The Value of Being Trustworthy

Once there was an American traveling in the Middle East, and they were learning Arabic and studying Islam,

and they ran into some people and you know, you go to the Bacala, you go to the local corner store and you start to make friends, you start to exchange names.

And the person there, they invited this foreigner into their home, they say, Hey, why don't you come over to our place for dinner?

The American said, really? He said, Yeah, definitely. We want to have you come eat with us. So he said, Okay, I'll come tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes, the American shows up at the same spot. And nobody says, He waits around half an hour passes, an hour passes an hour and a half. Still, nobody comes. He says, I must have misheard, or I must have misinterpreted. He comes back the next day, he finds the same brother. He said, what happened? I thought I was supposed to come over to dinner.

And the man, the local man, he said, Oh, we just say that.

I wasn't really serious. This is something known anybody who's from the Arab world of the Arab speaking world. Well, no, this is something called the MO Jamela. Right. This is something that we do sometimes, in some of the Muslim places across the world, we say things that we don't mean. Now sometimes, these are niceties, and they're important. You know, we want to make somebody feel heard or we want to make somebody feel at home. But sometimes, like in this situation, it can actually lead to hurt feelings, and a lot of misunderstandings. Allah subhana wa Tada reminds us in the Koran time and time again, that we have to be trustworthy, that we have to do what we say that we're going

to do. Allah azza wa jal says in the La Jolla, Motoko mandolin to add an Atty. Isla Khalifa Indeed, Allah subhana wa Taala commands you to deliver trusts back to their owners, meaning if someone in trusts you as something, you better make sure that it gets back to the rightful party. And Allah subhanahu wa Tada. He opened Surah tilma ADA with these words, yeah, yo Halina Ave. Oh, who will record all of you who have believed, fulfill your contracts, fulfill your promises, that which you have said that you're going to do, be sure to do it.

Being trustworthy is one of the most important things that a Muslim should be the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is our shining example of this. He was actually nicknamed el Amin, right, the most trustworthy one. And even before he was a prophet, it he set out to a Sudan. This is a quality that he was known for. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was 35 years old. The Cornish got together and they decided to rebuild the Kaaba. Because the Kaaba was in disrepair. It was falling apart. And so they gathered together money, and they gathered together men and resources, and they started building it back together brick by brick as much as they possibly could.

But there was a problem. When it came time to put the black stone back in its spot where it normally was, they started arguing, all of the sudden, the rivalries started to show no, my tribe should get the honor of putting the Blackstone and no my tribe my group No, my group my family. No, my family. You guys do did this. You guys are treacherous. Oh, yeah. Well, you guys are cowards. And you can imagine how it went. They were about to start a world war. So what happened? One of the chiefs, they said, Listen, I know of a fair way that we can settle this. The next person who walks through the door is going to decide who gets to put back the Blackstone. Everybody agree? Everybody agrees? And

who's the next person to walk through the door? Other than Muhammad? sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And if he had not been a trustworthy person, there would have been an argument. You better believe there would have been an argument people would have said no way this guy's bias. No way. He's got it in for me. He doesn't like me. He's got this and he did this. It was quiet. Everyone was happy. Every third the second

thing they tell us this is the right person. This is the most trustworthy person that we have. We wouldn't like anybody else to make the decision other than this man on a selected

path. He was

that he say All right, guys, step aside. I got this. Blackstone is all from me and my group. The Blackstone for me much for me and my people didn't. He

found

Not everybody could participate, and everybody could feel good about it. So he said, Bring me a cloak, bring me a reader. And they all grabbed corners of the reason that he that and he put the Blackstone in the middle of it and they all carried it together to the Kaaba. And then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself took it and put it in its final place. But it was something that everybody worked together for that level of cooperation is not possible. If you're not trustworthy, if people do not trust you, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was so trustworthy, that even when things between him and the Kure started to fracture, people still trusted him. Recall that the

Fajr that he put on his people, the definitive proof that he gave to the Quran, when Allah azza wa jal told him all right now the secret phase of the Dawa is over. Now, you've got to start preaching to the people. You've got to start preaching to your family. What did he do? He called the whole tribe. He said, here we go, we're going to mount a sufferer right next to the Kaaba. And he stood up on the mountain and the people gathered in front of him just like you're gathered in front of me. And he said to them, what if I were to tell you that behind this mountain, imagine I'm saying behind this wall, is an enemy army that's come to attack you? What did they say? They said, You are the

most trustworthy person among us. We believe you and we're ready to fight.

And so the Prophet Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam then told them well, actually, I gathered here with you to tell you that. Allah has made me a messenger to you and a prophet. And you need to worship only Allah subhanaw taala and stop worshipping the idols. Then they had all of the arguments and complaints because they're neffs because of their ego, but the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was able to do it, because he was trustworthy.

things continue to deteriorate between the Prophet alayhi salatu salam and his people until the point where they're about to kick him out. They tried to kill him numerous times. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has to leave his homeland, something that many of you have experienced. And imagine the sadness. And imagine the anger and the sense of resentment that somebody could feel on that situation. And yet remember something.

Another moment of leadership, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sent all of the companions out to Medina ahead of him. He stayed back with Abu Bakar.

And then when he and Abu Bakr left, who did he leave behind? In his house? It was Ali, everybody knows the story of the Allahu Ana. Why did he leave Ali behind? Was it just a ruse just so we needed a warm body in the beds for the assassins could be fooled. That's not the only reason. Because the Prophet alayhi salatu salam had what he Ah, he had things left in his home that people had entrusted to him. And he left it behind to return every single thing to its proper owner. Some of those owners wanted his head to roll. Some of the people who left things in his house are they he salatu salam wanted him dead. And yet, being trustworthy was so important. Such a key human characteristic to

have such a fundamental aspects of every believer that he made sure that Ali returned every single one to its proper own.

They say that there are the map, or the weary foun. at NBS, they say that the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets. And so the scholars throughout our ages have preserved this quality of being trustworthy. Some of you know the story of Imam Al Bukhari, the famous Muhaddith author or compiler, we should say, of the most authentic book of Hadith in Islam. And we know that he traveled around the Muslim world from the Hijaz to the south to Yemen to Sham all over in order to collect the sayings of the prophets, Allah Allahu Allah, he was suddenly

Well, one day, Imam Al Bukhari was on a ship. And he had all of his things with him, his books and his ink and these sorts of things. And he also had the money think about it. It's not like today, you don't have your bank card. You don't have the ATM. You can't buy it on credit. If you're gonna go traveling for a month or two months or three months, you got to carry it all on you, or you've got to find a way to make money on the road. So the emammal book

already, he had his money with him. And one night, he's in the ship down below and he's in his bed and he's counting out his money to make sure it's all there. And someone's watching.

There's a thief on the ship.

And he's watching the memorable quality count his money and he's counting up the money to right along with them.

The next day, Sun goes up, alarm sound on the ship. There is a thief, there's a thief, everybody's called up to the top of the ship.

What happened? The thief is standing there saying somebody stole my money from me. It was such in such an amount and as the same exact amount that he met with a hottie had counted in his bed the night before. You see he's trying to set him up.

So the captain of the ship, he does what any good captain will do. Everybody stand in a line, patch it down. Where's your belongings? Let me check your bags. You think TSA is bad? I'm sure that the captain was much worse. He looks through everybody. He doesn't find anything. Absolutely nothing. It's as if the money just vanished. Or you can imagine how the thief feels about now. He wants his money. And so he can't even hold it inside. After the search is over. He finds him out of Makati and he confronts him, he said, I know I saw you count out that money last night. Where did it go?

He remember Bukhari he said, I threw it overboard.

I have been working my whole life on this book of Hadith.

If someone even accuses me of stealing money, nobody's going to believe in anything I say.

So I'll happily throw it overboard and lose something small in the dunya to have the reward. Think about we have the book on the shelves. How many people have benefited from Imam Al Bukhari? How much mountains of rewards in the afterlife because even Buhari understood the value of being trustworthy?

If it were that clear, we have to ask,

why aren't people trustworthy? Look at all of what we stand to gain. Look at the amazing examples we have, you'll usually find that there's two reasons. Reason number one that people aren't trustworthy is they're actually trying to deceive somebody else. And this obviously is very, very bad. The Prophet Sall Allahu Allah, he was southern. He said that a movement cannot lie. He was asked, Can a movement steal? He said, Yeah, it might happen. Can men have an indecent relationship? He said, Yeah, might happen. Then he was asked, can he lie? He said, No.

He can't do it. That thing that action completely is opposite of faith.

And so one time when the prophets of Allah Allah, he was salam. He was walking through the marketplace in Medina. And you know, back then they used to sell everything out in the open, right? open air market, the big vats of grain and things like this. So the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam was walking through the market, it had just rained.

So he's walking through the market, he sees somebody selling wheat. But he noticed that something the wheat is dry. He says, in his head, he said, That ain't right. It was just raining a second ago. So he puts his hand into the VAT. He reaches underneath and he finds that it's wet underneath, but dry on top. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam confronts the man, he said, Wait a second. How is it that your wheat is dry on top and wet underneath? And the merchant is honest, 100% He says, Listen, if I put the wet stuff on top, no one's gonna buy it. So I covered it up. That will help get rid of it. And nobody will know.

That Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, Whoever lies or cheats, he has nothing to do with me. I'm free from him.

He's not one of us.

That's one reason when people they don't tell the truth is because they want to deceive. But most people handily that aren't that bad. Most people when they're not trustworthy, or they're not honest with other people. It's because they hate to disappoint other people. And this is something I can personally relate to. The person who has responsibility who has leadership who has a lot of people depending on you.

people reach out to you morning, noon and night, on the phone on the email any way possible. And you hate to say no, you hate to say no, you want to say yes to everybody. But it's not possible to say everybody saying yes to everybody comes at a spiritual cost.

We're too afraid sometimes, or if we're too afraid of what people think and not disappointing them, then we might not be paying attention to what Allah subhanaw taala thinks. And maybe we're done.

supporting other people, but isn't it much worse, to disappoint Allah to say that we're going to do something and not do it? This is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, it's the Mona Lisa Lathan. Either had that what either wah wah either to Mina con, there are three signs of a hypocrite. When he speaks, he lies. When he promises, he breaks his promise. And when he's trusted with something, he breaks that trust, he betrays it. And I remind myself before anybody else I seek forgiveness from every single one of you. Every single person in this community if I ever said I was going to do something, and then ended up not doing it, may You forgive me and may Allah forgive me

and may Allah forgive us entirely, of course will probably how that was dealt through Allah Allah Allah Kumari, certainly Muslimeen Amin colada, let's talk through in the Hoover for Rahim.

Alhamdulillah he Allah ehsani are shook Allahu Allah tell people you want in Ernie Asha ilaha illallah wa tabula rasa recolor Tavi Manisha anyone shadow Anna Anna Vienna was a Eden and Mohammed Abdullah Sudha who had very little one he said Allahu alayhi wa early he was happy he was when he was selling to Sleeman kathira.

Allah azza wa jal reminds us to be trustworthy. And he goes on to remind us to be fair, he says, well, either How come Tom being a nasty attacker, mobile adult? And when you judge between people judge with justice, and later on in the chapter, Allah azza wa jal says again, yeah, are you Halina Ave Hakuna Hawa Amina Bill testy shahada and Allah, what Oh ALLAH and posi comb, I will wear the Dane was a carabin Oh, you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice witnesses to Allah subhana wa, tada, witnesses for Him, even if it be against yourselves, or against your parents, or against your relatives, as Malcolm X used to say, we're for the truth no matter who says

it.

And it's a shame that we've reached a point in our society, in our culture, where we have these antagonisms, we have these culture wars, men believe that they're against women, and women believe they're against men. And so the women who are trying to cure some sort of rights or some sort of equal treatment, we say, believe all women and we suspect all men. That's not the way that Allah subhanaw taala wants it, you have to be fair. And the same goes on the other foot. There are men out there who have somebody, a man says it, they'll believe it. And if a woman says it, then they'll doubt it and they won't believe it. And that's also not fair. We have to be protective of the truth

and we have to reward people who speak the truth and be prepared to accept the truth, no matter where it comes from. And Allah subhanaw taala tells us what will happen if we don't. He tells us what will happen. If we're not fair. Or if we're not just Allah azza wa jal says iya shut you're the hypocrite. You had NAS? Well, yeah, TBR hurryin Well, can Allahu Allah that he had called the RA if Allah will if he wanted to, he can do away with you, oh, people, and he'll bring others in your place. And Allah has certainly ever able to do that. Muslim scholars and historians have noted this fact, if a nation is fair, if a civilization is fair, if you stand for justice, Allah is gonna let

you hang around. Whether you're Muslim or not. But if you oppress people, if you're not just, if you take advantage of other people, if you cheat other people, then your days are numbered, even if you're Muslim, and although we are called to be just unfair, Allah wants us to be concerned about justice. Allah also tells us not to publicize absolutely everything lay your head Allahu Jarabe soo men are totally eliminated. vollem what can Allah who sent me an Alima Allah doesn't like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged themselves and ever is Allah hearing and knowing publicizing too much evil is demoralizing. It makes people pessimistic. And the Prophet sallallahu

alayhi wa sallam loved optimism. He said love either while at the aura while you're a Jim O'Neill

Callooh yml file, all that Kalamata Eva Raja Bukhari when Muslim the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that, listen, diseases are not communicable without the will of Allah. And there's no such thing as a as a good omen or a bad move and bad omen, but I love optimism. So they asked him what is optimism? And he said, a good word.

Why? Because pessimism without a verified reason, as the scholars have said, it's so a lung biller. It's having a poor opinion of Allah azza wa jal, whereas being optimistic, is having Hofner long villas having a good opinion of Allah. And it's an expression that we trust the loss of Hannah to Allah, even to the point where the prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa salam, if he saw somebody whose name meant something good Hasson brah. She said, Melissa, that he would get happy. He would get happy and he would take it as a good sign that things were going the right way. Remember, the CHE THON wants you to despair and give up. Whereas Allah subhanahu to Allah wants us to have hope.

We have to hit that balance that sweet spot. We love justice. We pursue justice, but we stay optimistic. And we trust Allah azza wa jal as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, so if this other million back was there in Villa wala, just be keen on what benefits you and seek Allah's help, and don't give up