Honesty

Taqwa, and the Company of the Sadiqeenby Shazad Khan

Lessons from the Qur’an

Re-distingusihing the lines between falsehood and honestyby Ubah Mohamoud

Muhsin KhanO you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).

As salamu alaikum dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will discuss the topic of honesty. The 119th ayah in surah tawbah sums up the commandment from Allah very well. It’s a very simple command, but it is not always the easiest. I want to assure my readers that due to the ease of understanding of the ayah, I have not provided the tafsir, but if you wish to do so, I do recommend it.

Now first I want to bring up why having Taqwa (fear and consciousness of Allah) is impor-tant and mentioned first and foremost.

‘Umar b. al-Khattab narrated that the Prophet (S) said: Deeds are [a result] only of the in-tentions [of the actor], and an individual is [rewarded] only according to that which he in-tends. Therefore, whosoever has emigrated for the sake of Allah and His messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His messenger. Whosoever emigrated for the sake of worldly gain, or a woman [whom he desires] to marry, then his emigration is for the sake of that which [moved him] to emigrate.” Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.

Now keep that hadith in mind. That hadith is important because when you have Taqwa, all your actions are done only for Allah, and no one else. If you know Allah is there, watch-

ing you, every single moment of your life, will you ever do anything to knowingly displease Him? Probably if one is of sound mind, he/she will not do anything to displease Allah. And we are talking about the one who decides whether or not we will attain heaven or hell.

Would we ever show laziness, immaturity, or undesirable actions in front of our supervi-sors, co-workers, or parents? No. Then why do we not do the same for Allah? Simply put, we are not aware of His omnipotence. Once we have that in mind, then our intent will be pure, and once our intent is pure, then as evidenced by the Hadith above, our action will be blessed and pure.

Now that the importance of Taqwa is established, we will move on to the importance of be-ing with those who are true in words and deeds. A relevant hadith is when the Prophet Mu-hammad (S) said: “A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace.” [Bukhari, Muslim]2

Simply, even if you are adamant about avoiding the bad deeds, but surround yourself with bad people, eventually your exposure to the bad deeds will taint who you truly want to be. And even if you are struggling with your good deeds, your exposure to good people will at least incite good and fruitful thoughts. And if we surround ourselves with those truthful people, inshaAllah we will become one of those people.

Allah tells us to be with those who are true in words and actions. If we were with those who were true only in actions, but not words, we would be with liars. If we were with those who were only true in words but not actions, we would be with the hypocrites (also related to ly-ing); such a fine line there is between good, and bad. The gravity of this is mentioned in Surah Baqarah 14-15, as it mentions the abandonment of Allah as a consequence:

Muhsin KhanAnd when they meet those who believe, they say: “We believe,” but when they are alone with their Shayatin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: “Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking.” Allah mocks at them and gives them increase in their wrong-doings to wander blindly.

Notice how Allah tells us to first develop Taqwa then tells us to be with those who are true (in words and actions). Allah knows that if our intention is not true, then our actions will be near worthless, hence he has commanded that we first develop Taqwa before anything, as that will justify our actions! The miracle of the Qur’an often goes unnoticed! Allah could have easily mentioned being with good company first, but He knows the importance of truthful intention!

Ya Allah, make us those of the Muttaqeen and the truthful. Ameen!

Re-distingusihing the lines between falsehood and honestyby Ubah Mohamoud

The dichotomy that honesty presents in today’s societies is quite contradictory: from a young age, we are taught to always be honest: to never cheat in school, to always tell our parents the truth, and to always play fair. However, while these morals have been instilled in us from childhood, everything in our environment from books, to friends, to televisions shows – you name it – have, in some way or another, been infused with lies. To justify their existence, the same society that has taught us to value honesty has taken the liberty of categorizing “acceptable” and “unacceptable” forms of lies; for example, as long as a lie is “white”, it’s okay. But, if it crosses any socially-created boundaries, this same white-lie now be-comes abominable. What color does this abomination now turn? I’m not too sure – but that’s beside the point.

What is on point, however, is that the expectation for individuals within a society to be honest and upright is completely contradicted by the morals and values that are socially promoted. I mean, why should we expect our children to be hon-est with us when their favorite cartoon characters make it a point to lie to their parents? Why should we be truthful in our age, weight, hair-color, eye-color, and skin color, when almost every product that is marketed for these features seeks to lie, mask, and cover-up the reality? Why go to work when a simple lie means that you’ll get to watch that football tournament – they won’t know anyways, and be-sides, you’ve seen your bosses do the same thing!

You, see, being truthful becomes pointless – and utterly useless for that matter – in a society where lying will actually get you places! And thus, the boundaries for distinguishing a lie and a truth have been blurred; so much so that these so-called “white lies”, or whatever spectrum of color they fall under, penetrate almost every – if not, every – societal realm: from as broad as global media to as narrow as family structures, lies have made their mark in a largely negative manner. How so? By removing the weight of the value attached to honesty. However, the onset of Islam over fourteen-hundred years ago meant a re-instillation of the value of honesty and a promotion of complete truthfulness (unless under specific circum-stances as outlined in the Shari’ah). A multitude of examples are found in the Qur’an with clear verses indicating, for instance, the seriousness of dealing dishonestly in trade (Surat Al-Mutaffifin, 83:1-3), or taking oaths to deceive one another (Surat An-Nahl, 16:94). One such verse is found in Surat-Al Baqarah wherein Allah (SWT) says:

“And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].” (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:42)

Muhammad bin Ishaq (rahimahullah) narrates that Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) said regard-

ing this verse:

“[it means] do not hide the knowledge that you have of My Messenger and what he was sent with. His description, which you know about, can be found written in the Books that you [the Jews] have.’’

Allah (SWT) points out the importance of extracting any falsehood that has con-taminated the truth and honestly preaching the message that has been sent with the Prophet (SAW). Today, however, in Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike, we see that the truth has indeed been mixed with falsehood, both in terms of religion and otherwise. So how, then, can this state be rectified? One way is to push our desires and ignorance aside and to truly educate ourselves about the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

In my opinion, the more knowledgeable we become, the less excuses that we will have to lie or justify our lies, whether they be in our lives or the lives of others. Bi’ithnillah, in educating ourselves, we will be able to re-distinguish the line be-tween falsehood and honesty that has been obscured by not only our societies, but inadvertently by ourselves as well.

And Allah (SWT) knows best.

Morals from the Hadith & Sunnah

It is just a lieby Jasmin Ali

“Mom, there was traffic”, “I didn’t do anything”, “I only took one”, “I forgot”, “It wasn’t me”, “I swear.”Every day we lie. Lies seem to slip from our tongues nonchalantly. We have govern-ments lying to their people, business owners lying to their customers, and brothers ly-ing to brothers. Lies are like pebbles, one pebble seems so small but as you keep gathering pebbles, the more significant they become. Lies seem small but accumu-late fast and once we tell one lie, we must tell another. We lie with no consequence al-though the Prophet (SAWS) said,

“Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. In addition, a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to wickedness and evil-doing, and wickedness leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before God, as a liar”. (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

We lie as if every word is not being written down and we are not going to be held ac-countable, but everything is accounted for whether it be the size of Mount Uhud or the size of a pebble. This is something we must realize as Muslims, Allah is As-Sami and Al-Alim; Allah sees and knows everything, every single syllable that comes out of our mouths is being written and we will see the good or bad of our words.

There are so many things going on in the world that a simple white lie may seem like nothing but is this little white lie something in the sight of Allah?

األمانه سلوككتابت صوفيا اسماعيل

Stories from the Prophets

هل من السهل ان نأتمن احد على شئ ؟ خاصه و هذا الشئ يمثل لنا الكثير ؟ فى بعض االحيان نحن ال نأمن حتى انفسنا على أشياء نريد الحفاظ عليها, فهناك عوامل خارجيه مؤثره

. على حياتنا و قرارتنا األمانه سمه عليا فى االسالم ففى قول الله تعالى

ا وا األمانات إلى أهلها وإذا حكمتم بين الناس أن تحكموا بالعدل إن الله نعم إن الله يأمركم أن تؤديعظكم به إن الله كان سميعا بصيرا

صدق الله العظيم

.فإذا ائتمنك شخص على ماله, سره, قلبه, افكاره ...الخ, فال بد ان تحافظ عليها بكل ما اوتيت فالعالم بدون امانه لن يصلح ابدا, إذا علمت من نفسك عدم القدره على الحفاظ على ما يريد ان

يأتنمك عليه االخرون فال توعد فتخلف, وال تخجل فتأذى, كن صريحا واعترف بعدم قدرتك على ذلك.أو إذا خجلت فال تقبل االمانه و ابحث لبديل لك اذا امكن

: األمانه لها اشكال كثيره

.فهناك مثال االمانه التى اعطاها الله سبحانه وتعالى لرسله, وهى تبليغ الرسالهقال صلى الله عليه وسلم : أال تأمنوني وأنا أمين من في السماء ، يأتيني خبر السماء صباحا ومساء

وفى قصه سيدنا يوسف عليه السالم رموز كثيره لالمانه, منها ما فعله أخوه يوسف بيوسف عليه السالم حين استأمنهم أباهم على يوسف, ولكن اخوه يوسف كانوا شديدي الغيره والحسد ألنهم شعروا بتفضيل

اباهم عليه, فوسوسة لهم انفسهم التخلص من اخيهم رغم وعدهم ألباهم اإلعتناء به وحمايته, فأخوه.يوسف قد خانوا األمانه

و مثال اخر لألمانه فى قصه سيدنا يوسف عليه السالم, انه بعدما زج به فالسجن عندما اتهمته إمرأه العزيز انه راودها عن نفسها, فعوقب يوسف على شئ لم يفعله وقد ظلم ظلما شديدا, ولكن الله سبحانه

قد عوده خيرا وأظهر الحق وأصبح يوسف امين على خزائن األرض بعدما ادى امانته فى تأويل رؤيةالملك

ا كلمه قال إنك اليوم لدينا مكين أمين وقال الملك ائتوني به أستخلصه لنفسي فلم

االمانه هى مبدأ مهم فى االسالم واإلنسانيه, فمن يخون األمانه يكون منافق, وسوف يحاسب على.ما فعل

وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم في ذم الخيانة : )آية المنافق ثالث : إذا حدث كذب وإذا وعد أخلف ، وإذا .)أؤتمن خان

الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يؤتمن من غير المسلمين على امالكهم. فالرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم كان الصادق األمين, فعلينا ان نتبع خطى الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم ليرضى الله عنا ونحاسب

.حسابا يسيرا

.الحمدلله على نعمة اإلسالم وكفى بها نعمه

،أمين هذه األمة.أبو عبيدة بن الجراح

كتابت ندى البدويهى

The life of theCompanions

إنه أبوعبيدة إبن الجراح أحد العشرة المبشرين بالجنة، الذى أمسكه أشرف الخلق )صل الله عليه و سلم( بيمنه و قال

.لكل أمة أمين، وأمين هذه األمة أبو عبيدة بن الجراح البخارى لماذ سمى بأمين األمة هل ألنه من عائلة عريقة ؟

هل ألنه مثقف و يحمل أعلى الشهادات ؟ هل ألنه أغنى الناس فى قبيلته ؟ هل ألنه محارب مجوار يخاف منه األعداء؟

هل ألنه جميل الوجه ؟. ال والله

إنه سمى بأمين األمة ألنه عندما بايع الرسول صل الله عليه و سلم على أن يفنى حياته في سبيل الله، كان أمين مع الله ثم مع الرسول ثم مع نفسه ,كان مدركا تمام اإلدراك ما تعنيه هذه الكلمات الثالث،

.في سبيل الله وكان على أتم إستعداد ألن يعطي هذا السبيل كل ما يتطلبه من بذل وتضحية

هذا النوع من األمانة مع الله و رسوله من أعظم األمانات, أن تكون أمين مع الله فى كل نفس تتنفسه , فى كل كلمة تنطق بها فى كل نظرة تنظر بها , فى كل عمل تعمل به , وفى كل خطوة

تخطو بها لتكون خالصة لوجه الله, فالوضوء أمانة، والغسل أمانة، والصيام أمانة، والصالة أمانة، واإلنسان مؤتمن عليها بينه وبين ربه، اإليمان في قلبه أمانة بينه وبين ربه، من يعلم ما في قلب العبد

.إال الله الذي خلقه

يا الله إنما األمين ليس فقط من تؤمنه على بعض األمانات و يرده إليك كاملة , إنما أمانة العبد مع

ربه تتحقق بحفظ ما أمرالله بحفظه،وبأداء واجباته واإلبتعاد عن منهياته, أمانة األب على عائلته , أمانة الرجل على بصره )غض البصر( , أمانة المرأء على شرفها , أمانة طالب العلم تتحقق بنشره وتعليمه للناس ,وأمانة حديث السرتتحقق بكتمانه وعدم ذكره لغيرصاحبه,أمانة الحكام مع المحكمين تتحقق

بالعدل بينهم والحرص على مصالحهم والسهرمن أجلهم,فيقول الرسول الكريم كلكم راع وكلكم مسئول عن رعيته، فاإلمام راع ومسئول عن رعيته، والرجل راع في أهل بيته ومسئول عن رعتيه،

والمرأة راعية في بيت زوجها ومسئولة عن رعيتها، والخادم راع في مال سيده ومسئول عن رعيته،.وكلكم راع ومسئول عن رعيته البخارى

كم كان أمين ابوعبيدة بن الجراح ؟ حتى إنه عندما جاء وفد نجران من اليمن إلى الرسول صل الله عليه و سلم ) طلبوا منه أن يرسل معهم رجال أمينا يعلمهم)، فقال لهم: ألبعثن معكم رجال أمينا، حق أمين, فتمنى كل واحد من الصحابة

. {أن يكون هو ذاك الرجل ، ولكن النبي إختار أبا عبيدة، فقال: قم يا أبا عبيدة {البخاري

مع أحاله من إختيار , وهذا ليس من فراغ فأنه سوف يمثل اإلسالم فى بالد اليمن وذلك ألمانته فى.نقل الرسالة و فى التخلق بأخالق اإلسالم

أبوعبيدة هو تصغير لكلمة عبد ولكن ما أعظمك عبدا أمينأ محبأ لله ولرسوله فكان ابى عبيدة فى الحروب التى خاضها مع الرسول الكريم صل الله عليه و سلم كانت عيونه عين على العدو وعين على

الرسول حتى ال يصاب بمكروه و كان دائما قريب منه حتى ال يحدث له مكروه , وكلما حث أبي عبيدة خطر يقترب من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، انخلع من موقفه البعيد وقطع األرض وثبا يدحض

!!..أعداء الله ويردهم على أعقابهم قبل أن ينالوا من الرسول مكروه

.فهو عاهد نفسه أن تكون حياته فداء للرسول الكريم ولم يتخلف أبوعبيدة عن غزوة غزاها النبي . كم كان عظيمأ أبوالعبيدة إبن الجراح

لقب بأمين هذه األمة ألنه وفى بالعهد الذى قطعه مع الرسول صل الله عليه و سلم ، رأى الرسول في مسلك ضميره، ومسلك حياته ما جعله أهال لهذا اللقب الكريم الذي أفاءه عليه،وأهداه اليه، فقال

عليه الصالة والسالم أمين هذه األمة،أبوعبيدة بن الجراح: فاألمانة ليست بأمر هين حيث يقول المولى تبارك و تعالى فى سورة األحزاب

قال عنه عمر بن الخطاب وهو يجود بأنفاسهلو كان أبو عبيدة بن الجراح حيا الستخلفته فإن سألني ربي عنه قلت: استخلفت أمين الله، وأمين رسوله, فى وفاته حيث بلغ أمير المؤمنين عمر بن

الخطاب أنه قد مات أبوعبيدة فقد حزن كثيرا و إستعاد ذكرياته معه ثم قاللو كنت متمنيا، ماتمنيت اال بيتا مملوءا برجال من أمثال أبي عبيدة

:من أشهر ما قال أبو عبيدة بن الجراح: خطبته في أهل الشام وهو أميرهم يا أيها الناس إني مسلم من قريش وما منكم من أحد، أحمر، وال أسود، يفضلني بتقوى إال وددت أني

في إهابه

.رحم الله أمين هذه األمة )أبو عبيدة بن الجراح( و جعلنا من أتباعه و أصحابه يوم اللقاء إن شاء الله

A Daughter’s Loyalty by Habiba Ghanem

Excerpts from aFollower’s life

While watching one of the episodes of Amr Khaled’s show “The Followers,” I was intro-duced to three Aishas; Aisha daughter of Saad bin Abi Waqas, Aisha daughter of Talha bin Ubyadallah and Aisha daughter of Uthman bin Afan.

The three Aishas not only share the same first name but their fathers are among the ten companions who have been promised paradise. Furthermore, the Aishas shared a value in seeking and spreading knowledge, they were all wealthy women, and were all very loyal to their fathers. Let’s take a glimpse into each of their lives:

Aisha Daughter of Saad bin Abi Waqas

Among the youngest of eight children, Aisha daughter of Saad bin Abi Waqas was thir-teen years old when her dad passed away. Before he died he advised her, out of all his other children, to concentrate on gaining knowledge. Saad bin Abi Waqas used to take her to places where major events took place, and he used to point out the exact ways that each of situations occurred. He took her to Sayeda Aisha (RA) and asked her to teach his daughter. Aisha claimed that she was taught by six of the Prophet’s (PBUH) wives.

When her dad died, Aisha insisted on fulfilling her father’s wishes. She would make duaa for Allah to increase the duration of her life so that she could spread knowledge. Indeed, her prayers were answered; people used to seek Aisha in order to gain knowledge and thus, many details of the Sunnah were learned through her. When Rabie Al Ray – the teacher of Imam Malik – was dying, Imam Malik questioned him as to who he should go to

for knowledge; Rabie’s answer was Aisha daughter of Saad bin Abi Waqas for she was full of knowledge.

Aisha was committed to teaching people and committed to spreading the knowledge that her dad and many others taught her. She didn’t allow life to get in the way of the mission that her dad assigned her. She was honest in her mission and Allah (SWT) made it easy for her to spread knowledge.

Aisha Daughter of Talha bin Ubaydallah When Talha bin Ubaydallah was dying he told his family to make sure that his youngest daughter Aisha (who was three at the time) became educated. Respecting his dying wish, Talaha’s family saved money for Aisha’s education. While growing up, her family would tell her about the greatness of her father and how he insisted that she become educated. Ai-sha became one of the most popular people who recited hadiths to teach people. Knowl-edge wasn’t the only thing that Aisha gave to the community; she also loved to donate a great amount of her wealth to charity for the sake of Allah. When people criticized her be-nevolence as over the top, she told them that she wanted to follow her dad’s footstep so that she could be closer to him.

When she was 30, she dreamt that her dad was telling her that he was in good condition but the water was bothering him. Keep in mind that Aisha never really knew her dad, but after she had that dream she travelled thousands of miles to her father’s grave. She had

people locate his body and they discovered that it was in great condition but there was water that kept hitting his side. Aisha then made a large purchase of land where she bur-ied her dad and built a mosque and named it after him. To further honor here father, Aisha named one of her sons after him, and she taught him to be benevolent in giving charity just like she and her dad were.

Like Aisha daughter of Saad bin Waqas, Aisha dedicated her life to her dad’s wish for her to help people and she was fortunate to have a family that was honest and fair in saving money for her education. Also, instead of shaking off the dream that she had, she took charge and helped her dad who was at unease in his grave.

Aisha Daughter of Uthman bin Afan Uthman bin Afan had many children but out of all his children, his daughter Aisha is the one that stood out. Uthman bin Afan was killed and considered a martyr. Although he had sons, his daughter Aisha was the one who was keen on avenging her father’s death and that’s what she devoted thirty years of her life to. She was relentless as she asked Ali bin Abi Talib and Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan when they were going to avenge her father’s death. When Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan became caliph he was on a journey to Mecca and Madina, Aisha stopped him as she ruthlessly asked him in front of the people when he was going to avenge her father’s death. Caught by surprise, Muawiya asked her to talk in private and explained to her how tough the situation was and begged her not turn the people against him.

Since she was busy trying to avenge her father’s death, Aisha didn’t have time to spread knowledge in the way that the other two Aishas did. However, she still valued education very much and spent some of her wealth on children to ensure that they got an education. There was a drive in Aisha telling her to unveil the truth and instead of ignoring that drive she was honest with herself and insisted on avenging her father’s death. She also didn’t overlook the fact that kids in the community needed an education, and she made it her duty to provide them with the money for it.

What’s written here are just flashes of the difference that these women were trying to make in their respective communities. They weren’t only making a difference in their com-munity but they were paving the way for future generations. How? Through the knowledge they passed on and the ruthlessness with which they faced tough situations.

Their loyalty was derived by many factors including honesty. The Aishas were honest with themselves, for they didn’t hide from the responsibilities of the mission that their fathers gave them. They were honest with the knowledge that they wanted to spread, for they didn’t hold that information from the people. Each one of these women had a certain mis-sion and in one way or another, they aimed to search for and to spread the truth. By being honest with themselves and others throughout their missions, not only were they loyal to their fathers but their honesty made it easy for them to be loyal to Allah (SWT), and with Al-lah’s (SWT) guidance they became inspirational figures that we should aspire to be like.

The Voice in My Head & The Void in My Heart by Habiba Ghanem

SuperCorner

Stand Up For Truth by Drina S.Salleh

“You are happy. You are happy. Everything is great minus a few bumps in the road, you are still happy,” the voice in my head assured me.

But as time passed by the voice in my head, started asking questions, “Are you happy? Is this worth it?”

“Yes, yes, shhh,” I would reply.

“But what about the signs? Don’t they say something? Why are you overlooking them?” The voice nagged.

“Those signs are just a few bumps, don’t worry. I’ll just keep making duaa. This is a chance for me to get clos-er to Allah (SWT),” I insisted.

At least I was right about one thing, Allah (SWT) was testing me, but for awhile I was going about this test in the wrong way. Instead of moving towards Allah (SWT) I was moving away.

The more that I lied to myself and purposely overlooked signs, the bigger that my ignorance got. In other words, I had allowed shaytan (satan) to play with my head and the more that, that happened the more that my nafs (ego) was affected.

Now that I look back, I see how selfish I was. I had seen the confusion and sometimes pain in the eyes of those around me but I ignored it. I was hurt too. Confusion and frustration became my close friends.

Despite what I was going through I still prayed to Allah. At first I used to ask Him to make things work out the way that I wanted. But as my inner struggle grew I started asking Allah to present what was best for me.

Throughout the tough time that I was facing, Allah (SWT) sent a few gifts. “So verily with every difficulty there is ease 94:6”

The first gift was the “Help Club” (a club at my university.) They were my first group of Sohba Saleha. Sudden-ly, people with great hearts and immense faith towards Allah surrounded me. It was just the kind of environ-ment that I needed. They taught me so much and their presence eased my struggle.

Then out of nowhere there was something inside of me that was encouraging me to be a better person. I knew that I was on a path but I had no idea where it was taking me. The more that I worked on improving myself, the louder that the compressed voice became. My stubborn self refused to go down without a fight though.

Slowly but surely, I started listening to the voice inside my head. I could no longer ignore the hole in my heart. My struggle was stopping me from becoming the person that I deeply wanted to become. It took awhile for me to admit that but once I did, I got passed my problem and I haven’t looked back ever since.

You see, the more that I became honest with myself the more that I opened my heart to Allah (SWT) I put my trust in Him, and He never let me down. I left everything up to His will, as I should have from the beginning. I finally got a taste of the state of tranquility and happiness that I was in need of. I hated to admit it at the time, but deep down I knew I was miserable and my heart was never at ease.

Even though I had gotten passed my struggle (with Allah’s help of course), He sent me more blessings. I was introduced and given the opportunity to join two other organizations; Serenity Society; (a club that started at my university) and SuperMuslims. Both of those groups work to remind others of the reason of our existence. The people that Allah sent to me throughout what I was dealing with, were a sign from Him to continue on my path. He provided those people to help me and I can’t thank Him enough for his blessings, for they truly changed my life.

You can’t fight what Allah has planned for you, be sure that his plan is better. Don’t let shaytan (satan) get the best of you. No matter how hard something seems know that Allah (SWT) will be there to guide you, just turn to Him.

Stand Up For Truth by Drina S.Salleh

«Speak the truth even if your voice shakes.» -Unknown

The quote above reminds me so much of the advice my late grandfather gave me when I was a teenager. If he were still alive we would›ve celebrated his birthday on June 26.

I do not remember exactly what situation I was in at that time when he told me to be brave because of the truth, especially if I know I am in the right. However, I have held on to that advice until now. I stand up for myself, and also for others.

I have stood up for my classmates under the tyranny of a biased teacher, stood up to «horrible boss» and also to strangers. I also confront friends caught weaving a web of deceit. It is always messy, trying to untangle oneself from the sticky mess of others.

I will never forget an incident when I became angry with a particular teacher because she was being rude to a classmate. I immediately stood up and defended her. The outcome? The teacher threatened to call my parents and send me to the principal›s office.

I remembered the words of my grandfather so I looked her in the eye and told her that I was not afraid because I will speak the truth. My classmate did nothing wrong to deserve such treatment. I also told my teacher that she should not abuse her position as a teacher.

That teacher just kept quiet and she never did report me to the principal.

However, she took a dislike to me and told the rest of my classmates that I would never pass her class, but I did. Her favourite student failed instead.

I was brought up thinking that yes, honesty is the best policy. Therefore I always endeavour to speak the truth. I hate whenever people, especially my friends, put me in a position where I have to lie.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “Maintain truthfulness, for truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Heaven. A man continues to maintain truthfulness until he is recorded in Allah’s book as truthful. Refrain from lying, because lying leads to blatant evil, and evil leads to the fire. A man continues to lie until he is recorded in Allah’s book as a liar.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood and Al-Tirmithi).

I have never been called a liar, but I am always described as being blunt. Friends say I «tell it like it is» and sometimes I feel that they do not consider this a good thing.

People say it is better to be hurt by the bitter truth than be hurt by the sweetest lie. I would appreciate the truth, even if it hurts rather than live a life of deception...and always assume that others would feel the same way. Apparently, this is not the case for most.

This said, I cannot say that I have never told a lie in my life because I am only human and I

have lied but never with ill intent, usually to avoid from hurting someone›s feelings or to save someone from a bad end. Usually I would either keep quiet or opt for the «safest» route which is lying by omission. I don›t sugarcoat...I just leave it out.

Does this make it right? No, it is still wrong. I believe I commit a sin even if it is a little white lie. Astaghfirullahalazim.

So when is it ever okay to lie? I have come across a hadith which says that Muslims are only allowed to lie on three occasions: between a husband and wife to keep the peace; towards an enemy in war or battle; and to help in reconciliation between people.

This does, in a way allow for room to breathe but I believe as Muslims, our first instinct must be to speak the truth. We can lie to others but we can never lie to ourselves. Most of all, we can never lie because Allah SWT sees and hears all.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: «Four traits, whoever possesses them is a hypocrite and whoever possesses some of them has an element of hypocrisy until he leaves it: the one who when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his promise, when he disputes he transgresses and when he makes an agreement he violates it.» (Muslim and Bukhari)

Let us all work on getting rid of any elements of hypocrisy. May Allah SWT forgive us for all the little white lies told and accept our repentance.