Yet the Messenger—may peace and blessings be upon him—would sometimes speak in a way that suited the moment; thus you may find him saying “seven,” “three,” “four,” and so forth, even though there are other things he does not enumerate. He is the most eloquent of creation and the strongest in clarity of speech, so he addresses every occasion with language that perfectly matches it.

His words, “Seven people Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His shade,” refer to the Day of Resurrection. On that Day there will be no trees, no buildings, no mountains, no clothing—nothing at all. People will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised, and there will be no shade except the shade of Allah: a shade that He creates to shelter those He wishes to honor on that Day. There will be no shade from a structure, nor from a tree, nor from garments, nor from any manufactured thing whatsoever. The only shade will be what Allah the Exalted provides; He, glorious and sublime, will create a shade of His own making—its nature known only to Him—and He will give the servant refuge beneath it.

First: a just ruler. The Prophet began with the just ruler who deals equitably among the people, and the most important facet of a ruler’s justice is that he judges the people according to Allah’s Sharia, for the Sharia of Allah is justice itself. Whoever rules by man-made laws that contradict the Sharia is among the most tyrannical of governors—may Allah protect us—and the farthest of people from Allah’s shade on the Day when there is no shade but His. It is not justice to judge Allah’s servants by any law other than His. Who authorized you to do that? Judge the people by the law of their Lord, Exalted is He. The highest expression of a ruler’s justice is therefore that he governs by the Sharia of Allah.

Part of that justice is that he exacts the right even from himself and from those closest to him, as Allah the Exalted says: “O you who believe, stand firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah” (4:135).