In an era, where generosity is a crime, and terms such as charity, munificence, benevolence and leniency are simply words that are looked up from a dictionary with hardly anyone in this world to do them justice.
A time, where man is consumed only by his gains, a typical market scene comes to mind, where the customers bargain at the top of their voices and salesmen swear with great alacrity that indeed their chinaware, silken cloths, utensils and what not, are indeed the best obtainable. Since, almost every shopkeeper makes this claim, the word ‘best’ seems to lose its significance.
A market is mostly allied with deceit, sham and trickery, one wonders whether the clean atmosphere of honest trade can ever be envisioned.
Perhaps enlightenment is what our traders and buyers need, and what better source than from Quran and hadith.
The Messenger (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Allah The Most Great admitted a person into Paradise because he was lenient in his buying, selling, paying and demanding of his money back.” [Al-Bukhari in At-Tareekh Al-kabiir]
This hadith shows the virtue of being lenient in trade whereby the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned that Allah granted paradise to a man who was lenient in his trade by fearing Allah in his buying, selling and loaning, also by being forgiving towards others if they struggle to repay their debts towards him and not pressuring them to sell their valuables in order to repay him.
Since a world without sellers and buyers doesn’t seem possible, this hadith nevertheless carries a message to each and every one of us, as pearls of wisdom giving glad tidings of paradise.
Furthermore, thinking it humanely, stories of the debt cycle are no news to us. We are well aware about the misery of those clouded in debt, we have heard of suicide cases committed in non-muslim countries due to the immense despair that a person’s debt brings him. Can we not then contrive to be patient and helpful to those who owe us? It might not mean much to us, but to those, on whose head their debts hang as a serpent at its target, it may mean a world of solace and peace.
Moreover, it is important to remember that every business that one ventures in, harvests its fruits only by the will and mercy of Allah, then what my dear friends is the need of being deceitful. Further on comes this awe inspiring hadith, ensuring to us that if we become fair, paradise, by the will of Allah shall be our final abode.
Finally, in conclusion I appeal to each and every one of us to take hold of this hadith as our ticket to paradise (Allah willing) and inculcate in ourselves the mannerisms of leniency and generosity in our day to day trade.
May Allah grant us success. Ameen
Bint Ayesha, Writer, AAT