IS HONESTY LOST?
ASSEMBLED BY MALLAM ABBA ABANA, KUBWA, ABUJA, NIGERIA
http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com
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emails:gonidamgamiri@yahoo.com; abba.abana@gmail.com
1st August 2021 CE AND 21st Dhul Hijjah 1442 AH
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu. Amma Ba’d.
Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His slave and Messenger.
Preamble
Islam commands the Muslims to be honest to himself and to others. ... Islam orders him not to cheat or betray other people. A Muslim is ordered by Allah to be truthful in his words and deeds, privately and publicly alike. Honesty in words implies telling the truth in all situations and under all circumstances.
Honesty is a key to spiritual success. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) stated: "Adhere to truthfulness for truthfulness guides to Paradise. Surely a man continues to tell the truth and searches for it until he is written as truthful near God. And avoid falsehood; for it leads to condemnation.
Who Created Us And What Is Our Purpose Of Creation?
The answer is: ALLAH THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS!
ذَٲلِڪُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمۡۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَۖ خَـٰلِقُ ڪُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ فَٱعۡبُدُوهُۚ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ وَڪِيلٌ۬ (١٠٢)
[That is Allah, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is Disposer of all things] [The Holy Quran Chapter 6:102]
وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ (٥٦)
God defined the purpose of mankind’s creation in Quran: “I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship.”(The Holy Quran Chapter 51:56)
Thus, the essential purpose for which humankind was created is the worship of God. However, the Almighty is not in need of human worship. He did not create human beings out of a need on His part. If not a single human worshipped God, it would not diminish His glory in any way, and if all of humankind worshipped Him, it would not increase His glory in any way. God is perfect. He alone exists without any needs. All created beings have needs. Consequently, it is humankind that needs to worship God.
TRUST AND HONESTY IN ISLAM
Islam expects of its followers truth and honesty in all matters of life- heart and wakeful conscience- which would ensure the protection of the rights of Allah and Humanity and which would also protect their actions from the commitment of excesses. Therefore it is necessary that every Muslim should be trustworthy. In the eyes of Shari’ah, Trust/ honesty has a very broad sense. This words contains an oceans of meanings, but underneath it all is the sense of responsibility, the sense of having to appear before Allah and to account for one’s actions, the details of which are given in the Hadith:
“Every one of us is a guardian and every one will be asked about his/her subjects. Imam is a guardian. He will be asked about his subjects. A man is a guardian of the people in his household. He will is answerable about them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s house. She will be asked about her responsibility. The servant is the guardian of the articles of his master. He is answerable about this responsibility of his”.
The self which continues to be attached to the high morals character even after undergoing the extremes of the hardship of poverty and helplessness must be belonging to a very Powerful and Trustworthy man; and the protection of the rights of Allah and His slaves demands such character only as does not change in good or and bad conditions, and this is the spirit of Trustworthiness.
Appointment to High Offices and Posts is a Trust in Islam
There is also another sense of trust, and that is: everything should be placed at its proper and deserving place. An officer or a post should be offered only to the deserving person; and responsibility should be given only to that person who is able to shoulder it and who has the capability to do justice to the trust placed in him. Hazrat Abu Zar reported that he asked the prophet whether he would not make him a Governor somewhere. Hearing this the Prophet tapped his should and said:
“Oh Abu Zar, you are weak, and this responsibility is a trust. On the Day of Resurrection it will be a cause of loss of honour and ignominy. However, those people will be spared who will have accepted it with all its responsibilities and would have fulfilled whatever responsibilities they had in this connection.” Performing of Duty is also a Trust, This sense is also included in the meaning of trust that the man to whom the responsibility has been entrusted should have the sincere inclination of satisfactorily fulfilling those responsibilities and that he should devote all his energies for doing justice to fulfill it. Undoubtedly it is a trust.
Islam considers it worthy of honour that a man should be truthful and honest in his life. Dishonesty in performing duties causes various moral disease in the society. It causes great harm to the religion, to the Muslim public and to the country. A Muslim have to know that keeping Trust protects the rights of Allah and those of His slaves. And remember dishonesty is the worst friend of a man.
HONESTY THE CHARACTERISTIC OF A MUSLIM
When honesty is lost, then wait for the Hour (the Day of Judgment). These are the words of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). They paint a picture of the time leading up to the Day of Judgement, when righteous people will be sorrowful due to the lack of honesty around them.
In the 21 century, we live in a world where honesty is valued and yet shunned at the same time. We expect people to be honest in their dealings with us yet we watch and applaud television shows and movies that promote and encourage lying and deceitfulness.
Without thinking, we teach our children that dishonesty is acceptable. When we expect our children to tell the caller on the telephone we are not home, this is a lesson in deceit.
When we refuse invitations and pretend we are busy, this is lying.
We admonish our children for lying, yet the reality is we have been their teachers.
Whether we tell lies, or whether we allow our children to live in a world surrounded by deceit, the lesson is learned and the honesty begins to disappear from the hearts of the next generation.
Honesty incorporates the concepts of truthfulness and reliability and it resides in all human thought, words, actions and relationships.
It is more than just accuracy; it is more than just truthfulness, it denotes integrity or moral soundness. Islam commands truthfulness and forbids lying. God commands that a Muslim be honest.
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ (١١٩)
“O you who believe! Fear God, and be with those who are true (in word and deeds).” (Holy Quran 9:119)
Ibn Katheer, the renowned Quran
scholar, explained the meaning of this verse. He said, “Being truthful and
adhering to truthfulness, means you will be among the people of the truth and
be saved from calamity and that it will make a way out for you from your
problems”.
A true believer, one who is truly submitted to God, has many characteristics by
which he can be identified. The most obvious of these noble characteristics are
honesty of character and truthfulness of speech.
Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) was a perfect example of honesty. Even before his Prophethood, he had earned the titles of Al Amin (the trustworthy one) and As Sadiq (the truthful).
In the books of biography of the Prophet (ﷺ), it is mentioned that he gathered all the people of Mecca and asked them “O people of Mecca! If I say that an army is advancing on you from behind the mountains, will you believe me?” All said in one voice,
“Yes, because we have never heard you telling a lie.” All the people, without exception, swore to his truthfulness and honesty because he had lived an unblemished and extremely pious life among them for forty years.
Abu Sufyan described his honesty.
When Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
sent a letter to the Emperor of Byzantium inviting him to Islam, the Emperor,
Heraclius sent for the Meccan trader, Abu Sufyan.
Even though he was, at that time, a dire enemy of Islam, he spoke the truth
about Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ)
when he said, “He neither tells lies nor betrays others, he bids people to
worship God Alone and orders us to observe prayer, honesty and abstinence”
This honesty, an essential ingredient of the Muslim character, includes being truthful towards God by worshipping Him sincerely; being truthful to oneself, by adhering to God’s laws; and being truthful with others by speaking the truth and being honest in all dealings, such as buying, selling and marriage..
There should be no deceiving, cheating, falsifying or withholding of information, thus a person should be the same on the inside as he is on the outside.
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) warned us of the dangers inherent in dishonesty, and the benefits of living in an honest way. He said:
“Truthfulness leads to
righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. In addition, a man keeps on
telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person.
Falsehood leads to wickedness and evil-doing, and wickedness leads to the
(Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before God,
as a liar” . (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
A true Islamic society is based upon honesty and justice, and is intolerant of dishonesty in all its various forms.
Honesty in all business transactions is emphasised and the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) exhorts Muslims to be scrupulously honest in all their dealings.
Abdullah ibn Omar was once described as the “brother of the night.” He would stand at night performing prayer, weeping, seeking God’s forgiveness and reading Quran. One day, he was sitting among some close friends and he read the following verses:
وَيۡلٌ۬ لِّلۡمُطَفِّفِينَ (١) ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ٱكۡتَالُواْ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ يَسۡتَوۡفُونَ (٢) وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمۡ أَو وَّزَنُوهُمۡ يُخۡسِرُونَ (٣) أَلَا يَظُنُّ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ أَنَّہُم مَّبۡعُوثُونَ (٤) لِيَوۡمٍ عَظِيمٍ۬ (٥) يَوۡمَ يَقُومُ ٱلنَّاسُ لِرَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٦)
“Woe unto those who give short measure, those who, when they are to receive their due from people, demand that it be given in full but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due. Do they not know that they are bound to be raised from the dead (and called to account) on an awesome Day, the Day when all men shall stand before the Sustainer of all the worlds?” (Holy Quran 83:1-6).
“Honesty descended from the Heavens and settled in the roots of the hearts of men (faithful believers), and then the Quran was revealed and the people read the Quran, (and learnt it from it) and also learnt from the sayings and traditions.
Both the Quran and the traditions strengthened their honesty. (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
This is from among the many sayings of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), many of which forbade deceit and enjoined honesty. For those who wish to be among the truthful, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) has left us with these words of guidance, “Let he who believes in God and the Last Day either speak good or keep silent”. (Saheeh Muslim)
وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمۡشُونَ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ هَوۡنً۬ا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلۡجَـٰهِلُونَ قَالُواْ سَلَـٰمً۬ا (٦٣)
And the servants of (Allah) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, "Peace!” Holy Quran Chapter 25:63
How should we understand honesty?
Honesty means choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way. Be honest with yourself, others, and God at all times.
With honesty we can build strength of character that will allow us to be of service to God and all of humanity.
Here are some reminders to help us realize honesty:
i. If you are in school do not cheat in any way. Cheating does not lead to success.
ii. If you are working be honest in your job, giving a full amount of work for your pay.
iii. Do not rationalize dishonest behavior.
iv. Do not make commitments that you are not sure about but if you make a commitment make sure you carry it out.
v. Do not make up stories to make yourself look better.
vi. Accept mistakes and decide to face the consequences. In the long run you will reap the reward of honesty.
vii. People who feel good about themselves are less likely to lie.
viii. Avoid situations in which others may ask you to lie for them.
We may have a tendency to mislead but we expect others to be honest. We need to live our lives so that our thoughts and behavior are always in harmony with ourselves and others around us.
In our connected world we know that it is now more difficult to hide certain things. People avoid misrepresentation because eventually others can find out the truth on social media but before we fear being exposed on social media we need to remind ourselves that we have been created by God who is the ALL KNOWING.
In summary
Honesty is the greatest moral
virtue. From honesty springs forth many of the most noble of human qualities
and characteristics.
Truthfulness and honesty are two characteristics without which a man cannot
claim himself to be a true Muslim.
Honesty is an extensive term that covers a wide range of meanings. It
covers telling the truth, sincerity in work, carrying out duties, fulfilling
one’s word, and making fair and objective judgments and decisions. Honesty also
means doing the right thing in the right way at the right time.
Honesty means saying and acting truthfully in all times, matters, and
conditions. Honesty means giving the right guidance to the person who needs it.
Islam orders us as Muslims to be honest to others and ourselves. A Muslim
is ordered by Allah to be honest in his words and deeds, in private and public.
Being honest and truthful to oneself is implied by obeying Allah’s law.
Being truthful with others means saying the truth and being honest in all
dealings including the realm of trade and business, purchasing, education,
learning, communication, and marriage.
A true Muslim is the one who could be distinguished by his essential
characteristics of honesty and truthfulness.
Honesty in Islam consolidates the notions of truthfulness and dependability,
and it lives in all human words, thoughts, relations, and actions.
End of education
May Allah grant us the ability to shun falsehood and always be truthful in all our dealings?
Keeping trust has been naturally ingrained in the depths of Men’s Hearts. So keeping Trust and Honesty in the self is part of Faith. May Allah Grant US Understanding? Ameen.
