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Honesty in financial dealings
Islam has stressed and asserted the
importance of honesty in monetary dealings and highlighted
its vital role in social stability and peacefulness.
The Holy Qur’an and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) have made it
clear to us that the true Muslim is he who is honest and
upright in his business and monetary dealing with others,
even if they weren’t Muslims. Also the true Muslim
should keep his word and fulfill his promises, shun fraud
and avoid deceit and perfidy, encroach not upon the rights
of others, nor take part in wrongful litigation. Also a
good Muslim does not give false testimony, and abstains
from making unlawful money as from usury and graft.
According to Islam whoever is not free from these vices is
not a true believer but a renegade and a worthless
transgressor.
And the Qur’an is rich with verses that confirms all
this. Allah says in the Qur’an:
"Oh ye who believe! Eat not up each other's
property by unfair and dishonest means." Qur’an
(4:29)
Allah forbids all unclean and corrupt means of making
money, such as, dishonest trading, gambling, and bribery.
And the Holy Qur’an has explained and described such
practices in many of its verses. In this verse, for
instance, Allah warns those traders who cheat in weighing,
he says:
"Woe to those that deal in fraud, - those who,
when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full
measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight
to men, give less than due. Do they not think that they
will be called to account- on a Mighty Day when (all)
mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds." Qur’an
(133: 1-6)
Another example is given in the coming verse, where Allah
urges Muslims to be very particular about their trusts and
about other people's rights.
"Allah does command you to render back your trust,
to those to whom they are due." Qur’an(4:58)
At two places in the Qur’an a chief distinguishing
feature of Muslims is said to be that they are:
"Those who faithfully observe their trusts and
their covenants." Qur’an (24:8)
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has stressed the importance of
honesty in most of his sermons, saying:
"Remember, there is no faith in him who is not
trustworthy; there is no place for him in religion who
cares not for his pledged word or promise."
He (PBUH) also said:
“The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks,
he is false, when he promises, he fails; and when he is
trusted, he plays false."
Condemning those who cheat in business Prophet Mohammad
(PBUH) has said:
"He who cheats is not of us. Deceitfulness and
fraud are things that lead one to Hell."
Once Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) came upon a heap of corn in
the market of Madinah and thrust his hand onto it. His
fingers felt damp. On being asked, the trader replied that
rain had fallen upon it. The Prophet (PBUH) observed,
"Why did you not then keep (the wet portion of) it
above the dry corn, so that men may see it? He who
deceives, is not one of us."
Thus traders who deceive by showing to customers a false
sample or by concealing from them the defects of the
product they’re selling are not true Muslims in the
judgment of Allah Prophet (PBUH) and, they are going to
end up in hell.
Another example: Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said:
"The seller must explain to the buyer the defects,
if any, in the quality of the article offered for sale.
Should this not be done, the seller will permanently be
caught in the Wrath of Allah (according to another
narrator the exact words, ‘he will always be cursed by
the angels')."
In short, all manner of deceit and dishonesty in business
is prohibited in Islam. It has been proclaimed to be an
act worthy of unqualified condemnation. The Holy Prophet
has expressed his strong dislike for those who do so. He
has said he will have nothing to do with them; they do not
belong to him.
Likewise, bribery and usury, although might be practiced
by mutual consent and agreement, are totally prohibited
and forbidden and those who are guilty of them have been
condemned by Allah and His Prophet (PBUH). Prophet
Mohammad (PBUH) said:
"The curse of Allah rests on him who offers loan
on usurious terms, and on him who receives, and on those
who are witnesses to the transaction, and on the writer
who writes the deed thereof."
As for bribery, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) according has
"condemned alike the giver of bribes, and the taker
of bribes in deciding cases."
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said:
"If a person made a recommendation for anyone in a
just manner and gratified party gave him something as a
gift (in return for it) and he accepted it, then he
committed a grave error (meaning that it, too, is a form
of bribery)."
Usurpation of another's property by force or fraud or
dishonest litigation is even worse. Prophet Mohammad
(PBUH) made this clear, as he says:
"Whoever occupies land belonging to another
unjustly will be sunk into the ground along with the plot
of land on the Doomsday till he reaches the lowest layer
of the earth."
"He who acquires the property of a Muslim unjustly
by taking a false oath (before an Officer) is debarred by
Allah from entering Paradise and the Fire of Hell is made
inevitable for him."
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) again, is reported to have warned
a person who was very fond of entering into litigation
with others in these strong words:
”Remember, he who will obtain the property of another
by swearing a false oath will appear as a leper before
Allah (on the Day of Judgement).”
And, again he (PBUH) said:
“Whoever laid a claim on a thing that was not his is
not of us.”
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