The Witnesses on the Day of Judgement- Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

The Witnesses on the Day of Judgement

My respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students, assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Allah has made this ummah an ummah that upholds the principle of moderation. Allah says in Surah al-Baqarah:

"And in this manner We have made you an ummah of moderation, so that you may bear testimony on the Day of Judgment, on the plains of Hashr, against all those who denied Allah. And the Prophet ﷺ himself will be a witness for or against us."

The Ummah as Witnesses on the Day of Judgement

As the narrations explain, people will come, and the Prophets will come, and Allah will ask the various nations: "Did your Prophet not warn you about this day? Did your Prophet not fulfill his obligation?" — For example, Prophet Nuh, Prophet Lut, etc. So they will say, "No, he did not."

And Allah will ask the Prophet, and of course the Prophet will say, "I did, ya Allah, I've done everything possible to declare Your greatness and to spread Your message, but my people did not want to listen. They refused to listen." So at that time, a group of people will rise up, and they will come to the witness stand, and they will say, "Ya Allah, Your Prophet has spoken the truth, and the nation has lied. Your Prophet has definitely done justice and has fulfilled the rights of spreading the message, but his people did not listen."

So the people will look at those standing at the witness stand, and they will say, "Who are these people? We have never seen them before — where did they come from?" And it will be answered to them: "This is the Ummah and the nation of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ." So they will say, "Who are these? They came thousands of years later. They never witnessed us and what our situation was with the Prophets. How do they have the ability to come today and stand and give testimony against us?"

So the answer will be given: they were the recipients of the Quran. They were recipients of the Quran — although they were the last of people, they got the report of the entire nations that had come prior to them. And based on the reports of the Quran, today they stand up and they give testimony.

So that is a status that this Ummah is going to be given. And Allah says:

So that this Ummah can bear witness and give testimony on the Day of Judgment against all people when needed. And the Prophet ﷺ himself will be a witness for or against us.

The Principle of Moderation in Islam

So one aspect of Islam is moderation in everything. And this is a very lengthy topic, obviously. When it comes to venerating our elders and our Prophets and our Mashayikh and whatnot — moderation. We are supposed to venerate and respect our Prophets, all Prophets.

So we will not do what others have done by accusing them of committing major sins and horrendous crimes. We will say that Prophets are ma'soom — protected from sin — they are infallible. They cannot commit sin. But then we also stay away from the extremism of joining the Prophets with God Himself and giving them divinity, and saying that a Prophet could possibly be, for example, a son of God. We stay away from that extremism as well. Moderation in the way we deal with our Prophets.

Moderation in the way we deal with righteous people besides the Prophets — that they are very pious possibly, very good, and we should follow them in their good. But at the same time, we will not say that they are saints protected from God Almighty, that they can never sin, that they are infallible, that whatever they do — even their wrong — is right. We don't say that. We'll say everyone besides the Prophets can slip.

So we give all the respect to the Awliya, Mashayikh, and pious people. But if they commit a sin, if they commit a mistake, we're not going to sit there and say, "How did that happen? How is that possible? Is Islam the true religion or not?" We don't fall into that trap. Because they're human beings. And as human beings, anyone besides the Prophets can fail and falter.

So again, we don't go overboard by prostrating to their graves, by making du'a to them after they've passed away, etc. And at the same time, we're not going to say that we're all the same — "Don't tell me this scholar's name, don't tell me this Shaykh's name, we're all the same, we're all human beings, equal, no one is more God-fearing, no one is closer to Allah." No, we don't say that either. So we follow moderation in dealing with our scholars and Mashayikh of the past and present.

Moderation in Human Relations

Moderation when it comes to dealing with human relations — wives, husbands, children, parents, Muslims, non-Muslims, regardless. There are tens and tens of rights that all of them have upon us. We are all well aware of the respect that it is obligatory upon us to give to our parents, as mentioned clearly in the Qur'an:

Worship Allah, fulfill His rights, وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا — and be kind to your parents. That's clearly mentioned. So there's so much emphasis on respecting the parents. But Allah also makes it clear:

"If they force you and they push you into ascribing a partner with Me — that which you have no knowledge about — meaning, if they ask you to ascribe partners with Me and do something that goes against what I have told you to do as God Almighty — فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا — then do not obey them." Moderation. Fulfill their rights, kiss their feet, wash their feet, do whatever you need to do. But as long as it doesn't go against what Allah Himself, via the Qur'an, or via the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has instructed you to do — as long as there's no contradiction — you will obey them.

So my friends, we are taught to love humanity, we are taught to love families, we are taught to love creation — animals, plants, everything — that's part of it. But even in that love, there's moderation. Unconditional love that people ask from each other today is something that Islam doesn't promote. Unconditional love is with one and only one — Almighty Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ. Unconditional love, because we know they're protected and preserved from making any mistakes by Allah. Besides that, everyone else — our love is there and we're going to fulfill their rights. But our love has to be with laws and rules that are followed. If those laws and rules are broken, then obedience is no longer there.

Like I told you, there's no one who demands more obedience from us than our parents. There's no one who has a greater right upon us than our parents — of course, besides Allah and His Messenger, I'm talking about from the average human beings. But Allah set down the rule clearly: if they force you to commit shirk, then you do not obey them, and you have to obey Me.

Absolutely no obedience to the creation if it entails the disobedience of the Creator. So when we hear about being good human beings, and being accommodating, and having good character — all of that is good and needs to be practiced, and the hadith is replete with narrations promoting that. But there's a limit to that. The limit is as long as it does not go against what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have asked us to do. When it comes to that, then we leave it.

Moderation in Love and Hate

Allah talks about this all over in the Qur'an. But when we speak specifically about one aspect of relations — social relations — what we call love and hate: both of these things we've been taught to have moderation in. Not just love. There's no such thing as unconditional love, and we may add also no such thing as unconditional hatred. There is no such thing as all-out love, and no such thing as all-out hatred. There is no one about whom we have to say that we must close our eyes blindly, no matter what happens, and follow in blind love or hate.

The Prophet ﷺ narrated in a hadith related by Imam Tirmidhi, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, a golden, beautiful rule regarding these social dealings, and specifically about love and hatred. He said, in this very nice-sounding, rhyming hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1997; also reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

أَحْبِبْ — love, this is a verb, a command. أَحْبِبْ حَبِيبَكَ — love your beloved. حَبِيب بمعنى مَحْبُوب — your beloved. هَوْنًا مَّا — here it means a little bit. Some have explained هَوْن as "a little bit," and some have explained it as مَال التَّنْكِير — to make it general, not specific. Rasulullah ﷺ is leaving it unspecified. "Love, but I'm not going to tell you the exact parameters of it. Don't overdo it, basically." This is for your own benefit.

عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ بَغِيضَكَ يَوْمًا مَّا — it is very probable, possible that one day that beloved becomes your own enemy. بَغِيض بمعنى مَبْغُوض — someone who you hate, or he hates you and you hate him because he hates you. Tables turned.

وَأَبْغِضْ بَغِيضَكَ هَوْنًا مَّا — and even that enemy of yours, if you have to hate them for some reason, if you have to keep your distance from them, if you have to break ties from them, then do so in a moderate manner — هَوْنًا مَّا — in a moderate manner without being too excessive. عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ حَبِيبَكَ يَوْمًا مَّا — because it is very possible that one day that person will become your friend.

Understanding This Beautiful Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ is saying that if you have this relationship between friends, between co-workers, between business partners, between — unfortunately — spouses, a very close relationship, that's great, mashAllah, fulfill each other's rights and whatnot. But that love should not go out of bounds where a person spills everything he has and shares all the secrets of the world — sins, etc. — which no one knows besides Allah and the angels who recorded them. By exposing all of these things and sharing them with the closest of people to us, we are making ourselves vulnerable.

Because it could happen that the tables turn, and this business partner, this childhood friend, and — unfortunately as we see in many cases — this beloved spouse, things turn around. And they are no longer your spouse. They are no longer your business partner. They are no longer your best buddy from childhood. And things turn sour. All of those things that we have shared with them will now become ammunition against us. They may make it a vendetta, a purpose of their life to harm you. And they would not have been able to do that if we had loved them in moderation.

You never know — the intention of that business partner may change. The intention of that childhood friend may change. And he may use those weaknesses that you have exposed to him or her. One day, Shaytan may come and say, "Look, you can beat this person. You can get ahead of him or her." Shaytan is عَجِيب — amazing — in how he plays with minds.

And not only that — the hearts of Banu Adam are between the fingers of Allah. He turns them in any way He wishes. Love — these are emotions. They fluctuate like the weather of Chicago. SubhanAllah. We have 80 degrees at the beginning of April, then 40 degrees at the beginning of May. That's what emotions are. One day all-out love, and one day all-out hatred. So you can't trust the emotions of people. You can't even trust your own emotions.

That is why we are told not to be emotional when it comes to fulfilling rights. If you want to express your love to your mom and dad, love to your children, love to your spouse, do so in moderation — in a sense, do so according to the rules.

The Wisdom of Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi

I always share this story when I'm asked to speak at a walimah or an occasion of that sort — a nikah, etc. A story of Hakimul Ummah, the sage of this Ummah, Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi, rahimahullah. When he was once asked by his wife: "You go out of your way, mashAllah, to fulfill all my rights. I've got no complaints against you about how you treat me. The only complaint I still have is that it seems that you're doing it because you have to do it — رَسْمِي طَرِيقَه — officially. I don't see the love there. It seems you're fulfilling those rights because you have to. Like someone who clocks in and clocks out."

So he answered her and said, "You made a correct observation. And actually, you are lucky that I do that. You should be happy that I fulfill your rights based on principle and not on emotions. Because emotions fluctuate. One day a person feels he's madly in love, and one day he's filled with rage. If I were to fulfill your rights based on the emotion of the day — like the ice cream flavor of the day — then you would be in big trouble. One day I bring a bouquet of flowers, the next day, subhanAllah, I might get abusive. You never know. Because if I am fulfilling your rights based on internal emotions, and as human beings emotions definitely fluctuate big time, you should be thankful to Allah that I am fulfilling your rights based on principle."

What's our principle? The Prophet ﷺ said:

"The best from amongst you is the one who treats his family the best." I have the principle in front of me. At the khutbah an-nikah, three ayat are recited — all of them about God-consciousness, the fear of Allah. Those are the principles that guide me, and guide anyone who wants to fulfill the rights of his or her spouse. It can't be based on emotion.

That is why people say — my ustad, Qarayub Sahib, gave us advice before we graduated. He said, "Young ulema, maulvis — you guys, mashAllah, are going to get married soon. And you, mashAllah, stayed away from sin your whole life — you didn't have girlfriends, etc. So when you get married, many of you will get infatuated with love. This is an amazing partnership because you've never tasted anything like this before — you never had a haram relationship." So he said, "But take it easy. Don't go out the first two weeks spending so much — buying out every single day, eating out every single day, a new bouquet of flowers, a new washing machine, a new dishwasher, left and right, everything. And then two weeks in, you're already in debt. Now how are you going to express this to your wife? You're maxed out on your credit card, your debit card, your cash — everything's run out."

He said: "You built up expectations in the first two or three weeks — or let's say a month of marriage — by overspending beyond your means. And she thought, 'Oh, this is how it is! MashAllah, this maulvi sahib comes with the treasure chest of Qarun behind him.' She didn't know how it was going to be. But now she's expecting every single day a hundred dollars being spent on her. Now you start acting based on your salary amount — 'I can spend X amount per week.' All of a sudden things turn sour. It would never have turned sour before."

If you sit in business class on a flight from destination A to B, and on the return you sit in economy, trust me, that economy class seat will feel like your worst flight — even though for the rest of us, alhamdulillah, 14 hours, 18 hours, we enjoy the flight. But if you sat in business class on one sector and economy on the other, you will not have a very nice time because you'll be comparing the two.

Similarly, a person who overspent in those first two weeks of marriage — after that goes down, whatever you do is not going to make them happy.

How the Hadith Applies to Our Lives

So, coming back to this hadith and how it applies — Rasulullah ﷺ said: أَحْبِبْ حَبِيبَكَ هَوْنًا مَّا — when you're loving someone, do so in moderation. عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ بَغِيضَكَ يَوْمًا مَّا — because one day they will possibly become your enemy. How do they become your enemy? Two things.

One is in this world — let's say a divorce takes place, a partnership breaks, a friendship breaks, etc. — and they will use that ammunition against you. That's one thing. Second, out of blind and unwavering love for them, they ask you to commit a sin. A friend says, "Disobey your parents." Or a spouse says, "Do this against your parents." What happens? Tomorrow on the Day of Judgment, our mom and dad, our spouse, our children will be holding us accountable for that. So that friend whom we obeyed and ended up hurting our family members — or that spouse whom we obeyed and ended up hurting our parents — they will become our enemy and we'll be in trouble for that.

The flip side of this: وَأَبْغِضْ بَغِيضَكَ هَوْنًا مَّا — and if you have someone you don't get along with, take it easy. You've made it clear: "I don't get along with you, things are not nice" — fine. But don't make it your whole purpose and مَقْصُود of life. That at every gathering, every walimah, every aqiqah, every wedding, it's non-stop talking about that sour relationship. Non-stop talking about how that person, that school, that place, that organization did that to you. How does that benefit you?

Because if you speak so evil about them, one day let's say you end up needing that person to sign something for you. If you need that institution to give you a letter, if you need that masjid or that school to help your son or daughter who's in trouble — how are you going to show your face? Because you've created so much bad feeling and rancor. That's why Rasulullah ﷺ said: عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ حَبِيبَكَ يَوْمًا مَّا — one day the person you hate all-out may become your beloved friend. And every time he wants to enjoy this friendship, all of a sudden he remembers that harsh statement you had said. Unnecessarily.

That's why Allah says in the Qur'an regarding divorce as well:

What is the worst thing we can think of? Divorce, right? The most painful thing. And what does Allah say? تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ — part ways with niceness and kindness. It is not fard, 100% obligatory, set in stone that every marriage is going to last. We hope they do last. But we've seen it doesn't always last. But who said you have to make it World War III? You can nicely part ways and say, "It just didn't work out, let's try something else. Allah give you the best, Allah give me the best. We hope and pray Allah does good for both of us." خَلَاص. How many people do you see in the community doing that?

Instead, it becomes a vendetta for life — "Let me ruin the reputation of that family and anyone connected to them." And we get no benefit out of that. It's that نَفْسَانِيَّة — Shaytan is pouring gasoline on that fire of anger within us. And now we are in rage. Don't do that. وَأَبْغِضْ بَغِيضَكَ هَوْنًا مَّا — even someone you're upset with, do it in moderation.

Conclusion: The Best of Affairs is the Middle Path

So what do we learn from this hadith and the beginning of the ayah?

خَيْرُ الْأُمُورِ أَوْسَطُهَا — the best of affairs, the best way to lead your life, is to lead a life of moderation: when it comes to eating, when it comes to drinking, when it comes to sleeping, when it comes to venerating the Prophets, when it comes to venerating and respecting the Mashayikh, scholars, and ulama, when it comes to treating your wife, your husband, your parents, your children — all social dealings. Do it in a manner that is moderate. Stay away from extremism in any way, shape, or form. Do it in a manner that will not harm you in the long run.

And unconditional love is only for who? For Allah and His Prophet ﷺ. Everyone else — conditional, as long as they follow the orders of Allah. If they start harming you — either in this dunya or the akhirah — then you have to protect yourself.

Du'a

I pray to Almighty Allah that He allows all of us to lead a life of moderation. That He fills our hearts with the love of Allah and His Rasul. That He allows us to enjoy beautiful moments with family, with friends, with relatives, and with all others around us. Allow us to enjoy our social relations but at the same time allow us to never keep our guard down. Allow us to be protected — as Rasulullah ﷺ himself made this du'a:

"Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from a conniving friend — خَلِيلٌ مَاكِر — whose eyes look at me and he appears happy: 'MashAllah, very happy you got a new car, very happy you got married, very happy your child is doing well.' But his heart inside is burning with hasad, with jealousy, with malice. إِنْ رَأَى حَسَنَةً دَفَنَهَا — if he sees anything good, he hides it; he will never praise you in your absence. وَإِنْ رَأَى سَيِّئَةً أَذَاعَهَا — and in your absence, any foolish thing you may have done, he will spread it. He will hide your good and he will spread your faults." Rasulullah ﷺ is seeking refuge in Allah from such a friend — most definitely we need to seek refuge as well.

We ask Almighty Allah that He makes us from amongst the friends of Rasulullah ﷺ — the Sahabah, the Siddiqin, the Shuhada — and raise us with them on the Day of Judgment. Ameen. Ya Rabb al-'Alameen.