1298 – Maʿqil ibn Yasār (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘No servant whom Allah places in charge of a flock dies on the day he dies while deceiving those in his care except that Allah makes Paradise forbidden to him.’” Agreed upon. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth:
– mā: a particle of negation.
– min: an extra preposition used here for emphasis, pronounced with kasrah on the mīm and sukūn on the nūn.
– yastarʿīhi: from raʿā (“to tend livestock”); when applied to people it means “to place someone in authority, to govern.” The active participle is rāʿin (“shepherd”), plural ruʿāt. One says, “The ruler raʿā (tended) his subjects,” meaning he managed their affairs; thus the ruler is the shepherd and the community his flock.
– raʿiyyah: the general populace under a shepherd’s care; plural raʿāyā.
– ghāshsh: from ghashshahu (“to cheat, to withhold sincere counsel”). Ghāshsh is the active participle, plural ghushshāsh.
The phrase “wa-huwa ghāshsh li-raʿiyyatihi” (“while he is deceiving his flock”) is adverbial, indicating his condition.

Points derived from the ḥadīth:
1 – The ḥadīth delivers a stern warning to rulers who neglect the welfare of their subjects and look only to their own private interests, adopting policies that advance their personal agendas even when such policies harm the people in matters of religion or worldly life.