Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
Imam Ahmad Rahimahullah,
would say to this man who instigated his torture
whose name was also Ahmad, but ibn Abi Du'ad.
He would say,
"baynama wa baynakum al jana-iz"
"You know,
the difference between us is going to show in our funerals".
When Imam Ahmad Rahimahullah said that,
he was in prison and ibn Abi Du'ad was in the palaces.
The rest of it is history.
Imam Ahmad Rahimahullah was honored by Allah
with the biggest Janazah ever known to the Arabs.
You had millions of people pouring in
from all over and ibn Abi Du'ad was a rotten corpse
with no one to even pray Janazah on him
because they hated him for the harm that he had caused.
We all know the story of the two Janazahs that passed
by The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
and his companions.
When the companions mention good things about one of them
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"Wajabat. Wajabat. Wajabat".
It has become mandatory.
And then when the companions mention the harm
of the other one
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
said the exact same thing
and the companions asked what was that?
And he said, as for the one who had your good testimony
"wajabat lahul jannah"
Paradise has become mandatory for that person.
And as for the one who had your bad testimony,
Hellfire has become mandatory for that person.
And then he said,
"Almala-ikatu shuhada allahu fil sama'
wa antum shuhadallahi fil ard"
"The angels are Allah's witnesses in the heavens.
You on the other hand,
are Allah's witnesses on this earth".
( Calming music)
(Calming music)
The only people we can say for sure, are
in paradise or hellfire are those that have been specified
by Allah and The Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
So we know Abu Lahab is in the fire.
We know Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali,
May Allah be pleased with them
are in paradise and the list goes on.
But with everyone else, the weight
of the testimony is still significant for good or for bad.
Now, the narrations of the character witnesses
on the Day of Judgment are plenty.
Let's first establish
that those who encountered you the most,
being your closest family and friends are probably
going to have the most to say about you.
And just as Allah causes the limbs
to speak truthfully,
everyone will only speak truthfully on that day.
Now for a person who lived a good life
and was good to the people around them.
Hal jazao al-ihsani illaal-ihsan
"Is there any reward for excellence, except for excellence"?
Allah is not going to let you outdo him in good
not even with your kindness to an animal.
Remember the story of that sinner who gave water
to a thirsty dog out of gratitude
to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
Think about the sequence of events.
A lifelong sinner was thirsty.
So Allah gave them water in this dunya.
Then out of gratitude to Allah
the sinner gives water to a thirsty dog from her shoe.
Now, Allah already gave that sinner water despite her sins
in this dunya, but how does Allah compensate the water
in her shoe for a dog?
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gives her the rivers of paradise
in the hereafter. Because whatever your shukr
level is to Allah your gratitude level is to Allah.
Allah is As-Shakur, the most grateful
and he's always going to exceed yours.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
gives us multiple narrations.
He said a man from the nations
before you was called to account in the hereafter.
And as he's standing before Allah
nothing good was found with him except
that he was lenient in his business with people.
And he used to relieve the debts
of those who were in hardship.
That's the only thing he has to show
for himself when he's standing in front of Allah.
So Allah says,
"nahnu ahaqu bithalika minhu, tajawazu aa'nhu"
"You know we are more worthy of grace
than him, overlook his sins."
And another Hadith,
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"Whoever fulfills the needs
of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs".
Whoever relieves a Muslim from distress,
"farjallahu anhu biha qurbatan min qura bi yawm al qiyama"
Allah will relieve from him distress
on The Day of Resurrection.
And whoever covers the faults of his brother,
"satarahu allahu yawm al qiyama"
Allah will cover his faults on the Day of Judgment.
In another narration,
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"la yastaru aa'bdun aa'bdin fil dunya
ila satarahu allahu yawm al qiyama"
"No servant conceals the faults of another servant
in this dunya,
except that Allah will conceal his faults
on the Day of Judgment".
And you know, that's special because
being humiliated is worse than being hit physically.
And when you save someone from that
you save yourself from humiliation on The Day
of Judgment.
And then you have all these ahadith about helping others
and their witness on the Day of Judgment
following the exact same trend, for
both the small things and the big things.
For something so small,
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"man aqala musliman"
"Whoever cancels a transaction
with his brother or sister, because they regretted it...
So, someone agrees to purchase something from you
but they quickly regret it.
Now you're not bound to release them from the transaction
but you say, you know what, don't worry about it.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, said,
"aqalahu allahu aa'thratahu yawm al qiyama"
"Allah will cancel his mistakes on The Day of Judgment
just as he canceled that transaction".
So, something so small, look how great the reward could be.
Now something far bigger
than that would be freeing someone from captivity.
And while Chattel slavery doesn't exist today,
there are other people that remain
in bondage in different ways.
And The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"man aa'taqa raqbata mumina"
"Whoever frees a believing slave, Allah will free him
on the fire limb by limb, including the concealed parts".
Meaning every part of your body
is going to be freed from punishment.
Just like you freed every part of that person's body
from captivity.
So Allah is precise and merciful.
And Subhan Allah, you don't know the ways that you
help people when you do physically
that also have an emotional or mental component.
And all of that is taken
into consideration by Allah and your emotional
and your mental well-being on the Day of Judgment.
Then it's all the people you benefited after.
That's either through deeds that you've done
that continue to benefit,
or people doing deeds on your behalf for your benefit.
And why would people want to do ihsan
in your name unless you showed ihsan to them?
Unless you showed excellence to them.
So the famous Hadith
When a person dies their good deeds come to an end
except for three,
the Sadaqah Jariyah the continuous charity,
beneficial knowledge, or righteous offspring that pray
for them after their death.
You would've had to inspire someone
or teach someone that they'd want to
and be able to make du'a for you or to give charity
on your behalf or to spread knowledge on your behalf.
Now imagine how amazing it is when you have
these people that come forward on the Day of Judgment,
when you're standing before Allah
and you don't even know who they are.
They didn't even live in your generation,
and they're testifying on your behalf
because your goodness, or your Sadaqah reached them
or built an institution that benefited them.
So you're seeing these future beings and they're coming
and standing next to you as you're in front
of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
and they lived a hundred years after you.
And they're saying, Ya Allah.
I found water because of this person.
I found guidance because of this person.
I found compassion because of this person.
And just like, there is no sweetness
like finding a good deed
in your book that you didn't know existed
because someone back bited you or gossiped about you
and you weren't aware.
There's no sweetness like the fruit
of a good deed that you did that you weren't aware of.
And there it is, beautifying your record
and testifying on your behalf on the Day of Judgment.
Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)