Do not Break Your Promises

The traders and the industrialists particularly should take special care to see that they keep their promises, that they are true to their words and that they do not change their stand. It is a very sad state of affairs that among the Muslims the tendency of breaking promises and crossing the limits has become very common, when their religion has termed the false promises as symbols of disruption.

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) considered the words coming out from the mouth as holy and the words that fell on his ears as respectable. Before attaining Prophet-hood, these qualities of decency and manliness were found in his character.

Abdullah bin Abi Hama says that he entered into a contract for the sale of a commodity with the Prophet (Peace be upon him) before he was blessed with Prophet-hood, and some commodities had remained to be sold. He promised to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that he would hand over a certain thing to him at a certain place. Then he forgot all about this. After three days he remembered his promise and went to the appointed place. He saw that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was present at the spot. He only said this:

 “O young man! You worried me. I am waiting here for you for the last three days.” (Reported by Abu Daud)

It is narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had promised Jabir bin Abdullah that he would give him some gifts from the stock of articles coming from Bahrain, but before fulfilling this promise he died. When the stock from Bahrain arrived at the place of the First Caliph, he caused an announcement to be made in the public that anyone whom the Prophet (Peace be upon him) might have promised to give something from this stock or anyone who had lent something to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) should come to him and take away his due. (Reported by Bukhari)

It is worth noting how the words are appraised and they are enforced, so that they may not become worthless if left uncared for. False promises do untold harm to the interests of the society. They cause inconvenience to the people and waste time, redeeming your pledges is a commendable quality. Allah considers fulfilling of promises as one of the attributes of Prophet-hood:

 “Also mention in the Book (the story of) Ismail; he was true to what he promised and he was a Messenger, (Peace be upon him). He used to enjoin on his people prayer and charity and he was most acceptable in sight of the Lord…” (Surah Maryam: 54-55)

In these verses the order of the good qualities show what position the quality of fulfilling of promises enjoys; and Ismail showed that he was true to his word when his father told him that he saw a dream in which he was slaughtering his son, Ismail, and asked him what he thought about it. The son, who was true to his word, replied: “God willing, you will find me patient and steadfast.”

Sometimes man relies on falsehood when he commits a mistake, and he wants to save himself from the bad consequences of that mistake. This is very unwise and brings a bad name. It amounts to going from one evil to another, which is worse than the first evil. It is necessary that man should own his mistakes. It is likely that his truthfulness and his sense of sorrow over his mistake may save him from the bad consequences and he may be pardoned.

When a Muslim senses some danger or is afraid to speak the truth, it is proper that he should show courage and try to avoid getting ensnared in the net of falsehood.

Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) has said:

 “Adopt truth, even if you see your destruction in it, for the (final) salvation is in it.” (Reported by Ibn Abi-Duniya)

In another hadith it is mentioned:

 “When a person tells a lie, the bad odour that emanates from it keeps the angels one mile away.” (Reported by Tirmizi)