One of the repeating themes in our\nweekly reminders is on the mannerisms that exemplify a Muslim. As mentioned in\nprevious reminders, there is one thing performing the acts of worship such as\nprayers and fasting for example, and then there is the every day behaviours,\nmannerisms and action which distinguish a Muslim from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of these is the integrity that a\nMuslim demonstrates in their everyday actions. This is demonstrated through\nhonesty, trustworthiness and keeping of promises or pledges that we make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The imam outlined two types of pledges\nor promises that we make. There is the first one which is the pledge we make\nwith Allah SWT and then the pledge we make in our everyday dealings with other\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In regards to the first pledge, the imam\nreminded us of the 40th<\/sup> ayat of Sura Al-Baqara which is translated\nto say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n O children of Israel! Remember\nMy favours upon you. Fulfil your covenant and I will fulfil Mine, and stand in\nawe of Me \u02f9alone\u02fa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he reminded us of Al-Ahzab, ayat 23 which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the believers are men who have proven true to what they\npledged to Allah.1 Some of them have fulfilled their pledge \u02f9with their\nlives\u02fa, others are waiting \u02f9their turn\u02fa. They have never changed \u02f9their\ncommitment\u02fa in the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear brothers and sisters, we need to be mindful that any promise or\npledge we make is one that needs to be upheld, but especially when we implore\nAllah SWT for His help and we make promises to do something in return or to\nperform some act of worship or gratitude, we should be especially careful to do\nour part of the pledge or promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second type of pledge or promise is that we make to one another. The\nimam reminded us of ayat 8 from Sura Al-Muminoon which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u02f9the believers are also\u02fa those who\nare true to their trusts and covenants;<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the imam also reminded us of a hadith in reference to this. It is\ntranslated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allah’s Messenger (\ufdfa) said, “The signs of a hypocrite\nare three: Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; and whenever he promises, he\nbreaks his promise; and whenever he is entrusted, he betrays (proves to be\ndishonest)”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear\nbrothers and sisters, we conclude then with a breakdown of the 3\ncharacteristics mentioned in the hadith with reminders on how each can be\navoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first\nwas the mention of being entrusted with something and betraying that trust. The\ndictionary defines this as \u2018to do something very bad and hurtful to someone\nthat causes loss of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can\nrange from the obvious such as stealing from somebody but most of us here may\nthink we are in the clear with this one. However, other dangers that fall into\nthis category, as mentioned last week, are causing hurt from the tongue in what\nis said about one another. We live in a time and a place where gossip, backbiting\nand slander is seen as the norm in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to\nremind ourselves that if we are going behind someone\u2019s back and speaking ill of\nthem then this is a betrayal of that persons trust and thus we are in danger of\nfalling into this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second\npoint is when someone speaks, he tells a lie. Dear brothers and sisters, we\nhave had reminders in the past about this point as it is an important reminder.\nHowever, it is worth mentioning here that in the current time and place, we\noften convince ourselves to lie because the pressure of conforming to the norms\nof society means that we lie to fit in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a\ndifficult one, for example, if a friend approaches us and is wearing something\nnew and asks our opinion. We may think that the item is inappropriate for a\nMuslim to be wearing but for fear of hurting their feeling or sounding uncool,\nwe will say what they want to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a\ntest of our times. Our opinion may not be the popular ones in todays time and\nplace. However, we cannot sell ourselves short in the pursuit of being popular\nor the same as the majority because we are at risk of hypocrisy if we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third\nexample, to prove treacherous when making a covenant is a reminder for those of\nus who deal in business. Unfortunately, it is a fact that when people speak of\nthose in countries from where our heritage lies, it is normally synonymous with\nscams, fraud and deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a\nshame because Muslims ought to be the beacon of trust, honour and a promise\nbeing kept true at all times. Therefore, we need to be resolute in business\nhere and ensure that we do not wrong anyone in business and that those who do\nbusiness with Muslims do so in the confidence that they will never be\nshort-changed in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear brothers and sisters, our mannerisms and our conduct is what defines\nus as Muslim in the eyes of others. Let us use todays\u2019 reminder to bring\nintegrity and honesty in the pledges and promises we make to one another so\nthat we are known for this trait and Islam is synonymous with integrity and\ntruthfulness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the repeating themes in our weekly reminders is on the mannerisms that exemplify a Muslim. As mentioned in previous reminders, there is one thing performing the acts of worship such as prayers and fasting for example, and then there is the every day behaviours, mannerisms and action which distinguish a Muslim from others. 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