Sh.Kamal Ekmekki

The People of Madyan and the Sin of Dishonesty in Business

Allah sent Shu'ayb to the people of Madyan. And it is a city that was towards the edge of Al-Sham, or modern-day Syria. And we know that of their crimes is that they worshipped Al-Aykah — Al-Aykah is this large tree that they had, that was surrounded by other trees. They worshipped this tree, Al-Aykah. And they were highway robbers, and they would scare the travelers. And they were of the worst in dealings — they would cheat in their balances and in their business. And that's what we want to focus on when it comes to this type of honesty in business.

Shu'ayb's Message in Surah Al-A'raf

In Surah Al-A'raf, Allah says:

And to the people of Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. And you always hear this — prophets addressing their people: "Oh my people." He says: Worship your Lord, you have no other God that is truly worthy of being worshipped besides Him. A clear sign has come to you from your Lord.

And the scholars say Allah did not indicate to us what this sign was that He sent to the people of Madyan. But He says that a clear sign came to you from your Lord. So then Shu'ayb, peace be upon him — the rest of his argument to them, or his advice — he says: Give full measure and full weight, and do not defraud people of their possessions, and do not wreak havoc and corruption on the earth after it was rectified or made righteous. That would be better for you if you are truly believers.

So the majority of the people of Shu'ayb disbelieved, and they refused to obey him and to follow his message.

The People of Al-Aykah in Surah Al-Shu'ara

In Surah Al-Shu'ara, Allah says:

The people of Al-Aykah — the same people of Madyan — they belied all the messengers, even though just one messenger was sent to them. And Allah says this multiple times in the Qur'an: this people denied all the messengers, even though they only received one. And the scholars said: because all the messengers came with the same message, and if you refuse or you deny one messenger, it's like you're refusing and rejecting all the messengers of Allah.

Then Allah says: When Shu'ayb says to them — "Will you not obey? Will you not fear Allah? Will you not be mindful?" And here Allah didn't say "their brother Shu'ayb." And this even caused historically some confusion among scholars, who thought this might be another person — because in the first verse Allah says "their brother Shu'ayb," and here Allah didn't say "their brother." But other scholars mentioned that here Allah was referring to the people of shirk — so when He referred to them with the tree that they worshipped, He didn't call Shu'ayb their brother, because He doesn't want to associate him with people who worship the tree. But when He mentioned the people of Madyan, He said "their brother Shu'ayb." Just look at this level of detail — further indicating no way a human being could have written the Qur'an and thought of such a fine point like this.

The Story of Dhat Anwat

The point is that they worshipped this tree, Al-Aykah. And this happened — this narration — where the Prophet ﷺ was setting out to Hunayn. The companion says that we were travelling with the Prophet ﷺ, and another narration says:

"And we just recently came out of kufr and disbelief." So he says:

The disbelievers had this huge tree where they would stay under it and they would hang their swords on the branches of this tree, and they believed that gave their swords and their weapons power. They called it Dhat Anwat — Anwat is the plural of nawt, which is when anything is hung up. So they used to hang up these weapons on the tree.

So then he says: "We passed by another tree that was green and large," and they said, "O Prophet of Allah":

"Make a Dhat Anwat for us as well, so we can hang our weapons so they can become strong." So the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2180)

By the one in whose hand is my soul — he is swearing by Allah — you have said as the people of Musa said to him:

The people of Musa, peace be upon him — shortly after they passed by the Red Sea, after Allah split it in front of them and they passed through and He drowned Fir'awn and his powerful army right in front of their eyes:

They just made it across and they found people worshipping some idols. So they said: "O Musa, make an idol for us just like they have an idol." And he said: "You are a people who are ignorant." So they worshipped this tree — and that is shirk, and that is the major sin in Islam.

Dishonesty in Business — A Grave Warning from Allah

But what's amazing is how much Allah will focus on their dishonesty in business dealings. And Allah mentions this in multiple surahs in the Qur'an. And the most famous on this topic is Surah Al-Mutaffifin. Allah says:

Woe — a promise of punishment, a threat — to those who are Al-Mutaffifin, those who defraud others. And al-shay' al-tafif — meaning something marginal, something peripheral, really small. Because when people are weighing, they put their weight on one side and then they put your rice on the other side and they put enough until a few grains tip the scale over. And those who cheat — they don't cheat where it takes 50% of the weight, or even 20%. When people cheat in the balances, how much are they really getting? They're getting very, very little — shay' tafif, something marginal, something peripheral. So Allah is saying: Woe to these people who defraud by taking a little bit of it.

Those whom, when they come to take measure from people, they demand it in full — yastawfun. When they're buying, they want the scale to go down, they want their share to come to them in full. And when they measure out for people or weigh things out for people — yukhsirun — they cause a loss for those people. So it means: when they're buying, they want to get their rights in full. When they're selling, they cheat. They cause a loss — whether by altering the scale or just not giving enough. And like we said, they end up just stealing a little bit, just a few grains — something worthless, something marginal.

"Do they not know?" — and here al-zann is from certainty, not from doubt — do they not know that they're going to be resurrected on a great day, the day when people will stand before the Lord of the worlds?

And as the scholars said, people who cheat on the scale end up taking very little. If they cheat and you're buying bananas, they just end up with a banana or half a banana in measure that they gained, so to speak. And that's why the scholars used to say:

Woe to the one — and they're saying: what a huge loss for you — to sell, meaning lose, Al-Jannah because of a grain, and to earn the hellfire because of a grain. So far we're not talking about defrauding in the millions and stealing the wealth of a nation — we're just talking about these grains. All these threats and punishments are for people who cheat just a little bit here and there. It's not going to make them millionaires, it's not even going to make them rich. And that is the threat to people who cheat on these small amounts. Woe to the one who sells and loses Al-Jannah because of a small grain, and then earns the hellfire because of a small grain. What a huge loss — he didn't even end up with any significant amount of wealth.

Five Things That Cause Five Other Things — Hadith of Ibn Abbas

Ibn Abbas says: When this surah was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ came to us, then he recited Surah Al-Mutaffifin to us, and then he said:

Five things for five — or five things that will cause five other things. They said: "Ya Rasulallah, what five will cause what five?" The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Reported by Ibn Majah, Hadith 4019)

That people would not break their covenant or their agreement with another except that Allah will give their enemies power over them. And they will not rule by other than what Allah revealed — they push aside the Shari'ah of Allah and take any other system of governing — except that Allah will bring poverty down upon them. And the fawahish — and especially the fawahish referring to illicit sexual activities — that does not increase except that death amongst them will increase as well. And they will not cheat in their balances — and it doesn't have to be just balances, because today you don't always use the scale when you do business. If you have a deal with a merchant or you sign a contract, you don't usually use the physical scale. But it is still representative of honesty in dealings, honesty in business. And so they do not cheat in the balances except that they will be struck by famine for years. And they do not stop paying the zakah except that the rain will stop coming down upon them.

And they said that when this surah — Surah Al-Mutaffifin — was revealed, the people of Madinah became among the best in buying and selling. And until today, people bear witness that the people of Madinah are honest and among the best in buying and in selling.

The Command to Be Just in Measure — Surah Al-Isra'

Allah says in Surah Al-Isra':

Allah is saying: Give full measure when you weigh, and let your scales be even — and that is better, and excellent are its consequences.

That's why Abdullah ibn Umar — he used to, whenever he would go to the market, before they would begin any business transaction, tell the man: "Fear Allah, give full measure and full weight. For the mutaffifin — those who steal a little bit — they will be made to stand on the Day of Judgment":

He says: until the sweat comes to the middle of their ears. So he's warning people before they even start.

The Story of Malik ibn Dinar's Neighbor

Malik ibn Dinar — the great scholar — he says: I entered upon a neighbor of mine, and his neighbor was on his deathbed. And the man kept saying: "Jabalayni min nar, jabalayni min nar" — "Two mountains made of fire, two mountains made of fire." So he asked him what it was, what he needed.

So he tells him: "Ya Aba Yahya, I used to have two scales — two different scales. I would weigh with one if I want to sell, and this one was slanted, made to his advantage whenever he was selling — he's cheating just a little bit. And the other one — if someone is selling something to me and I'm buying, I take the other one, which is made to my advantage in that way." So then he says: "Ya Aba Yahya, take both of these scales and destroy them." Now he's regretting it on his deathbed.

So Malik ibn Dinar says: I slammed the scales and destroyed them, I hit them against each other. And the neighbor told him later: "Each time you hit them against each other, the sakarat — the stupors of death — increased and became more difficult upon me, and the pain increased." And that continued until he died upon that pain.

Deception in Modern Business

Like we said earlier, maybe we don't use scales today. But people are cheating each other in other ways. Merchants today are cheating through advertising — the pictures are not realistic, or the picture makes the product look much, much bigger than what it actually is. Deceptive photographs. Fine print. And that's a way of tipping the balance towards their side — with the fine print that mentions all kinds of details that, had you known, you probably wouldn't have even gotten into the transaction.

And we know that Islam spread not through websites to the rest of the world — they didn't have that. It spread through the honesty of merchants. Everyone knows these stories, from the Iberian Peninsula to as far as the Philippines — it was the merchants and their honesty that affected people more than anything. But today you see this deception so much. Even when people who are not merchants are selling their items, they use these deceptive measures — they've gotten so used to them. They'll take a picture of an entire set and put a really cheap price — a furniture set with a really low price — and then when you click on the advertisement, it's just a chair for that price. This is just a person selling his old living room furniture, and he learned to be deceptive like this.

People are very deceptive when they sell their car to someone else and advertise it online — they don't disclose everything wrong with the vehicle.

One of the mashayikh living in a Muslim country said: I got the morning newspaper and the front page said that they arrested a merchant who sells wine. So he says — maybe Shari'ah came overnight while I was asleep, because they sell wine in that Muslim country. He said: when I looked at the piece on the sixth page, it was because he was adding water to the wine. So he's defrauding by diluting what is supposed to intoxicate them. So it's disappointing that they only crack down when it comes to this kind of matter.

The Hadith: Whoever Deceives Us Is Not From Us

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 101)

Whoever carries a weapon against us is not from amongst us — and that makes sense. And then he says the second part, which we all know: whoever deceives us is not from amongst us. Not just through scales, which we don't use anymore — any kind of deception. Whoever deceives the Muslims is not from amongst them.

The Honest Merchant — Raised With the Prophets and the Siddiqeen

In another hadith, narrated by al-Tirmidhi, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1209)

The honest merchant — al-ameen, the one who is honest and trustworthy — on the Day of Judgment he will be with the highest level of the three: with the Prophets, and with the Siddiqeen, and with the martyrs. Just by selling whatever he's selling — rice, slippers, doesn't matter — he's honest, he's trustworthy, and Allah will raise him in rank with such people on the Day of Judgment.

The Hadith Qudsi — Allah Is the Third Partner

In another hadith — a hadith qudsi — Allah says:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 3383)

I am the third of two partners as long as one of them does not cheat the other. And the minute one of them cheats the other, I leave — I am not part of that partnership anymore. And Allah is saying that to show you the level and the place of two people who are partners and neither one of them is cheating the other.

And there are many other hadiths talking about being honest in business — whether you're selling or whether you're buying. And there's not one of us, even if we're not business owners, except that at some point we're selling or buying from someone. You're selling used furniture, or your car when you get tired of it, or your bicycle, or whatever it is, or even at a yard sale. Everybody sells at some point, and everyone buys at some point.

The Etiquette of the Buyer

And it's not just the etiquette of the seller — but also the buyer. Ibn Umar would tell people to fear Allah and not to cheat.

We have this hadith — the Prophet ﷺ said: Three kinds of people Allah will not speak to on the Day of Judgment, nor will He look at them, nor will He praise them or purify them from their sins — and to them is severe punishment. And one of these three is the one who is selling his products while swearing by Allah, while he is being dishonest. Go overseas and deal with any merchant and the first thing they'll do is use Allah's name to sell their product — and sometimes they're lying and they use Allah's name. This is something really, really serious.

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2076)

Allah has mercy upon a servant who is easy-going when he sells something, and easy-going when he buys. So maybe the majority of us in this room don't sell things, don't have a business — but everyone in this room buys something. And in America we don't bargain and haggle over the prices of things — you just see what's on the sticker and you take it. But if you've gone overseas for Umrah, for example, you might see someone selling and you will hear people haggling with them, not allowing them to get any profit, going back and forth.

This hadith applies to both. Some people, when they deal with a Muslim — and you may have met Muslim businessmen in America — they always say: "I don't like to deal with Muslims because they're always trying to bring my price down and always trying to bargain with me," whereas the non-Muslim will just ask how much it is and give him a check for it immediately. Many business owners have said this. Even here, some of the business owners in this community said: "I don't like dealing with Muslims — they're always trying to bring the price down."

I personally knew someone who would hide the fact that he was a Muslim — even though he had a mark here on his forehead and a beard — but he'd try to say he was from Brazil. He's so sick and tired of people trying to bring the price down and trying to bargain with him and haggle with him, that he pretends he's not Muslim anymore. So the hadith applies to both. When you're buying from someone, allow them to make a profit. How are they going to keep this place open? Be relaxed when it comes to that. Be easy-going when it comes to buying from people. Not everything is haggling. Not everything is trying to make sure that you don't profit from me whatsoever — whereas we don't do that when we go to other establishments. But once we find it's a Muslim: "How can he profit from me? I'll make sure he doesn't get anything but the capital that he put into this to begin with."

The Example of Abu Hanifa — An Honest Buyer

An example of an honest buyer — not a seller — was Abu Hanifa. They narrate that a woman brought him a silk garment. And that's what he used to do — he used to buy and sell fabrics. So she brought him this silk garment and said: "I'll sell it to you for 100 dirhams." He tells her it's worth more. She says: "Then give me 200 and I'll be more than thankful to you." He tells her it's worth more. She says: "Then give me 300." He is raising the price on himself. He says it's worth more. She says: "Give me 300." He says: "I will not buy it unless it's for 400 dirhams." She says: "Are you joking with me?" He tells her: "No, I'm not joking with you. But our Prophet said the religion is sincere advice, and this is my sincere advice to you — that you shouldn't sell it for less than 400." He increased the price upon himself. That is the level of honesty that the Muslim merchants had.

The scholars give the example: your neighbor has a dire and urgent situation, so he sells you his car cheaply because he's in need of the money. They said: if you do that — his car is worth $2,000, he gives it to you for $1,200 because he has an emergency — they said you didn't get a good deal, you're not clever, you're just a thief. Because first, that's your neighbor. And you should give him the honest price — even if you don't have it, give him the rest later. He's in an emergency and he's your neighbor. Maybe give him the money and let him pay you back later. But you don't take advantage of someone who's selling something cheap because of a dire situation. And so on and so forth. This was the level of honesty that we had in our Ummah.

And in the second part, inshallah, we will also look at other examples of honesty. I say this and I ask Allah for forgiveness for me and for you from all our sins. Ask forgiveness — and may the victor be the one who asks for forgiveness. Ask Allah for His forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

Second Part: Further Examples of Honesty

Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy messenger, and upon his family and companions. After that:

Part of the etiquette in selling something is to be very clear about any of the flaws or defects that it has. Imam Muhammad ibn Wasi was at the market in Balkh — he went to the market to sell his donkey. So a potential customer comes up to him and says: "Would you accept this for me? Is this something good? Would you feel okay selling me this? Are there any defects?" And he was very honest. In simple terms he said: "If I was pleased with it, I wouldn't sell it." So he's telling him: yes, there's something wrong with it, and I'll let you know what's wrong with it, and I'll also adjust the price accordingly. And if you're interested, take it — and if not, that's fine.

The Story of Muhammad ibn Sirin

Muhammad ibn Sirin went to jail because of his honesty. Muhammad ibn Sirin was a great scholar — one of the famous of the mufassirun of dreams — and he was a righteous man who was known and respected. But he bought some oil for business and put all his wealth into it — everything that he had, he bought these barrels of oil. And then when the containers arrived, he told the servant: "Open one of them, let's take a look at the quality." When they opened it, they found the remains of a mouse — not a full mouse, but perhaps the hind quarters, ground up — and they identified the remains of a mouse. So what should they do? The servant said: "We'll throw this barrel away." He tells him: "Rather, we will throw everything away." And he had put all his money into it. "We'll throw everything away." The servant tells him: "The mouse was only in one barrel — why are you going to throw every single barrel away?" He tells him: "How do I know that this mouse wasn't ground up with the grains when they made the oil at the mill? How do I know that he wasn't ground up and part of this mouse is in all these barrels?" So they got rid of all of it — they dumped all of it.

The narrator says: he was overpowered by his debts, and so he was thrown in jail — debtor's prison. Then the great companion of the Prophet, Anas ibn Malik, died. And Anas ibn Malik — just to show you the standing of Ibn Sirin — he put in his will: "When I die, nobody washes me except for Ibn Sirin." So the people saw his will, they went to the Amir and said: "We want you to allow Muhammad ibn Sirin to come out of prison — just temporarily — to wash the great companion Anas ibn Malik, and then he'll go back to prison." And the Amir agreed.

So they came and told him: "You have to wash Anas ibn Malik" He says: "How can I do that when I'm in prison?" They said: "We got permission from the Amir just for you to go, wash him, and come back to prison." So he said: "It is not the Amir who imprisoned me — rather the person who has the right over me. You have to ask him." So they went and asked that person, that person agreed, and then he went and washed and came back.

While he was in jail, the prison guard — and it was hard for them that this righteous man, this scholar that everyone knew, was behind bars — so the prison guard came to him and said: "Look, I will let you go home every night, sleep at home in your bed with your family, pray Fajr, and then come back in the morning early and I'll lock you up again, and no one will know that you leave at night." And he tells him: "I am not the one who is going to assist you in cheating and deceiving the Amir, the one who is in charge." This is the level of honesty that was in our Ummah.

Honesty in the Workplace

So make sure that you're honest in everything — with your time card at work, with how you spend your time. You'll find people sitting at the office watching a game, and every time someone passes by they minimize the screen. Your employer was not paying you so you can watch a game. And others try to halalify it — they're listening to lectures, and every time someone passes by they lower the lecture or pause it or something like that. That is not the deal you made with your employer. Make sure you're honest with them. With your time card — make sure your lunch breaks don't go over time. Make sure you don't come late and then round it off, and leave early and then round it off. Or on that note — round it off after Jumu'ah. So let us stop here inshallah.

We ask Allah to make us of those who recognize the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it, and of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.