ONE HADITH A DAY

Allah Almighty said: There are three I will be hostile to them on the Day of Judgment

Narrated by Al-Bukhāri · Authentic

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ثَلاَثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يُعْطِهِ أَجْرَهُ».

“Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Allah Almighty said: There are three I will be hostile to them on the Day of Judgment: a man who gave a promise in My Name and then broke it; a man who sold a free person as a slave and devoured his price; and a man who hired a worker and took the full work from him, but did not pay him his wages."”

Explanation

The Prophet (ﷺ) informed that Allah Almighty said: There are three types of people I will be hostile to them on the Day of Judgment—and whomever I was hostile to, I will overpower and defeat him: First: one who gives his oath, swears by Allah, and makes a covenant, then breaks it and betrays. Second: one who sells a free man as if he were a slave, consumes his price, and disposes of his value. Third: one who hires a worker for a task, takes full work from him, but does not pay him his due wages.

Benefits

• This Hadīth is part of what the Prophet (ﷺ) narrated from his Lord, and it is called a Qudsi or divine Hadīth. Its wording and meaning are from Allah; however, it does not possess the unique characteristics of the Qur'an, which include reciting it as a form of worship, requiring ritual purity, presenting it as a challenge, its miraculousness, and others.
• As-Sindi said: It has been said that mentioning these three is not for restriction, for Allah Almighty is the opponent of all wrongdoers—rather, it is to emphasize the severity of these three cases.
• Ibn al-Jawzi said: The free man is a servant of Allah; so whoever wrongs him, his adversary is his Master—Allah Himself.
• Al-Khattābi said: The enslavement of a free man occurs in two ways—first, that one frees him and then conceals or denies it; and second, that one forces him to serve after being freed. The first is more severe. I said: The Hadīth in question is even more severe, for it involves not only concealing or denying the man's freedom, but also acting upon that denial by selling him and consuming the price—hence the punishment is greater.

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