Trust is the basis of everything. It strengthens bonds, it draws you closer to an individual when you know they do not lie and that they are keeping their promises, it causes you to feel safe with that individual. If you would need to go somewhere and you need someone to take care of your house, or pets, or children - you know you can trust that individual. Friendships are built on trust, marriage is built on trust, no matter which aspect of life you look at - trust is what will strengthen the bond between you and someone else.
Our Prophet ﷺ told us about a beautiful property of a believer:
الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ النَّاسُ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُ مَنْ أَمِنَهُ النَّاسُ عَلَى دِمَائِهِمْ وَأَمْوَالِهِمْ
“The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth.”
— Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4995
This hadith tells us about a higher level of Iman, and that is when people trust you with their lives and wealth. And why would they do that? Because they were protected by your tongue and hands, and because you have shown them with action of the tongue (promises, oaths, answering questions etc.) and actions of the limbs (protecting, doing your job you promised to do, taking care of their wealth, children etc.) that they can trust you.
Brothers and sisters, why do you think our Prophet ﷺ was known by the name Al Amin even during the Jahiliyyah (time of ignorance)? Everyone knew him as someone who was always telling the truth, someone who was reliable all the time, someone who was just. There was not even one person who spoke ill of him or knew anything ill of him ﷺ.
And we are commanded to follow the Prophet ﷺ in every aspect of life. Allah describes him ﷺ :
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌۭ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًۭا
Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah often.
— Al Qur'an 33:21
Here the phrase 'uswatun hasanah' [an excellent example] in Arabic refers to every segment of life.
He ﷺ did not even lie when joking, and we were prohibited to it as well because lies, even if they seem insignificant, they lead to development of a habit - telling more lies in other segments of life:
وَيْلٌ لِلَّذِي يُحَدِّثُ فَيَكْذِبُ لِيُضْحِكَ بِهِ الْقَوْمَ وَيْلٌ لَهُ وَيْلٌ لَهُ
"Woe to one who tells lies to make people laugh. Woe to him! Woe to him!"
— Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4990
And this is the path we must take, as this is the only path that leads to success.
We have already been warned by our Prophet ﷺ that there will come a time when the one who is telling the truth will not be trusted and those who are not truthful will be trusted.
سَيَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ سَنَوَاتٌ خَدَّاعَاتُ يُصَدَّقُ فِيهَا الْكَاذِبُ وَيُكَذَّبُ فِيهَا الصَّادِقُ وَيُؤْتَمَنُ فِيهَا الْخَائِنُ وَيُخَوَّنُ فِيهَا الْأَمِينُ وَيَنْطِقُ فِيهَا الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ قِيلَ وَمَا الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ قَالَ الرَّجُلُ التَّافِهُ فِي أَمْرِ الْعَامَّةِ"Years of treachery will come to people in which the liars are believed and the truthful are denied, the deceitful are trusted and the trustworthy are considered traitors, and the disgraceful will deliver speeches.” It was said, “Who are the disgraceful?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Petty men with authority over the common people.”
— Sunan Ibn Mājah 4036
You might ask, 'Why would someone trust a liar?' It is very important to understand that the focus here should not be the one who is lying, but one needs to start to understand the person who trusts this liar first. Who do you think is the first example of a liar? It is Iblees, indeed. Wasn't he the one who told our parents عليهم السلام to eat from the tree? He told our parents عليهما السلام how Allah prohibits them only from eating from the tree just so they do not become angels or immortal.
فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ لِيُبْدِيَ لَهُمَا مَا وُورِيَ عَنْهُمَا مِن سَوْآتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ
But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal."
— Al Qur'an 7:20
Allah knows best, but it seems that our parents did not know what angels were created of nor that life in Jannah is eternal at that point when this occurred. They also did not have experience with evil. They had no knowledge of it as they themselves are good.
Here we can see that lack of knowledge can lead a person to take information from someone, especially if that someone knows the ways of evil and how to manipulate, and this can lead a person to doing things they did not perceive as evil even. This is one reason why people would trust liars.
Another reason is forgetfulness. And there is something beautiful about the word Adh Dhikr - Reminder. Have you ever wondered about the Qur'an being called Adh Dhikr? We as humans forget and we need reminders. This word Adh Dhikr tells us many things but I would like to emphasize 2:
1. That we forget
2. That we need to be reminded
If someone distances themselves from The Reminder (The Qur'an), one is more prone to forget things, until one becomes so ignorant that anyone can manipulate with a person, and Shaytan knows this and he uses this against us.
And Iblis' goal is to get us away from the Reminder so we become like him as his goal is to drag with him to Jahannam as many people as he can. The only ones he is not able to fool are those who do not obey him. Remember, he is a liar and he won't be trusted when people know his ways, hence the people will not obey him, at least in major things (but that's another topic).
This is why we must be the opposite of the Shaytan. You will find a pattern here:
- every time Shaytan does something evil, you will find this action as dispraised by Allah
Hence lying is never an option, and we can clearly see how trustworthiness is valued in Hadith science.
In the same chapter, in the verse right after:
وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ
And he swore [by Allah ] to them, "Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors."
— Al Qur'an 33:21
Guess who the first creature is who broke an oath? You've guessed it right - the Shaytan.
One of the things that is a foundation of trust, he broke it. An oath is something that when taken, this should make us trust a person as it is like a stamp, when you put it on, nothing comes in and nothing comes out. Once broken, everyone can manipulate with the letter. Same with an oath, once broken and no one will trust you even when you do not take it, let alone when you take an oath.
These are all things (lying, breaking oath etc.) that make a person only 'successful' in one thing - being a liar.
The Believers vs The Hypocrites
The Prophet ﷺ tells us about traits of hypocrisy and about the hypocrites in a Hadith many of you already know:
أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتَّى يَدَعَهَا إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ وَإِذَا عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ " . غَيْرَ أَنَّ فِي حَدِيثِ سُفْيَانَ " وَإِنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ "
"There are four characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has one of its characteristics, he has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it up: When he speaks he lies, when he makes a covenant he betrays it, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he disputes he resorts to obscene speech." In the narration of Sufyan (one of the narrators) it is: "And if he has one of them, he has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy."— Sahih Muslim 58
There are many things that can be derived from this Hadith and one can learn about, but I want to point out 2 things specifically:
1. Lying, betraying a covenant, breaking a promise and retaliating with obscene speech during a dispute are all characteristics of hypocrisy and all that is a disease of the heart.
2. None of these are signs of Iman
In contrast let's see the traits of the believers:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ
And they who turn away from ill speech— Al Qur'an 23:3
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
And they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive— Al Qur'an 23:8
بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَوْفَىٰ بِعَهْدِهِ وَاتَّقَىٰ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ
But yes, whoever fulfills his commitment and fears Allah - then indeed, Allah loves those who fear Him.— Al Qur'an 3:76
الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ النَّاسُ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُ مَنْ أَمِنَهُ النَّاسُ عَلَى دِمَائِهِمْ وَأَمْوَالِهِمْ
“The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth.”
— Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4995
In short, a believer is the opposite of a hypocrite, he shouldn't even have the traits the hypocrites have. One can only enter Jannah while being purified and that is not achieved through lying, betraying trust, breaking oaths and the likes.
I ask Allah to protect our tongues and make us all of those He is pleased with, Ameen!
I do not even have to write a lot here, this Hadith is enough:
إِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ، وَإِنَّ الْبِرَّ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ، وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَصْدُقُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ صِدِّيقًا، وَإِنَّ الْكَذِبَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْفُجُورِ، وَإِنَّ الْفُجُورَ يَهْدِي إِلَى النَّارِ، وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَكْذِبُ، حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَذَّابًا
"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur (i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar."— Sahih al-Bukhari 6094
I ask Allah to protect us from being of those written with Allah as a liar, Ameen!
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وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيۡهِم مِّنَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَٱلصِّدِّيقِينَ وَٱلشُّهَدَآءِ وَٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَۚ وَحَسُنَ أُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ رَفِيقٗا
And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger – those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions.
— Al Qur'an 4:69
