2. AMĀNAH (HONESTY, FAITHFULNESS, ETC.)
The
term أَمَانَة (amānah) is derived from the verb أَمِنَ (amina), meaning “to be safe,” “to feel safe,” “to be
reliable,” “to be trustworthy.” It is the opposite of خِيَانَة (khiyānah, faithlessness, perfidy;
betrayal; treason; deception). Linguistically, amānah means:
reliability, trustworthiness; loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity, fealty;
integrity, honesty; confidence, trust, good faith; trusteeship;
confidentiality; secrecy (of something).
Technically, amānah means
a right which should be fulfilled and kept. It also means the object of the amānah,
namely, al-wadī‘ah (الْوَدِيْعَة, something entrusted to someone’s custody). This includes
keeping someone’s secret. The person who upholds this amānah is called al-Amīn
(الْأَمِيْن, the reliable, trustworthy, honest, faithful person) the
epithet of the Prophet before he was appointed by Allah as His Messenger. In
this sense, the jurist and Qur’ān commentator al-Ḥusayn al-Dāmaghānī (d.
478/1085) gives the meanings of the term amānah in the Qur’ān as
follows:
1.
الْفَرَائِض,
religious obligations, including praying and fasting, such as:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا
أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
(الأنفال:27)
O you who believe! Betray not Allah and His
Messenger, nor betray knowingly your
amānah
(things entrusted to you, and all
the duties
which Allah has ordained for you) (Q. 8:27)
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا
الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا
وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ
ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا (الاحزاب:72)
Truly,
We did offer the amānah (the trust or moral
responsibility or honesty and all the duties
which Allah
has ordained) to the
heavens and the earth, and the
mountains, but they
declined to bear it and were
afraid of it (i.e.,
afraid of Allah’s Torment). But
man bore it. Verily,
he was unjust (to himself)
and ignorant (of its
results) (Q.
33:72)
2.
الْوَدَائِع, something entrusted to someone’s custody,
such as:
إِنَّ اللّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤدُّواْ الأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا
حَكَمْتُم بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَن تَحْكُمُواْ
بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُم بِهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا
بَصِيرًا (النساء:58)
Verily,
Allah commands that you should render back
the trusts to those to whom they
are due; and that when
you judge between men, you judge with justice. Verily,
how excellent is the teaching
which He (Allah) gives you!
Truly, Allah is Ever All-Hearer,
All-Seer. (Q. 4:58)
After
the conquest of Makkah the Prophet s.a.w. enter the Holy Mosque, made ṭawāf (circumambulation around the Ka‘bah), and then he called ‘Uthmān ibn Ṭalḥah
(the keeper of the key of the Ka‘bah), took the key from him and opened the door of Ka‘bah. He
entered it, then he stood at its door, citing,
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ
صَدَقَ وَعْدَهُ وَنَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ وَهَزَمَ الأَحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ
There is no god but Allah
Alone, He had fulfilled His promise, He has helped His servant and has defeated
the Confederates by Himself.
Then he
sat down in the mosque. ‘Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib stood up and said to him, “O Messenger
of Allah, appoint us doorkeeper as well as water supplier (for Makkan
pilgrims).” The Prophet asked: “Where is ‘Uthmān ibn Ṭalḥah?” When the person
came, he said to him: “This is your key, O ‘Uthmān, today is the day of piety
and fulfillment.” To this, Allah revealed the above verse, and the Prophet did
not give the key of the Ka‘bah to ‘Ali, and the job of serving the pilgrims and
supplying water for the pilgrims.
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ
وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ (المؤمنون:8, المعارج:11)
Those who are
faithfully true to their amanat (all the duties
which Allah has ordained, honesty, moral
responsibility
and trusts) and to their covenants; (Q. 23:8; 70:11)
3.
الْعِفَّة, virtuousness, chastity; purity;
modesty; honesty, upright-ness, such as:
قَالَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْهُ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ
اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُ (القصص:26)
And said one of them (the two women): “O my father!
Hire him! Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the
strong, the trustworthy.” (Q. 28:26).
It
is about Moses (Mūsā a.s.) because of his honesty and integrity one of
the girls he had helped in watering their sheep asked her father to employ him.
The father’s name was Jethro يَثْرَى) orيَثْرُوْن ) , the other name of
Prophet Shu‘ayb a.s. (Other commentators said that he was the nephew of
Prophet Shu‘ayb).
Dishonesty
is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet s.a.w.
said:
آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثٌ
إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ وَإِذَا اؤتُمِنَ خَانَ (رواه البخاري)
There are three signs of the hypocrite: when he
talks
he lies, when he promises he breaks it, and
when he
is relied
upon he betrays it (Reported by Bukhari)
‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Amr narrated that the Prophet s.a.w. said:
أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا
خَالِصًا وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ
خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ
النِّفَاقِ حَتَّى يَدَعَهَا إِذَا اؤتُمِنَ خَانَ وَإِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ وَإِذَا
عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ
وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ(رواه البخاري)
There are four qualities of a pure (clear) hypocrite; if he
has one quality only, then he has a quality of
hypocrisy until
he abandons it: if
he is relied on he betrays, if he talks he lies,
if he promises he
breaks it, and if he argues he acts
immorally (Reported
by Bukhari)
What is meant by acting immorally, according to
Ibn Baṭṭāl (d. 449/1057), the
commentator of Bukhari’s collection of ḥadīths, is “lying and misgiving”
(الْكَذِبُ وَالرِّيْبة). What
the Prophet means is that sharing the dominant qualities of hypocrites does not
means he has turned into hypocrisy and apostasy, a dire warning and defamation against
these bad qualities.
Similarly, Anas r.a.
narrated that the Prophet s.a.w. said:
لَا إِيمَانَ لِمَنْ لَا
أَمَانَةَ لَهُ وَلَا دِينَ لِمَنْ لَا عَهْدَ لَهُ (رواه أحمد)
There is no faith
for a person who does not
possess amanah,
[i.e., unreliable] and there is
no religion for one
who does not keep his
promise. (Reported by Ahmad)
This indicates lack of faith, honesty and
sincerity, not the loss of faith, infidelity, and apostasy. It is like saying
that a bottle is empty, although it still contains little water.
A
similar ḥadīth runs as follows:
مَنْ غَشَّ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا
(رواه الترمذي(
Whoever cheats is
not one of us
(Reported by al-Tirmidhī)
Before he became a
prophet, Muhammad s.a.w. had been well-known for his honesty, and the
people of Makkah called him “al-Amīn”, (the reliable, trustworthy,
loyal; upright, honest; faithful). They had asked him to be judge in their
disputes, and had entrusted their goods to his custody. Before he left for
Madinah to avoid their persecution for his claim to be a prophet, he had
entrusted their goods to his cousin ‘Ali. Khadījah had employed him to sell her goods in
Syria, and because of his honesty people bought the goods he brought with
higher price to show their appreciation for his honesty. This brought profit
beyond his expectation, and Khadijah asked him later to marry her. They
married, and she became the first person who believed in his message, a
believer.
After
he became prophet, his arch-enemy at that time, Abū Sufyān, admitted to the
Emperor Heraclius of his honesty when he was asked about the new prophet. After
learning his characters and background, Heraclius told Abū Sufyān, “If I knew I
could reach him now, then I would go to him, and if I were in his presence then
I would gladly wash his feet.”
Honesty is inevitable in our daily-life. It is
one of the foundations of peace, from family to international relations. Our
dealings with others have to be based on trust. We trust everybody until he
cheats us, then we lose our trust on him. Everybody has to be treated innocent
until he is found guilty. If honesty is no longer in a community, a society or
a state then waits for its collapse and destruction. Abū Hurayrah narrated that
the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. said:
إِذَا ضُيِّعَتْ الْأَمَانَةُ فَانْتَظِرْ السَّاعَةَ
قَالَ كَيْفَ إِضَاعَتُهَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
قَالَ إِذَا أُسْنِدَ
الْأَمْرُ إِلَى غَيْرِ أَهْلِهِ فَانْتَظِرْ السَّاعَةَ (رواه البخاري)
If honesty (trust)
is missed then wait for the time of its
destruction. He was asked, how it is missed O
Messenger of
Allah? He said that if a case is relied upon
unqualified
person then wait for the time of its
destruction
(Reported by
Bukhari)
What the Prophet means is that no matter how
smart a person is he is not qualified for a position as long as he or she lacks
honesty.
What if someone cheats us, is it
allowed to cheat him back, according to Islamic teachings? The Prophet s.a.w.
taught us to treat everybody with honesty, even to the cheater. He said:
أَدِّ الْأَمَانَةَ
إِلَى مَنْ ائْتَمَنَكَ وَلَا تَخُنْ مَنْ خَانَكَ (رواه أحمد و أبو داود والترمذي)
Be
honest to a person who is honest with you,
and do not
betray the person who betrays you
(Reported by Ahmad, Abū Dā’ūd, and al-Tirmidhī).
However, Ibn Baṭṭāl comments further that trying to
get back our right taken by deceit does not include in the Prophet’s statement
above, as long as we do not take back more than what we deserve. The example is
that Hind,
Abū Sufyān’s wife, complained to the Prophet that her husband was stingy and
did not provide sustenance for her and her children, and the Prophet allowed
her to take herself what she needed from her husband’s wealth without his
approval, because the maintenance was her right and his obligation.
Scholars hold different opinions whether
it is possible or not to get something else equals to the value of the thing
taken from us through cheating. Al-Shāfi‘ī allows it based on the story of Abū
Sufyān’s wife mentioned above. According to Abū Ḥanīfah it is possible only to
take something similar to it, gold for gold, silver for silver, measured for
measured, weighed for weighed. Mālik as reported by al-Qāsim does not allow it,
but in another report by Ziyād he allows it, as long as it does not exceed what
is needed.
As Muslims we believe that our whole body is amānah,
a trust that we have to take care of it, not to abuse it, and that we will
be responsible for what we have done with it in the Hereafter. Allah said:
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا
لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ
كُلُّ أُولَئِكَ
كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًا (الإسراء:36)
And follow not (O
man, i.e., say not, or do not or
witness not) that which you have no knowledge.
Verily,
the
hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of
those one will be questioned (by Allah) (Q. 17:36)
It includes spreading gossips which could lead to
defamation.
Our
job is amānah, a trust which we should perform the best we can, even
this very earth we are living in and its contents are entrusted to us by Allah
the Almighty to keep them in their best condition. One of the six
characteristics of the people promised with Paradise is being faithful to their
trusts and to their pledges (Q. 23:8) as mentioned
earlier. The treacherous person would be known in the Hereafter. The Prophet s.a.w.
said, as narrated by Ibn ‘Umar,
لِكُلِّ غَادِرٍ لِوَاءٌ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُعْرَفُ بِهِ
(رواه البخاري ومسلم)
Every treacherous person will have a banner in the
Judgment Day by
which he will be known
(Reported by Bukhari and Muslim)
In conclusion, among the good characters of good
Muslims is amānah, namely, honesty, faithfulness, reliability. They
believe that they will be responsible for keeping this amānah before
Allah the Almighty in the Hereafter. (CIVIC,
26 June, 2015)
المصادر:
المكتبة الشاملة
الحسين الدَّامغَانِي (ت. 478\1085). قَامُوْسُ الْقُرْآن (الْوُجُوْهُ
وَالنَّظَائِر). بيروت, 1983.
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(
تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ)
http://www.knightsofarabia.com/arabian/001/arabian00007.html
