in proportion to the betrayal: if his treachery was great, the banner will be large, and if it was minor, the banner will be small. It will then be proclaimed, “This is the betrayal of so-and-so, son of so-and-so.” We seek refuge in Allah. This ḥadith is clear proof that betrayal is one of the major sins, for it carries such a grave threat. It also shows that on the Day of Resurrection people will be called by their fathers’ names, not their mothers’. Hence the notion that people will be summoned by their mothers—“O so-and-so, son of such-and-such woman”—is incorrect; rather, a person will be called by his father’s name just as he is in this world.

The last ḥadith further draws attention to a practice common today: people hire laborers and then withhold their wages. Whoever does this—hiring a worker and failing to pay him—will find Allah, exalted is He, his opponent on the Day of Resurrection. In the sacred ḥadith He says: “There are three for whom I shall be an adversary on the Day of Resurrection: a man who, after swearing by Me, proves treacherous”—that is, he makes a covenant invoking Me and then breaks it; “a man who sells a free person and consumes the price,” even if the one sold is his own son or younger brother—if he sells him and pockets the money, Allah will be his adversary; “and a man who hires a laborer, takes full work from him, yet withholds his wage.” This applies to what some people do today with workers they bring from abroad: he hires the man for a set wage—say six hundred riyals a month—then, once the worker arrives, he procrastinates, mistreats him, and withholds his dues. He may even say, “Either stay here for four hundred riyals, or I will send you back.” Such a person—Allah’s refuge is sought—will face Allah as his adversary on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will take from his good deeds and give them to that worker.