Unshakable Trustworthiness

“He is Allah, there is no god but He! All praise is due to Him in this (life) and the hereafter, and His is the judgement and to Him you shall be brought back.”_Q28:70

Out of our Islamic history, I am narrating a single but powerful anecdote that illustrates a remarkable story of true faithfulness to others in relation to the fulfillment of our trust.

It goes as follows:

Abdullah ibn Sinaan relates that he spoke to a leading scholar of the town, in person of Sheikh Sadiq (RA), one of the grandchildren of Sayyidina Ali (RA).

He said to the scholar:

Some of the governors and rulers consider us to be trustworthy and thus placed their wealth with us, but at the same time, they do not pay their dues to us.

He then asked the scholar:

“Do we return their money to them or do we keep it for our use?”

But the Sheikh replied, not once, not twice but thrice, exclaiming thus:

“By the Lord of the Ka’abah! Even if Ibn Muljam, the murderer of my father Ali (RA) were to place something in trust with me, I would return it to him whenever he wanted it back.”

Do you get that?

I mean his stunning demonstration of unconditional trustworthiness.

From the above example, and many more in the Sunnah of our dear Prophet (SAW), it follows that a true Muslim should endeavour to fulfil his trust, even if his greatest enemy is the one who put something in his care.

As shown in the words of the Prophet (SAW) related by Imam Ahmad (RA): 

“There is no faith for the one who does not keep the trust given to him, and there is no religion for the one who does not keep his covenant.”

May Allah (SWT) strengthen our resolve to remain guided on the right path until the end.

Allahuma Aameen