Article appeared Friday, January 3rd, 2014 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Re elation !30"#

yousu$ %ah&u&ul 'sla%, (h)

'n our day*to*day acti ities, we o$ten %a+e pro%ises, i,e, gi e our word to do so%ething, 's it i%portant to consider the pro%ise %ade and +eep one-s word. '&rahi% A%ini !&,1"2/# {1}, in his &oo+ The Codes of Training points out that +eeping pro%ises is the &asis o$ a well organi0ed and properly $unctioning hu%an society, '$ a society has people who constantly &rea+ their pro%ises, then the society will su$$er $ro% perpetual con$lict and e entually wipe the%sel es out, 1e says, The hu%an society cannot $unction without the institution o$ pro%ises and assurances o$ their $ul$ill%ent, (eople %a+e agree%ents and co enants with one another that go towards &uilding $a%ilies and clans, There will &e agree%ents &etween cities that &ond the% together, (eople gi e great i%portance to these co enants &ecause they are the &asis o$ their collecti e li es, Keeping promises is an important aspect of the human life and every person considers it evil to break a promise. 2 ery person who enters into a co enant !agree%ent# with another e3pects that the ter%s o$ the contract will &e adhered to i%plicitly, 4hiche er group a&ides &y the ter%s o$ their co enant will &e ter%ed as a well*organi0ed unit, The reason $or their well*&eing is that they will ha e trust on one another without any reason $or con$lict, The li es o$ their people will &e success$ul and contented, To the contrary the people of an area that doesnt abide by its covenants with others will suffer from a feeling of uncertainty and unrest. They will be victims of perpetual conflict. 2 ery indi idual or society who respects the agree%ents %ade with others will ha e the respect and con$idence o$ others, p.200, {2} 'n other words, without %a+ing and +eeping pro%ises, a hu%an society cannot $unction %eaning$ully, 2 en in today-s co%%ercial world, the word pro%ise has ta+en a new %eaning, 5ason 6ooley {3} e3plains that A rand is a !romise 7 a &rand product sets an e3pectation in the person who purchases the product, 5eeting the e3pectation sets the alue o$ the product, 8i+ewise, $or intelligent hu%an &eings, &ro+en pro%ises ruin reputations and degrade the alue placed upon the person, As created &eings, our 6reator accordingly guides us in the 9ur-an, the %ost recent Re elation: Those who $aith$ully o&ser e their trust and their co enants; and who "strictly# guard their prayers$ those will &e the heirs who will inherit (aradise: they will dwell therein !$ore er#, <23,= 7 23,11> Again, in another place in the 9ur-an: And those who respect their trusts and co enants; and those who stand $ir% in their testi%onies; and those who guard "the sacredness# of their worship% such will &e the honored ones in the ?ardens o$ !Bliss#, <@0,32 7 @0,3/> 'n &oth these places in the 9ur-an, sincerity in prayer and worship o$ the 6reator has &een tied together with +eeping trusts and co enants, 4hy. 4hat has prayer and worship got to do with +eeping pro%ises, The $ollowing Aerse $ro% the 9ur-an pro ides us with the answer, And !%ention# when your 8ord too+ $ro% the children o$ Ada% 7 $ro% their loins 7 their descendants, 1e %ade the% testi$y concerning the%sel es !as+ing#, BA% ' not your 8ord !who cherishes and sustains you#.B They replied: BCesD 4e testi$yDB !This# 7 lest you should say on the )ay o$ Judg%ent, B'ndeed, we were unaware o$ this,B <@,1@2> The Aerse in$or%s us that we testi$ied to the truth o$ the 6reator the %o%ent we were created, To adhere to the testi%ony we need to &e grate$ul to our 6reator $or gi ing us e3istence, By &eing ungrate$ul, we essentially &rea+ the co enant we ha e %ade with the 6reatorD 4hile our physical &rains %ay &e una&le to trace &ac+ to the ti%e o$ creation, each o$ us inherently +nows a&out the 6reator, 4hat is the proo$. The $ollowing Aerse $ro% the 9ur-an pro ides the proo$:

And when a$$liction touches %an, he calls upon Es !in all postures# whether lying down on his side or sitting or standing; &ut when 4e re%o e $ro% hi% his a$$liction, he continues !in diso&edience and ungrate$ulness# as i$ he had ne er called upon Es to re%o e the a$$liction that touched hi%D Thus do the deeds of transgressors seem fair in their eyes& <10,12> Regardless o$ the religion one pro$esses, we all approach the 6reator directly in the hour o$ need 7 this %eans we all inherently +now a&out the All (ower$ul 6reator; we +now that it is only 1e 4ho can sol e our pro&le%s, 4hen the pro&le% is sol ed, it is su&seFuently le$t to hu%an intelligence and Gudg%ent whether or not to &e grate$ul directly to the 6reatorD 't is this Gudg%ent that is &eing tested, '$ we do not use our intelligence and proper Gudg%ent, our 6reator issues the $ollowing warning: And i$ 4e had so willed, 4e could ha e gi en e ery soul its guidance, &ut the 4ord $ro% 5e will co%e true, B' will surely $ill 1ell with Ginn and people all together,B <32,13> By &eing ungrate$ul, we in e$$ect reGect the 6reator and pro e our dis&elie$, For the worst o$ &easts in the sight o$ Allah are those who reGect 1i%: they will not &elie e, <=,//> Allah points out that it is such people that also &rea+ co enants that they %a+e, while on earth, with other hu%an &eings,

8.56 They are those with whom you made a covenant but they brea their covenant every time and they do not !ear "##ah. 8.5$ %! you &ain the mastery over them '(, )uhammad* in war dis+erse with them, 'so that* those who !o##ow them may remember 'i.e. be discoura&ed !rom !o##owin& their ways*.
'n this Aerse, the (rophet !p&uh# is &eing as+ed not to show %ercy to such people during the ti%e o$ declared war, Hn the other hand i$ a co enant e3ists with such people, and they show signs o$ &rea+ing it, the (rophet is gi en per%ission to declare the treaty annulled or dissol ed,

8.58 %! you 'have reason to* !ear betraya# !rom any &rou+, throw 'their covenant* bac to them '+uttin& you* on e,ua# terms. %ndeed, "##ah does not #i e traitors.
As Allah wants to teach such people a lesson, 1e says in the 9ur-an:

8.5- .et not the unbe#ievers thin that they can &et the better 'o! "##ah*/ they wi## never !rustrate '"##ah*.
1ence, the $ollowing instructions are to those who are grate$ul and ha e de%onstrated their $ir% &elie$ or con iction in Allah using their intelligence,

8.60 "nd +re+are a&ainst them whatever you are ab#e o! +ower and steeds o! war by which you may stri e terror into 'the heart o!* the enemy o! "##ah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not now but whom "##ah nows. "nd whatever you s+end in the cause o! "##ah sha## be !u##y re+aid to you, and you sha## not be treated un1ust#y.
***** {2otes}: {1} http:IIwww,naGa$,orgIenglishI&oo+I1JI2,ht% {2} http:IIwww,coiradio,co%Ili&raryIli&raryIethicsItheKcodesKo$KtrainingI4=,ht% {3} http:IIstrengthening&randa%erica,co%I&logI2010I0"I+eeping*your*pro%ise*is*i%portantI