How Can Muslims Cultivate Trustworthiness in Their Daily Lives?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yakti

Question

How can Muslims enhance trustworthiness in their daily interactions?

Answer

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers, his Family, and all his Companions.

The Importance of Trustworthiness in Daily Life

A believer can enhance this noble trait in daily life by applying trustworthiness in all its forms and situations. These include trustworthiness in financial matters, in preserving lives and honor, in testimony and judgment, in knowledge and communications, in translations, and in safeguarding secrets and privacy.

It also involves offering sincere advice to those who seek it, among other forms. All these and other forms of trustworthiness are emphasized and encouraged by Islamic teachings. And Allah knows best.

Here is the detailed answer:

Ways to Enhance Trustworthiness in Daily Interactions

Here are some of the ways to enhance trustworthiness in daily interactions:

Trustworthiness in Financial Matters

This involves abstaining from taking what one has no right to, fulfilling one’s financial obligations, and returning any entrusted wealth to its rightful owners, such as in sales, debts, inheritances, deposits, pledges, loans, wills, and various levels of governance, both major and minor. Allah (Most High) says:

“Indeed, Allah commands you to return trusts to their rightful owners; and when you judge between people, judge with fairness. What a noble commandment from Allah to you! Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” [Quran, 4:58]

Trustworthiness in Preserving Lives and Honor

Trustworthiness in honor involves refraining from taking what one has no right to and controlling oneself and one’s tongue from harming others, such as through slander or backbiting.

Trustworthiness in lives involves refraining from harming others, whether through killing, injuring, or causing any form of harm. As Allah (Most High) says:

“O believers! Do not betray Allah and the Messenger, nor betray your trusts knowingly.” [Quran, 8:27]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, as narrated by Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him):

“A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe, and a believer is one whom people trust with their lives and wealth.” [Ibn Hibban]

Trustworthiness in Testimony, Judgment, and Legal Proceedings

Trustworthiness in testimony involves bearing witness truthfully, according to the reality of the situation, and delivering testimony without distortion, alteration, exaggeration, or omission. Allah (Most High) says:

“If you are on a journey and a scribe cannot be found, then a security can be taken. If you trust one another, then (there is no need for a security, but) the debtor should honour this trust (by repaying the debt)—and let them fear Allah, their Lord. And do not conceal the testimony, for whoever conceals it, their hearts are indeed sinful. And Allah (fully) knows what you do.” [Quran, 2:283]

Trustworthiness in Knowledge, Writing, Translation, and Communication

Trustworthiness in writing means adhering to what the author dictates or copying precisely from the original without alteration, addition, or omission. If the writing is the author’s own creation, trustworthiness involves ensuring that the content is free from falsehood, manipulation of facts, proper attribution of statements to their original sources, and avoiding the appropriation of others’ work as one’s own.

This principle is exemplified in the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and give him peace) instruction to Zayd Ibn Thabit (Allah be pleased with him) to learn the language of the Jews so that he would not have to rely on them to translate their writings. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to him:

“O Zayd, learn the writing of the Jews, for I do not trust them with my correspondence.” Zayd said: “So I learned their script. It took me only fifteen days to master it, and I would read for the Prophet when they wrote to him and respond on his behalf when he wrote to them.” [Ahmad]

Trustworthiness in Secrets and Confidential Matters

This involves keeping secrets and not disclosing them, whether between friends or between spouses, among others. For example, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Indeed, among the worst of people in status before Allah on the Day of Resurrection is a man who has intimate relations with his wife, and she with him, and then he divulges her secrets.” [Muslim]

Similarly, Anas Ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrated:

“I served the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) for ten years, and he never struck me, insulted me, scolded me, or even frowned at me. The first thing he advised me was: ‘O my son, keep my secrets and you will be a believer.’ My mother and the wives of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to ask me about the secrets of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), but I would not inform them of anything. I will never disclose the secrets of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) to anyone, ever.” [Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Qubra]

Trustworthiness in Giving Advice and Consultation

Trustworthiness also involves giving sincere advice to those who seek your counsel and being truthful to those who trust your opinion. If someone presents a matter to you and asks for your advice, know that giving your opinion is a trust. If you give them advice that is not in their best interest, that is a form of betrayal.

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“The one who is consulted is in a position of trust.” [Tirmidhi; Ibn Majah]

These are the most important ways and situations in which we can enhance trustworthiness in our daily lives and interactions.

Conclusion

Maintaining trustworthiness in all its forms and situations is a fundamental pillar in preserving societal stability and ensuring the smooth conduct of people’s daily interactions.

Adhering to and reinforcing trustworthiness in our lives is essential, as the Sacred Law emphasizes, as explained above.

Allah is the One who grants success.

[Shaykh] Abdul Sami‘ al-Yakti

Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti is a Syrian scholar born in Aleppo in 1977. He obtained his degree in Shari‘a from the Shari‘a Faculty of Damascus University, a Diploma in Educational Qualification from the Faculty of Education at Aleppo University, and a Diploma in Shari‘a and a Master’s in Shari‘a from the Faculty of Shari‘a and Law at Omdurman University in Sudan. He is currently writing his doctoral thesis.

He studied under esteemed scholars such as Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani, and Shaykh Dr. Nur al-Din Itr, among others. Shaykh al-Yakti has worked in teaching and cultural guidance in orphanages and high schools in Aleppo. He served as an Imam, Khatib, and reciter at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and as a certified trainer for Khatibs in Abu Dhabi’s Khatib Qualification Program.

He is involved in developing and teaching a youth education program at Seekers Arabic for Islamic Sciences.

Among Shaykh al-Yaqti’s significant works are “Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni: Bayna Ilm al-Kalam Wa Usul al-Fiqh” and the program “The Messenger of Allah Among Us (Allah bless him and give him peace).”