Syed Ahmer

  Sometimes  Tawazu   (تواضع) (humility)   can be confused with disrespecting oneself  (ذلتِ نفس) , and sometimes with ungratefulness  (ناشکری) . It is often not possible to tell them apart unless someone has undergone training for this by a Shaykh. One cannot learn this just by reading a book and then beginning to decide what is  Tawazu  and what is disrespecting oneself. One can learn this skill only through practical training in which one keeps observing a Shaykh’s behaviour and actions over a period of time, and keeps seeking guidance from him after informing him about one’s own behaviour. Only after going through that process can a person learn whether a particular behaviour or way of thinking is desirable or undesirable.

 As mentioned above, in Islam people have not been left totally free to earn their wealth or and spend it as they wish. The underlying principle is that Islam does not look favourably upon the accumulation of wealth in a few hands, and a number of commandments have been set to mitigate against it, the system of Zakat, and the principles of inheritance being two such examples.    In Zakat, financially well-off Muslims are obligated to give a fixed proportion of their wealth to poor Muslims every year. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. A rich Muslim has no option of saying, “why should I give my hard-earned money to someone else? I earned it, I will spend it on my own comforts, my own family”. There are very severe penalties mentioned in the Noble Qur’an for those who do not pay Zakat as due. This provision ensures transfer of wealth from the wealthy to the poor on a regular basis.

 Similarly,  Tawazu  (humility, believing that other people are better than oneself) is a great moral attribute and is highly desirable. But there is another attribute in which some people disrespect themselves in front of other people. This is  Haraam . Allah Ta’ala has made it  Wajib  (necessary) that we preserve our self-respect. We are not allowed to debase ourselves deliberately. However, differentiate between the two, i.e. being able to tell which behaviour is carried out because of  Tawazu , and which is bordering on disrespecting oneself, is not easy and not everyone is able to do it.

 Gambling is one of those few financial transactions which have been declared Haraam (unlawful) in Shariah even if it is carried out with the mutual consent of both parties. It is therefore important to understand a few aspects of gambling.   In Shariah, a financial transaction is valid only if a commodity is exchanged with a commodity. In gambling, there is a commodity at one end i.e. money, but there is no commodity at the other end, there is only a chance that one may get something in return, but there is also a chance that one may not get anything in return and may also lose their initial investment. Such transactions are invalid in Shariah.

  Hazrat Thanvi RE acknowledged his mistake in front of the whole gathering of people who had come to listen to his sermon. Only someone who has crushed his ego completely, who knows how spiritual ills can manifest in a person’s speech or behaviour, and who is always critically evaluating his own behaviour, can admit his mistake publicly like this. This is why one needs a Shaykh (mentor) because it is extremely difficult to appreciate the difference between phenomena such as   Ta’alli   (self-praise) and   Tehdees-e-Naimah   (acknowledging Allah Ta’ala’s blessings) which seem so similar on the surface.  

  GAMBLING   “They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, ‘In both there is great sin, and some benefits for people. And their sin is greater than their benefit.’ (2:219)   “The Satan only wants hostility and hatred to come to stay between you through wine and gambling, and to prevent you from remembering Allah and from the Salah.”   (5:91) 

 One last point about the same topic is that the behaviours of people who believe that engaging in interest-based transactions is wrong, versus people who insist that in this day and age it is completely fine to do so, varies in one significant way. We see people with the former belief that even when they may buy a house on mortgage, they still keep believing it is wrong, they keep doing  Istighfar , and they try to get rid of their mortgage as soon as possible with the intention of never engaging in it again, and never buying any item on interest for which they can pay cash.    On the other hand, one sees the latter group buying a second, a third, a fourth house, a car, household items, holidays, on mortgage in an attempt to increase their wealth long-term, or for their comfort and pleasure. They believe that this way they can increase their wealth quicker and to a greater extent, compared to other means of investment which are permissible under Shariah. In terms of numbers it may be

 THE STORY OF HAZRAT THANVI RE   Once Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) was giving a sermon, sitting on a mosque’s pulpit in Delhi, in front of a large gathering of people. While delivering the sermon he said, “Let me tell you something. You will only hear it from me and will not hear it from anyone else. I am saying this as  Tehdees-e-Naimah  (thanking Allah Ta’ala for His blessings) that Allah Ta’ala has imparted this knowledge only to me.” After saying this Hazrat Thanvi RE became quiet for a moment, and then said, “ Asthagfirullah  (may Allah Ta’ala forgive me),  Asthagfirullah, Asthagfirullah . What I just said that you will hear this only from me, and no one else, this is  Ta’alli  (boasting, bragging). I am praising myself, and I termed it  Tehdees-e-Naimah . May Allah Ta’ala forgive me. Because I had committed this sin publicly, therefore, I also do my  Taubah  (repentance) publicly, and I beg Allah Ta’ala for forgiveness.”

  Similarly, praising oneself and bragging that “I am so great, I am this, I am that”, is a spiritual illness and is  Haraam  in Shariah. The term used for it in Tasawwuf is  Ta’alli   (تعلّی) . Another superficially similar attribute is  Tehdees-e-Naimah (تحدیثِ نعمت)  which has been mentioned in the Noble Qur’an. It refers to acknowledging Allah Ta’ala’s blessings upon oneself.   “… And about the bounty of your Lord, do talk.” (3:11)    Superficially both are similar and it is not easy to differentiate that if a person is saying something good about himself, is it out of  Ta’alli  or  Tehdees-e-Naimah .

 The point is that there are only two ways of following  Deen . One is that one learns it systematically and becomes a religious scholar, and then acts upon his own knowledge. The second is that if one is engaged in a vocation that does not leave him sufficient time to learn  Deen  systematically, then he finds a scholar who has both authentic knowledge and integrity of character, and follows that scholar in matters of religion. Once a person makes his best effort to find such a scholar and follows them, they have fulfilled their obligation as specified in the Noble Qur’an, as not everyone of us can become religious scholars because then there will be no doctors, nurses, teachers, in this world. It is a ruling of Shariah that a person who makes his best effort to find a scholar with knowledge and integrity and then follows them, then if that scholar makes an honest mistake, both the scholar and the follower will not be penalized for it on the Day of  Qiyamah (Doomsday) as long as they

 THE NEED FOR A SHAYKH (MENTOR)   However, usually it is not possible to obtain  Tazkiyah  without entering into a mentoring relationship with a Shaykh (spiritual mentor). If a person wants to develop expertise in any skill, he has to find a mentor who can teach him that skill. Even if a person wants to become an expert chef, he has to enter into the tutelage of an established chef. It requires a high level of skill to differentiate between different mental attributes, and to decide which of these attributes is desirable, and which one is undesirable. For example,  Takabbur  (grandiosity, believing others to be inferior to oneself) is  Haraam (unlawful), and it is  Wajib  (necessary) to protect oneself from  Takabbur , as it gives rise to many spiritual ills. However, there is another mental attribute which is self-respect. It is  Wajib  to develop self-respect, as disrespecting oneself intentionally is not allowed in Shariah. However, differentiating between these two, whether a perso

  The third thing is that many lay Muslims like myself who have never had a chance or have never chosen to learn the knowledge of   Deen   (religion) systematically, somehow still feel qualified to form very strong opinions about all sorts of religious matters. One often hears statements like “there is no such thing as Islamic Finance, it is just re-branding of interest-based transactions, etc.” Often these are people have spent more than a decade systematically learning their own chosen vocation like medicine, engineering, law or business administration, but somehow feel that there is no need to learn   Deen   systematically before one becomes a religious scholar.

  In summary, there are some desirable traits ( Akhlaq-e-Fazilah ) pertaining to our minds or inner-self which it is incumbent upon us to develop, and there are some undesirable traits ( Akhlaq-e-Razilah ) pertaining to our minds which we are required to attenuate and control. The role of a Sufi Shaykh is to inculcate and enhance the former, and attenuate and weaken the latter, in the minds of his spiritual pupils called  Mureed  ( مرید ).    Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) further used to say that the aim of treating undesirable traits is not to get rid of them completely, as many of these are natural instincts and it is not possible to get rid of them completely. The idea is to keep opposing them through one’s thoughts and behaviours so much that they become so weak as if they do not exist anymore. This process of enhancing and further developing desirable mental traits, and weakening and attenuating undesirable inner traits, is called  Tazkiyah  and this is the primary go

 The moral of this particular story is that even in situations where immediately getting out of all interest-based transactions is not within our ‘capacity’, it is certainly within our capacity to keep accepting that what we are doing is not right, to keep doing  Istighfar  (asking Allah Ta’ala for forgiveness), and to keep making  Dua  (prayer) to Allah Ta’ala to show us a way out of it. What people sometimes are not aware of is that insisting on a sin, in the sense of believing and claiming that it is absolutely okay to commit that act and that it is not a sin at all, makes it a much greater sin.

 Before stating the second point I will share a story. A young person went to see a  Buzurg  (wise elder) and asked whether his particular means of income was Halal (permissible). The  Buzurg  replied that it wasn’t, but also said that he shouldn’t give it up immediately. Rather, he should start looking for a means of Halal income but look for it with the same level of effort a person makes when they are jobless and looking for a job.    The reason the  Buzurg  told him not to give up his  Haraam  (impermissible) source of income till he found a Halal income, was that sometimes people make emotional decisions when they initially turn towards  Deen  (religion). Then, when they can’t bear the tough consequences of those decisions, they start blaming  Deen  and in some cases unfortunately give it up altogether.

  Similarly, there are some bad or undesirable traits in our minds or inner-self which are  Haraam  (impermissible) and we must try to remove them from our minds. These are called  Akhlaq-e-Razilah  ( اخلاقِ رذیلہ ). If these traits are present in us, then a person has to try to suppress and attenuate them so that they do not lead a person to commit sinful acts. The examples of such undesirable mental traits are  Takabbur  ( تکبّر ) (grandiosity, believing oneself to be superior to other people),  Hasad  ( حسد ) (envy, being jealous of the good things others and wishing that they lose them),  Riya  ( ریا ) (doing acts of worship with the intention of pleasing people, rather than pleasing Allah Ta’ala), and impatience ( بے صبری ) (not accepting what Allah Ta’ala has decided for us and keep complaining about fate), etc. These traits of the mind are as  Haraam  (impermissible) as committing a robbery or telling a lie is  Haraam .

 I had quoted the verse “Allah does not obligate any beyond his capacity…” for a specific reason in the background of  Riba  (interest). These days many Muslims believe and say that it is not possible to live without engaging in interest-based financial transactions. However, if we read the verse above again with this context in mind, it raises a few questions.   The first point is that, as the previously quoted verses from the Noble Qur’an show, Allah Ta’ala has clearly declared  Riba  (interest)  Haraam  (unlawful). These verses do not say that it was declared  Haraam  for the Muslims of the Prophet’s ( ﷺ ) time only, but that it has been declared  Haraam  for all times to come. When we say today that we cannot live without interest, are we saying that when Allah Ta’ala revealed those verses He did not know Ma’az Allah (may Allah forgive me) that a time is going to come when people won’t be able to live without interest?

  Tazkiyah  literally means purifying something. There are many commandments of Shariah which pertain to a person’s body, as in they are carried out physically. Some of them are DOs   (اوامر)   for example, pray  Salah , observe fasting, give  Zakat , perform  Hajj , and some of them are DON’T’s  (نواہی) , for example, do not tell a lie, do not do  Gheebat  (backbiting), do not drink alcohol, do not steal, do not commit robbery, etc.   Similarly, there are many commandments of Shariah which pertain to a person’s mind, or inner self. Some of these are DOs called  Awamir   (اوامر) . Developing these attributes of mind is  Wajib  (necessary) and a person’s  Deen  doesn’t become complete unless he develops these attributes. For example, it is  Wajib  (necessary) to perform  Shukr  (being thankful to Allah Ta’ala for His blessings upon us), observing  Sabr  (patience, steadfastness) if something undesirable happens, observing  Tawakkul  (placing one’s complete faith and trust in Allah Ta’al

 What then is the primary goal of Tasawwuf? The Noble Qur’an has pointed towards the primary goal of Tasawwuf in this verse;   “ success is really attained by him who purifies it” (91:9)   And in the Noble Qur’an, while describing the aims of sending the Holy Prophet  ﷺ , Allah Ta’ala says;   “We have sent in your midst a messenger from among you, who recites to you Our verses, and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and the wisdom, and teaches you what you did not know.” (2:151)   In this verse, Allah Ta’ala has listed ‘ Tazkiyah’  (purification) as a separate purpose from teaching of the Noble Qur’an and teaching of wisdom.

 THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF TASAWWUF   The terms  Tasawwuf  (Sufism),  Tareeqat   (طریقت) ,  Sulook   (سلوک) ,  Ihsan   (احسان) , all refer to the same thing and are inter-changeable. The primary aim of Tasawwuf is not merely doing  Zikr  (remembrance), for example, some people think that if we do  bayt   (بیعت)  with a Shaykh, he will tell us some  Tasbeehat   (تسبیحات)  to recite. Some other people think that the purpose of Tasawwuf is to learn how to do  Tawez   (تعویذ) , and that the Shaykh will teach us how to treat physical and social ills with  Tawez . Please understand clearly that Tasawwuf has nothing to do with learning  Tawez  and spiritual treatments. In fact, even  Zikr  is not the primary purpose of Tasawwuf. Similarly, some other people think that the purpose of Tasawwuf is that a person becomes a monk, goes to some remote place and meditates there, and does  Mujahidah  (spiritual effort). None of these is the primary purpose of Tasawwuf though some of these are ways to achi

 TREATMENT OF ONE’S EMPLOYEES   In our society these days, employers do not treat their drivers as equal human beings. However, in Arab culture there are still some remnants of the original Islamic culture. They treat their drivers like brothers, for example, when they get out of the car after a travel, they say “thank you brother”. When they sit down to eat, they make their drivers sit with them to eat.    On the other hand, in our culture we do not invite or drivers to sit with us during meals. We eat inside the house while he keeps sitting in the car. We don’t even care whether they have eaten or not. We have inherited all these habits from non-Islamic cultures. The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  is what has been described in this Hadith. May Allah Ta’ala help us understand it and follow it. Aameen   و آخر دعوانا ان الحمدالّٰلہ رب العٰلمین

 DO NOT HUMILIATE YOUR SUBORDINATES   These days, we have become very neglectful about how we treat our servants, subordinates and hired help. We say abusive words to them, tell them off in a belittling and insulting manner, disrespect them, and say hurtful things to them, whenever we feel like it. This is all prohibited in Shariah. If you have a subordinate, a domestic servant, or hired help, treat him like your brother. Remember that they are human beings too, just like you. They also have a beating heart, have wishes, desires and aspirations, have thoughts and emotions, and have wants and needs. It is completely impermissible to treat them as sub-humans.

  “Allah does not obligate anyone beyond his capacity …”  (2:286)

 BEING A SIDDIQ AND CURSING OTHERS   Once Hazrat Siddiq Akbar (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) was scolding one’s slave and saying some curse words to him. When the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  heard this, he said;   “You are a Siddiq and you also curse! By the God of Ka’abah both of these traits cannot be combined together.”   Meaning that a person cannot be a  Siddiq  and also be cursing other people. If a person is a  Siddiq  he cannot curse other people, and the person who curses other people cannot be a  Siddiq . Hazrat Siddiq Akbar RAA trembled upon hearing this and freed not just the slave he had been cursing but also many other slaves.

  RIBA  (INTEREST/USURY)   “Those who take riba (usury or interest) will not stand but as stands the one whom the demon has driven crazy by his touch. That is because they have said: ‘Sale is but like riba.’, while Allah has permitted sale, and prohibited riba…” (2:275)   “Allah destroys riba and nourishes charities…” (2:276)   “O’ you who believe, fear Allah and give up what still remains of riba, if you are believers. But if you do not (give it up), then listen to the declaration of war from Allah and His Messenger…” (2:278-279)

 CORRECTING HAZRAT ABU ZAR GHAFFARI RAA   Once the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  was going somewhere. On the way, he saw Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) scolding his slave. That slave was  Habshi  (of African origin) so he was saying to him, “O’  Habshi , you are doing this.” When the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  heard these words, he said,    “O’ Abu Zar! It seems like you still have some habits from the days of Jahiliyah (ignorance). That is why you are addressing your slave as O’ Habshi.”   Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari RAA started crying upon hearing these words, and even later he used to remember again and again that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  had said this about me.

 GOOD BEHAVIOUR DOES NOT ENCOURAGE BAD BEHAVIOUR   These days we make up excuses that if I treat my domestic servants and employees well, they will become spoiled and will start misbehaving. But we do not reflect on it that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  did not give any credence to any such considerations. Because he knew that his treating his servants well encouraged them to do good, as well as stopped them from misbehaviour. And that is why his kind behaviour with Hazrat Anas (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) over a period of ten years did not lead to any misbehaviour. This is the type of good behaviour towards one’s employees and subordinates that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ   himself practiced, as well as taught the Sahaba to practice.

 The concept behind it is all wealth belongs to Allah Ta’ala and it is He who grants some of it to us. We are allowed to earn it in certain ways, but there are other ways of earning it which have been declared clearly impermissible ( Haraam ). We can use it to bring comfort to ourselves and our loved ones, but we do not have absolute control over it and there are certain heads in which we are not allowed to spend it.  We HAVE to share it with those who are less fortunate than us, some ways of which are obligatory ( Fard ), while others have been declared supererogatory ( Mustahabb ) (they bring great merit when someone does it but are not compulsory). An understanding of this core concept of limitations on how we can earn and spend our wealth is relevant to the discussion which will follow later.

  Hazrat Anas (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) himself narrates that once the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  sent him to perform some chore. When he left home he saw some children playing. He also started playing with them and completely forgot the chore for which the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  had sent him. The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  was waiting for him to come back and tell him whether he had completed the chore. When he didn’t return for quite some time, the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  came out and performed that chore himself. When he was returning, Hazrat Anas RAA saw him and suddenly remembered that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  had told him to perform some chore. He got worried that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ   will get upset. So, he went to him and said, “O’ Prophet of Allah  ﷺ . When I left home I started playing with children and forgot that chore.” The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  replied, “Do not worry. I have done it myself.” Hazrat Anas RAA reports that he neither scolded me, nor told me off, or punished me in any way.

  In contrast, in Islam, there are clear restrictions on how one can earn one’s income, as well as on how one can spend what one has earned. In fact, there is a Hadith of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  to the effect that among the questions a person will have to answer on the Day of Qiyamah (Doomsday) before his trial before Allah Ta’ala will be concluded will include, “where did he earn his income from”, and “what did he spend his income on”. 

  “0 Shuaib (peace be upon him), does your Salah (prayer) command you that we should give up what our fathers used to worship or that we give up doing with our wealth whatever we wish?” (11:87)    This is a question that the people of Hazrat Shuaib (peace be upon him) asked him, as narrated by the Noble Qur’an. Unfortunately, this is one of the questions which are asked by many Muslims even today. Why can’t I earn my money whichever way I want to earn it? Why can’t I spend my money whichever way I want to spend it? This is the way Islamic commerce is different from both Capitalism and Communism. In Communism, the ‘State’ controls everything, including how and how much one earns, and how one can spend one’s income. In Capitalism, there is almost no restriction on how one can earn one’s income, even if it means a few people become billionaires, and millions become destitute. Similarly, there is almost no restriction on how one spends one’s wealth, for example, leaving all of one’s wealth

  Hazrat Anas (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) remained in the service of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  for about ten years. About how the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  treated him during all this time, he himself says;   “I served the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  for ten years. During all this time he never even said ‘uff’ (an expression of exasperation) to me, neither scolded me, nor told me off, and never said ‘why did you do this do this’, or ‘why did you not do this’.”   This seems simple enough in saying, but if someone tries to follow this Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ , only then they will realise what supreme self-control it will require to consistently do this for ten years! We are happy following the easy Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ , but this is also a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ   and we must try to follow it too. May Allah Ta’ala grant us the motivation to follow all these Sunnah too. Aameen

  THE HOLY PROPHET’S  ﷺ  WAY OF TREATING HIS SUBORDINATES   When the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  migrated to Medinah Munawwarah, Hazrat Anas’ (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) parents Hazrat Abu Talhah and Hazrat Umme Salim (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them) discussed amongst themselves that the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  does not have any domestic help. Why don’t we present our son to him so that he can serve the Holy Prophet  ﷺ ? So, both of them took their son before the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  and said, “O’ Prophet of Allah  ﷺ , our son is very wise and smart. We want him to live in your household and serve you.” The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  accepted it, so Hazrat Anas’ parents left him in his service.

  Once we went to conduct a workshop on mental health at a mosque near Wellington. After the workshop and during dinner a young person asked, “Can you please tell me what would be the best way to do   Tableegh   (preaching) at my workplace?” I replied, “I will tell you the best way of preaching Islam at your workplace. Do NOT say a word about Islam. Always turn up to work on time. Never skive off early. Make sure that your performance at work is exemplary. People should believe that if you have done something, it must be of high quality. Never use stuff given to you for work, for personal use. Never do personal chores in work hours. There is no better way of preaching Islam than through your character. If you behave like this at work, you will be the best ambassador of Islam, and the most amazing part would be that you wouldn’t have had to say a word.”

  So, you do have a right to punish your slave, but be very measured in deciding on that punishment. Make sure that the punishment is not more severe than the severity of his mistake.” The  Sahabi  said, “O’ Prophet of Allah  ﷺ . That is a very difficult decision. How will I measure that I haven’t punished him more than he deserved? It is easier for me to just set him free.” So, he freed that slave. Shariah has issued such strict guidance for rights of those who are  subservient to us in some way.

Imam Malik (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has said that weighing and measuring less essentially means that someone does not fulfil the right of another person due on him, fully and duly. In fact, makes it less, whether it happens to be something given by weight, or measure, or something of another kind. If an employee falls short in performing his or her assigned duty, or an office worker, or a labourer cuts his working hours short, or fails to fulfil his job assignment as due, then, they all will be counted in this category. (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

  Once a  Sahabi  asked the Holy  ﷺ  Prophet, “O’ Prophet of Allah  ﷺ . If my slave makes a mistake or does something wrong, do I have the right to punish him, or not?” The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  replied, “You do have the right to punish him but do remember that your punishment should be proportionate to his mistake. If the punishment you give is proportionately less than the mistake he made, then Allah Ta’ala will get you your right from him in Aakhirah (Hereafter). But if your punishment is proportionately more severe than the mistake he made, then Allah Ta’ala will make you pay him for this injustice on the Day of Qiyamah.” The Sahabi exclaimed upon hearing this, “O Prophet of Allah  ﷺ , what if I punished him more than was due?” The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  replied, “Have you not read this verse of the Noble Qur’an?   “So, whoever does good (even) to the weight of a particle shall see it.  [7] And whoever does evil (even)to the weight of a particle shall see it.” (99:7-8)

 FULFILLING FINANCIAL RIGHTS OF OTHERS   “Woe to the curtailers who, when they measure something to receive from people, take it in full, and when they measure or weigh something to give it to them, give less than due.” (83:1-3)   “And 0’ my people, perfect the measure and the balance with justice and do not make the people short of their things,” (11:85)   The Holy Prophet  ﷺ   said :    “When a people start lessening weights and measures, Allah Ta'ala makes them suffer from the punishment of famine and price hikes.” 

 WE WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR SUBORDINATES’ RIGHTS   Even during his last moments in this mortal world, the Holy Prophet  ﷺ   emphasized that we should be good to our subordinates and underlings. This is because we can atone for the violation of rights of Allah Ta’ala by doing  Istighfar (asking for forgiveness) and  Taubah  (repentance), but if we have violated the rights of our subordinates and underlings, and especially those who did not dare to answer back to us or say to us that we were being unfair to them for fear of repercussions, then there is no way of atoning for violation of their rights.

  “However, there is a third kind in which there is commodity on both sides, and apparently the transaction has been effected with mutual consent, but the consent of one party has been obtained by compulsion and not by his free will. Therefore, this third kind is also included in the second one. For example, a person or company collects articles of daily use from all over the market, builds up a stock, raises prices on the higher side and starts selling. Since this is not available elsewhere in the market, the customer has no choice but to buy it from him at whatever price he may be selling it. In this situation, though the customer himself walks into the store and, obviously, buys it with his consent, but this 'consent' is an outcome of compulsion and therefore, it is null and void.” (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

  -         “Secondly, the transaction must be effected with the mutual consent of the parties. Therefore, if there is trade, where the object of sale does exist, but the mutual consent of the parties is not there, even then, the sale is invalid and impermissible.” (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

  Look at the character of Hazrat Abu Masood Ansari RAA that he was extremely angry and was about to hit his slave, but as soon as he heard the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  say that Allah Ta’ala has more power over you than you have over this slave, he immediately said, “O’ Messenger of Allah  ﷺ . I free this slave.” This was the level of obedience the Companions of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  observed towards him.

  -         “ To explain the first condition, we can say that trade is the name of the exchange of one commodity with the other. Having commodity on one side and having no commodity against it is not trade. It is deception. The same holds good for interest-based transactions where the amount of interest is a return for the time allowed in a loan  -  and this 'time' is no 'commodity'. The same thing happens in speculation and gambling. Here, the commodity does exist on one side, but the existence of a commodity against it is doubtful.” (Ma’ariful Qur’an)