SAFEGUARDING THE TRUST
All praise is for Alláh(swt) who put the Trust in the hearts of men after the heavens, earth and mountains had declined to bear it. He put the trust in the hearts of the children of Adam, males and females because he had created within them intellects and reasoning, with which they understood, and hearts and souls, with which they were guided. For this they endured the trust with all the risks it entailed. They did so to attain the level of the righteous believers as they safeguard and convey this trust. Yet, if they waste it and neglect it, they shall fall to the lowest of the low.
I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, having no partners. He is the God of the first of the people and the last of the people. He created and perfected His creation. Verily, He is the Judge and the All- Wise. I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger who conveyed the message, fulfilled his trust in the most perfect manner, and worshipped his Lord until the time of his death. May the peace and blessings of Alláh(swt) be upon him, his family, his Companions and every one who follows in their footsteps until the Day of Recompense.
O servants of Alláh! Fear Alláh, the Most High, and fulfill the trust you were entrusted with. Alláh(swt) had offered the Amanah (the trust) to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it. Yet, man agreed to bear it; he was indeed unjust and ignorant.
O servants of Alláh! Fulfill the trust that you agreed to bear by doing what Alláh(swt) ordered you to do. Worship Him and fulfill His rights over you. Do not betray Alláh(swt) and His Messenger, nor betray knowingly the trusts that were entrusted to you. Exceeding the proper bounds of this trust, as well as neglecting it, lead to betraying it. Betrayal of trust is a defect in the faith and a cause for loss and deprivation. The Prophet(pbuh) said:
“He has no faith who cannot keep a trust.”
He also said:
The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he reneges; and when he is entrusted (with something), he betrays (it). Even if he prays, fasts, and claims to be a Muslim (he still is a hypocrite).”
The Prophet(pbuh) also said:
“When Alláh gathers the first of the people and the last of the people on the Day of Resurrection, he will raise a flag for every betrayer; then it will be said: this is the betrayal of such and such a person.”
To his regret and disgrace, this flag will be raised for the betrayer to expose him in front of all the people.
O Muslims, trust is in worship, transactions and behavior. Keeping the trust in worship is by obeying Alláh(swt) with pure intention, following His Messenger(pbuh), abiding by His orders, avoiding His prohibitions, and fearing Him openly and secretly. You should fear Alláh(swt) regardless of whether people can see you or noto So do not be one of those who fear Him in the open, but when you are alone you disobey Him. That is indeed Ar-Riyaa’ (being dishonest in your intention by showing off). Do you not know that Alláh(swt) knows the fraud of the eyes and all that the breasts conceal? Do you not know that Alláh(swt) disapproved of those who behave that way? He(swt) says:
“Or do they think that We hear not their secrets and their private counsel? Yes, and Our messengers are by them, to record.” (43:80)
“Know they (Jews) not that Alláh knows what they conceal and what they reveal?” (2:77)
“They may hide (their crimes) from men, but they cannot hide (them) from Alláh; for He is with them (by His Knowledge), when they plot by night in words that He does not approve. And Alláh ever encompasses what they do.” (4:108)
In behavior, to keep the trust is to treat people the way you like them to treat you, being sincere to you, as you would do. It is also to safeguard their rights, whether related to money or other things, which you are being entrusted with. Between a husband and a wife, keeping the trust is that each one of them should safeguard the other’ s property and secrets. Every husband and every wife must keep what occurs between them in terms of the intimate relations secret. No one else should know about it. In an authentic Hadith, the Prophet(pbuh) was reported saying:
“One of the worst people on the Day of Judgement is the man who would have intimate relations with his wife and she would have the same with him, then both of them or one of them would disclose the secrets of his partner. (Meaning: what had occurred between them).”
“If a man tells another something and turns his (face) around, then (this thing) is a trust.”
As he would not turn his face around if this talk was not a secret that he wanted no one to hear.
Trust is also involved in transactions and commercial exchange, which include buying, selling and renting. The seller should not betray the buyer in terms of increasing the price, covering the defects of the commodity, cheating on describing the commodity or reducing the weight or measure. On the other hand the buyer must not betray the seller by taking sorne of the price off, defaulting on the debt, or procrastinating in paying his dues while he is able to pay. The renter must not betray the renter by taking away some of the utilities or facilities that were agreed on to be provided in the rent contract.
Likewise, the tenant should not cheat the renter by reducing the rent amount, declining to pay it or destroying something in the rented item whether a house, a shop, a machine, or a vehicle.
In proxies, the trustee must keep the trust by taking on all the responsibilities involved in this proxy. He should do everything that benefits his client. For instance, a trustee should not sell the commodity (the object of the proxy) for a lower price than its real value for the purpose of pleasing the buyer. If the proxy involves buying something, the trustee must not buy it for a price that is higher than its real value just to please the seller. Every person in charge of any department or holding any responsibility is a trustee. He, therefore, must safeguard this trust. A judge is a trustee, a governor is a trustee, the directors and managers of any departments are also trustees. They all must take on the responsibilities that are involved in these trusts and manage them in a manner that will benefit and safeguard these trusts all according to their utmost abilities, The guardians of orphans, the trustees of Waqf(administrators of Islamic endowments), and the legal guardians that implement the wills are all trustees who must attend to the responsibilities of their trusts to the best of their abilities.
Trust is also involved in the education process at schools. Those who are in charge, whether they are directors, supervisors, or principals, should keep in mind the issue of fulfilling their trusts and duties. This may be done by selecting useful textbooks and hiring the pious and righteous teachers who care about teaching the students every useful material, be it religious studies, science, and other subjects and looking after them in terms of behavior, discipline, conduct and Islamic duties. Another trust should also be kept in this regard; that is how to protect the school exams from being tampered with and to ensure the fair preparation of these exams. For example, the level of understanding and learning of the students must be taken into consideration by those who prepare the exams, so that the exams will suit the students’ intellectual and learning abilities. Two kinds of exams might harm and cause more detriment than good. First, the exam that is beyond the students’ level of learning and understanding and second is the exam, which is less than their level. The first may make many students fail and thus waste a whole year and the second may hurt the general level of education for the whole country. During the exam, the supervisors must be alert regarding any attempt at cheating among the students. Keeping the trust in education also means that no student shall receive preferential treatment for any reason, because if this happens, the student himself will be the one getting hurt. All of the students in the exam hall are the responsibility and the trust of the supervisor. According to him, all the students are equal. No special attention should be given to any of them on the expense of the other students.
In the process of correcting these exams, the correctors must be accurate and the correcting process must be done according to the standards of the system, so that no one will be oppressed or mistreated at the expense of others. By this each student will get the result he earned.
If we keep this trust at all three of its levels, this will benefit the whole nation. This will also benefit every person involved in the process: the supervisors in charge as they fulfill their duties and the students who will thereby reach the high level of education and knowledge and not just receive a certificate or a title. Keeping the trust in the end will benefit the knowledge itself in that it will be strengthened and increased.
The number of students who pass the exams shall not be that important because the main concern should be quality not quantity. If there are fewer students that pass this year, next year there will be more, because the students will take the matter more seriously.
May Alláh(swt) guide us to fulfill the trust and successfully bear the responsibility we have upon us. May He prevent us from falling into betraying the trust or neglecting it. With this, I conclude and ask Alláh(swt) to forgive our sins. Seek his forgiveness, for He is the All Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
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John Doe
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John Doe
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