Every traitor will have a flag on the Day of Judgement to identify them according to the amount of their treachery; there is no traitor of greater treachery than the leader of the people

Treachery

لِكُلِّ غَادِرٍ لِوَاءٌ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرْفَعُ لَهُ بِقَدْرِ غَدْرِهِ أَلاَ وَلاَ غَادِرَ أَعْظَمُ غَدْرًا مِنْ أَمِيرِ عَامَّةٍ

Every traitor will have a flag on the Day of Judgement to identify them according to the amount of their treachery; there is no traitor of greater treachery than the leader of the people

(Muslim/ Bukhari)

Commentary

a. In the Arabic “لواء” is a large flag which only the head of the army would have, which the army would then follow behind. In other words it is a symbol by which the people will identify clearly. The meaning in this narration then is that every traitor will be publicly known (and humiliated) on the Day of Judgement.

b. The words used in the narration are general so can mean any kind of treachery, whether between individuals to between nations.

c. The greatest treachery is that of the ruler, since he is responsible for managing the affairs of the people justly, so any betrayal is a betrayal of the whole people. The Muslim ruler who is a traitor is not simply a traitor to his people, but also to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His messenger . In fact, he is also a traitor to the non-Muslims since he is responsible for the correct implementation of Islam and to arrange carrying the call of Islam to the rest of the world, so his treachery affects them as well.

d. Qadi Iyyad noted that an interpretation is that the Imam is condemned for treachery in reneging in his contract with his subjects, or with the disbelievers, or with a trust that he has, or in treating his people with gentleness and ease.