HONESTY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS

I read this speech from The Late Grand Marji Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah about being Amin (honest and trustworthy) and it just opened my understanding about the real impact of being honest on all levels. Fadlullah had a pure mind and his simple yet insightful language just explained ideas in a beautiful way. This is one of my favorite speeches.


Taken from Al Qasas
Friday 4th March 2011
Issue 55



Honesty and Trustworthiness are Fundemental Characteristics of the Mulsim Society
by
The Late Grand Marji Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah



In conveying their messages, the Messengers have focused on educating man on the sense of responsibility in his private and public life, and specifically to enjoy two moral virtues: honesty and trustworthiness.

Allah wants man to be truthful in what he says, that is not to alter the truth but to be quite accurate in telling it. In this aspect, we have to adhere to the honesty of intention; not to promise something and intend to do another. Then there is the honesty in your position which is manifested by sticking to what promotes the interests of the people.

The issue of trustworthiness is similar; Allah wants us to be trustworthy in preserving the peoples' blood, property and honor. One should also be trustworthy regarding his responsibilities as well as the duties Allah has commissioned him with, so that he will not betray Allah, his Messengers or his fellow men.

Allah describes the Prophet (p.) as; the one who brings the truth and...accepts it as the truth – He also says: “Oh you who believe! Be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones”

Thus if you want to stand within any leadership you have to make sure it is a truthful one, whether in its platform, position, goals or means.

In talking about trusts, God says “Allah doth command you to render back your Trusts to those whom they are due”

But God did not limit the trust to its traditional meaning. He also gave the responsibility the characteristic of being a trust:“We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it; He was indeed unjust and foolish”

This is a metaphor used to show how big a burden is that the mountains refused to accept it. God also says: “ye that believe! Betray not the trust of Allah and the Messenger, nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you.”


Thus Allah wants the believer to be truthful and honest when he makes a commitment or when he says anything, to the extent that we have a tradition that says: “A liar does not lie while he is a believer” meaning that lying will disassociate the liar from the truth and thus put him outside the sphere of belief. The same thing is true with regards to trust and the undertaking of a responsibility.

If you are a civil servant or an employee in a private institution, you have to be trustworthy in performing your job. You should never betray the trust and take, for example, some of the money that runs in your hands. You should also be faithful towards your family: both the husband and the wife have to be committed to secure the rights of the other spouse, since marriage is Allah's trust that he has commissioned both parties with.

This is what leads to the stability of the society, since, if all of its members are honest, truthful and trustworthy, and each one feels that he can trust the other, then the entire society will be stable.

But if they deal with one another with lying and betrayal they will live in a state of worrying. This is why Islam considered truthfulness in what you say and commit to – as the basis of justice.

In this respect, one of our traditions says: “He who treats people justly, does not lie to them and does not break the promises made to them, is a just person”

You ought to be a role model in your devotedness to worship, your truthfulness, your piety, and your refraining from what Allah has prohibited.

This is what the Messenger (p.) and the imams have told us, and this is the line of the Holy Quran. We have to abide by it to become a truthful, trustworthy and honest society, and end up with the honest believers.
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