced that this is the treachery of this person, the son of this person.
So the 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 Muhammad ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said, ana sayyidu waladi adama yawm al qiyama wa la fakhri
I am the chief of the children of Adam on the day of judgment, and I'm not boasting. wa biyadi liwa ul hamd wa la fakhri And in my hand is the banner of praise, and I am not boasting.
wa ma min nabiyyin yawma idhin illa wa huwa tahta riwa'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 ﷺ.
Now the scholars say that the Prophet ﷺ has the ultimate liwa ul hamd, the ultimate banner of praise. And we all want to be under that banner. But the praiseworthy 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, as-shakireen, people of patience and people of gratitude. May Allah grant us those stations. Allahumma 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. Salih, the son of Imam Ahmed, 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 Ahmed said, I forgive all of them. And you have narrations 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 Salih said, I asked my father, what about the people who died before they could seek your forgiveness? Imam Ahmed said, you know what?
I've forgiven even the dead people for the harm that they caused me. And he said, oh, my son, don't you know that Allah says,
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, oh, my son, I heard that Imam Hassan al-Basri Rahim Allah said about this ayah. Iza kana yawmul qiyana jathati al-umamu kulluha bayna yadai Allah That when the day of judgment comes,
all of the nations are brought forth before their Lord on their knees. Thumma noodiya an laa yaqooma illa man ajruhu ala Allah And then a voice calls out and says,
no one stand up except those who Allah has guaranteed their reward. Thumma noodiya an laa yaqoomu illa man aafaa fi al-dunya So no one will stand up except for those people who used to forgive in this dunya.
And he repeated, fa jaAAaltu al-mayyata fi al-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, 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 Imam Ahmad Rahim Allah 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?
Fa amma man faqulat mawazinuh fa huwa fee'eeshatir-raadiya
