Trust and betrayal and their types

Trust and betrayal

Trustworthiness is part of faith. A person who believes in Allah and the Hereafter cannot betray anyone’s trust. He realizes that if I withhold someone’s right or fail to pay it, my Lord is watching me, He will surely take account of it, and on the Day when everyone will be in need of a single good deed, my good deeds will be distributed to others in return for the loss of a right, and then who will have mercy on my poverty? Such thoughts make the hearts of believers tremble and then they refrain from betraying or losing a right; but a person who has no faith in his heart or whose environment and circumstances have taken away the light of faith, such a person does not hesitate to betray; that is why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) declared trustworthiness as a sign and recognition of faith and said:

”لَا اِیمانَ لِمَنْ لا أ مانةَ لَہ، وَلَا دِینَ لِمَنْ لَا عَھْدَ لَہ“(سنن بیھقی

Translation: “He who is not trustworthy has no faith, and he who does not keep his promises has no religion.”

Allah Almighty has also emphasized trustworthiness in several places in the Holy Quran, as stated:

فَلْیُؤَدِّ الَّذِیْ اؤْتُمِنَ أَمَانَتَہُ وَلْیَتَّقِ اللہَ رَبَّہ (بقرة:

Translation: “So whoever is entrusted with something, let him fulfill his trust and fear Allah, his Lord.”

Allah Almighty has linked trustworthiness with piety in this verse, meaning that whoever believes in the afterlife, the Book of Account, and divine justice, and whose heart is filled with the fear of Allah and the realization of His hold, should not betray the trust and pay what is due to him in full; because the one who betrays in this world cannot live in peace and tranquility on the Day of Judgment, where each person will have to pay his due and will face great difficulties; but whoever does not believe in the Hereafter, whatever he does, after a few days of life in this world, he will regret what he has done and will be in great loss.

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  The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has predicted that as the Hour approaches, the strength of faith will decrease, and as a result, trustworthiness will also decrease. The situation will be that there will be a large population of Muslims, but trustworthiness will be found with great difficulty in half of the entire population, and even that one will not be truly trustworthy. For example, people will say that there is a trustworthy person in such and such a nation, and the man will be praised for how wise, cheerful and brave he is; although there will not be even a grain of mustard seed of honesty in his heart. (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-Fitn).

Weight in today’s society

Despite the importance of trustworthiness, it is not given any weight in today’s society. Even good people who are considered religious in nature do not respect trust and the payment of their rights. They do not realize that protecting trust and paying it off in full is a religious and legal duty. Some people have a sense of trustworthiness, but it is limited to the extent of money. If someone keeps someone else’s money with them, they pay it back. Generally, people’s minds go towards this financial trust. However, there are other types of trust, which in some cases are even more important than financial trust.

Their protection is as important for a Muslim as financial trust.  That is why, on the occasion of the conquest of Mecca, when the key of the Kaaba was given to Uthman bin Talha bin Abdul Dar Shaybi and his trust was returned to him, the word trust was used in the plural form, as stated: “Indeed, Allah commands you to return the trusts to those to whom they are due” (An-Nisa’, verse 58). It is worth noting that the key is not an important asset; rather, it is a sign of service to the Kaaba, which is not related to wealth but to a promise. Yet, it was interpreted as a trust and then the plural form was used to indicate that there can be different forms of trust, which are obligatory on all Muslims. Below are some forms of trust that people generally do not think about; therefore, they commit betrayal in these trusts and do not even think of committing any sin; although in the eyes of Sharia, betrayal in these things is also an abominable and sinful act, which every Muslim must avoid, for example:

Assigning positions and offices to the incompetent

It is the responsibility of the government to assign the position to the person who is qualified for the position or office; for this, it should first consider who is among its subordinates who has the full conditions of the job or office in question. If such a person is found, he is the most deserving of it. Therefore, without any hesitation, that position and office should be assigned to him. If no person with the required capacity is available, then the most qualified and competent person among the existing people should be selected.

 In other words, all the positions and offices under the government are trusts and the government officials are its trustees. If the government has authorized a person under it, then he is also a trustee. All of them should distribute positions and offices with complete honesty. Capacity and conditions should be made the criteria for this, not kinship and relationship.

 If a person is entrusted with a position or office based on personal relationship or recommendation, or by taking bribes, then this is betrayal and all those responsible will be guilty of this betrayal. On one occasion, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever is entrusted with a responsibility for the common Muslims and then gives a position to someone just out of friendship and relationship, Allah will curse him, neither his obligatory nor voluntary service will be accepted, until he enters Hell.” (Jam al-Fawaid: p. 335)

Giving positions to incompetent people is not only a sin, but it also disrupts the system in a worldly sense. Instead of deserving and competent people, incompetent and incompetent people are appointed to positions. They do not have the capacity to work. Therefore, the entire sector deteriorates and then it becomes a source of suffering for the people. If we examine the current situation in the country, it will be seen that positions and jobs are being distributed in all sectors from the bottom to the top, somewhere on the basis of bribery and recommendations, and somewhere on the basis of relationship and kinship. Even in modern educational institutions, bribery has become common in the appointment of teachers. As a result, these educational institutions are deprived of talented people. This is the case in almost all sectors. Therefore, the government system has become corrupt and today everyone seems restless and anxious in their place.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has described it in these words: “When you see that the responsibility of affairs has been entrusted to people who are not qualified and capable of them, then await the Hour.” (Sahih Bukhari: 59) That is, when any responsibility or position is entrusted to unqualified people, corruption is certain and now no one can save the worldly system from corruption; therefore, now await the Hour, and this includes even the lowest job, from the caliphate.

 This betrayal is not only related to government and official positions;  Rather, it is also the case with private companies, associations and public institutions that want to make these institutions and companies useful and beneficial. They should keep those who are qualified and competent for the work they do. If, for any reason, priority is given to people with less ability, the institution can never progress. This principle should also be kept in mind in the distribution of lessons and other matters in religious schools, otherwise the education system will be affected and those responsible will be guilty of treason.

Stealing the work of workers and employees

A person who is a worker or employee of someone should work with complete honesty, whether the owner and the person in charge are present or not, and should neither reduce time nor be lazy in work nor avoid using his ability. If any of these three is found, it will be considered betrayal; because the salary is determined keeping in mind the ability of an employee.

 If he does not use his full ability in working and does the work just for the sake of appearance without being interested for any reason, then the work will not have the meaning that the person in charge wanted; therefore, that salary will also become suspicious and it will also be a sin of betrayal. Similarly, if a worker or employee is assigned a time to work for five or six hours and then the worker steals during the time, comes after the time or leaves before the specified time, this is also betrayal.

 A Muslim employee who considers the Lord of the universe to be all-hearing and all-seeing and has full faith in him should realize that even though my virtual master and responsible person is not seeing me; but the Lord is seeing me, the one who escapes from his grasp is the one who will be successful and prosperous; similarly, laziness and procrastination in work is also betrayal. Completing a job that could have been done in five hours in ten hours; so that more money can be received and the problem of his livelihood is solved, this is a bad thought and an undesirable act. Trustworthiness requires that the work be done with full diligence, that full time and full strength should be spent on it, otherwise he will be guilty of betraying the master and will also have to give an account for this on the Day of Judgment.

When Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) filled the water for the goats of two girls during his journey to Midian, they both returned and praised him to their elderly father, saying, “He is very trustworthy and powerful. Keep him in your house.” The Quran describes this in these words.

 O my father, hire him, indeed he is better than you, the strong and trustworthy (Qasas-26)

“O my father! Hire him as a worker. The best worker is the one who is strong and trustworthy.”

While this verse provides guidance on the characteristics of an employee and a worker, it also indicates that a worker is trustworthy. He should give full proof of his trustworthiness while working. This will make his life pleasant and will provide him with better sustenance from the unseen.

Publicizing the talk of private gatherings

If a few people sit in a place and talk and then separate, then all the talks of that gathering are confidential for everyone. It is not permissible for anyone to narrate these talks to others without permission and consent and try to spread them. This is because many secret talks are held in gatherings. The speaker often wants others to not know about his plans and ideas except those present.

 He wants to keep them secret. It is possible that if his talks are spread, he may suffer personal harm or face blame and shame. Sharia has also taken this into account and has instructed Muslims to keep any secret and not try to spread it. Yes, however, if a secret is known that is related to sedition and corruption that can harm others, then it should be told. Then it is not permissible to keep the talks of such gatherings private.  Rather, it is obligatory and necessary that other participants make it public.

Thus, Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah narrated this saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Meetings are a trust except in three cases: when there is a conspiracy to kill someone unjustly, to humiliate someone, or to take someone’s property unjustly, the relevant people should be informed of it.” This hadith shows that as long as the matter of conversation does not involve harming someone, violating their rights, or causing harm, it is obligatory on the participants of the gathering to protect it.

 They should consider it a trust and bury it in their hearts, especially those matters about which it is felt that the speaker wants to keep it limited to the gathering. However, if the matters discussed in the gathering are not related to secrets; rather, they are general matters such as religious and legal issues, discussions of the Quran and Hadith, discussions of history and hadith, etc., then it is recommended to make these matters public and to inform people.  Because no one wants to hide these things, nor does making them public hurt anyone.

Giving Wrong Advice

When advice is sought from someone, he is a trustee for them. He should give only that advice which, according to his knowledge, is for the good and welfare of the person seeking advice. He should say what comes to his heart without any mental reservation. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said when a companion sought advice: Al-Masthari Mutaman (Tirmidhi, 2823) “The one from whom advice is sought is a trustee.”

The person seeking advice seeks advice from someone considering him as his well-wisher. Now, if he gives advice that is harmful to him based on personal jealousy and resentment, it is as if he has deceived the person seeking advice and dealt treacherously with him; because he has given advice against his knowledge and wisdom.

 If a person has enmity or hostility towards someone or there is an atmosphere of resentment between them on some basis and by chance one of them asks the other for advice about something, then he should give correct advice with sincerity and love and should purify his heart; because taking advice means that he has accepted that person as his sympathizer and well-wisher.

And when a person extends a hand of friendship, morality and humanity demand that the other person should also lower his eyelids of humility and decide to repay love with love. And if there is so much hatred in his heart that he cannot even think of anything good for him, then he should flatly refuse to give advice; but if he gives wrong advice due to bitterness and hostility; so that he may perish or face troubles, then this will be a sin and he will have to account for it on the Day of Judgment.

Revealing a secret

It was narrated from Jabir bin Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

If a man tells a hadith and then turns away, it is a trust (Tirmidhi: 1959)

“When a person says something and then turns away, it is also a trust.”

This means that a person has told you something that he does not want to hide from others, and he has expressed his thoughts in his heart while trusting you;  So that you can give some advice or help him in his pain, then this matter of his is in the level of trust for you, keep it limited to yourself, it is not permissible to tell others, it will hurt his trust and cause a feeling of suffering, sometimes a person tells something to someone on the basis of friendship and relationships and he is sure that this secret of mine will remain safe in his chest, but the other person does not care about it, especially when for some reason the friendship between the two turns into resentment, then he spills all his secrets in front of others; so that he is humiliated and people say bad things about him. This is a very bad and lowly act, God is angry with this and it is not known which displeasure of God will lead to his death.

Similarly, what is said between a husband and wife is also a trust. Each of them is a garment for the other. The garment hides the flaws of the body and the secrets. Similarly, the spouses should keep their mutual conversations and the things that can be hidden under a veil and not reveal them to others under any circumstances. Accordingly, Hazrat Abu Saeed narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The greatest trust in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection is that a man goes to his wife and she enjoys it and then the husband reveals her secret to others.” (Sahih Muslim 124-1437)

“The greatest trust in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection is that a man goes to his wife and she enjoys it and then the husband reveals her secret to others.”

A secret is a secret, whether it is between a husband and wife or between two friends or two companions. The Sharia has emphasized the need to hide it.  The nature of Sharia is that as far as possible, people’s faults should be concealed, no one’s honor should be violated, and no one should be harmed. And revealing a secret inevitably involves committing one of these acts; therefore, it is prohibited and undesirable.

Misappropriation

A person gives someone something as a trust and he forgets or remembers it, but he has no evidence. This is a critical moment. It is a test of the faith of the person who received the trust. He returns the property with faith in Allah’s control or destroys his hereafter by suppressing its right. If he does not return the property, then this is a misappropriation of the right and a severe warning has come to him. He will have to be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.

Just as the failure to pay a material right is a misappropriation of the right, similarly there are some rights that are not material; but the Sharia has interpreted them as rights and trusts. Their payment is necessary for a Muslim, such as the mutual rights of husband and wife.  When a man marries a woman, he is granted certain rights of a woman. Similarly, after marriage, some rights of a husband are attached to the woman.

These rights are in the category of trust. Delaying or failing to pay them is a violation of rights and betrayal, which is not permissible for them. The mutual rights of parents and children are also in the category of trust. Any deficiency or omission in this is betrayal and a sin. Similarly, the rights between a teacher and a student are in the category of trust.

 A student should serve, honor, respect, and treat his teacher with respect. The teacher should also provide his student with academic nourishment with complete trustworthiness, study the book himself, and try to transfer academic ability to him with all his hard work. Any deficiency in this falls within the category of betrayal.

The same rule applies to mutual rights between rulers and subjects. Just as it is necessary for the people to abide by the principles and laws of the government, it is also the responsibility of the rulers to provide convenience to the people as much as possible and to take special care of their needs. If the person in charge of power, despite his vast authority, does not fulfill the rights of the subjects, it is as if he has committed a betrayal for which he must be held accountable. There are many such examples that are related to rights that are not material; but they also fall under the scope of violation of rights and betrayal, and the same rule applies to this as to betrayal of property.

Doing injustice

It is the responsibility of the judge, the ruler and all those who make decisions to try to reach the facts of the matter and listen to the arguments of the parties with complete honesty and then decide on the basis of the strength of the arguments, and never let kinship, family, nation, region, religion, etc. interfere in this.

 If the decision-makers make a decision keeping in mind any mental security, then it is as if they have committed betrayal and committed a great sin; because the judge, the ruler, etc. is a trustee for his subordinates, they should fully respect and maintain their trust. This is also the rule of the Sirach of villages, etc. Even if a person is made to judge between two people, he is also a trustee. He should make a correct decision, keeping Allah Almighty present and watching and realizing his grip. Taking someone’s side is a cause of death for him.

From all these details it is clear that the scope of trust is not limited to money, property and wealth; rather it is wide ranging to every financial, legal and moral trust. Generally, when people say the word trust, their minds go towards financial trust, and the payment of this trust is considered sufficient. While the meaning of trustworthiness is quite broad, Muslims should act in this broader meaning. Today, many riots and fights occur due to the lack of this trustworthiness. If financial, legal, moral and all kinds of honesty are maintained, there will be peace and tranquility in the society, a better society will be formed and people will be able to avoid the sin of betrayal and the grip of the Hereafter.