Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman (RA) narrated: "Allaah's Messenger narrated to us two narrations, one of which I have seen (happening) and I'am waiting for the other. He narrated that honesty was preserved in the roots of the hearts of men (in the beginning) and then they learnt it (honesty) from the Quran. And then they learnt it from the (Prophets) sunnah (tradition)." He also told us about its disappearance, saying, "A man will go to sleep whereupon honesty will be taken away from his heart, and only its trace will remain, resembling the traces of fire. He then will sleep whereupon the remainder of the honesty will also be taken away (from his heart) and its trace will resemble a blister which is raised over the surface of skin. when an ember touches ones foot; and in fact this blister does not contain anything. So there will come a day when people willdeal in business with each other but there will hardly be any trustworthy persons among them. Then it will be said that in such-and-such a tribe there is such-and-such person who is honest and a man will be admired for his intelligence, good manners and strength, though indeed he will not have belief equal to a mustard seed in his heart." The narrator added: "There came upon me a time when I did not mind dealing with anyone of you, for if he was a Muslim, his religion would prevent him from cheating; and if he was a Christian, his Muslim ruler would prevent him from cheating, but today I cannot deal except with so-and-so and so-and-so. (Bukhari)
Aside from faith, one other issue which permeates every aspect of human life is their character and integrity. Just about everywhere you look; you find examples of moral breakdowns. Men of God fail morally, leaders tell blatant lies,spouse cheat on each other and business partners play fast ones each other. The list keeps growing. It seems that many people consider integrity as an outdated idea, something expendable or no longer applicable in the modern world. But the need for integrity today is perhaps as great as it has ever been. As important as integrity is to success in all life endeavours, it is even more critical if one wants attain the pleasure of Allaah.The Messenger of Allah (sallallahualayhi wa sallam) said "Allaah, Most High. says: "I make a third with two-part.nersasJong as one of them does not -cheat the other. but when he cheats him. I depart from -them." (Abu Dawud)
Integrity is the foundation upon which many other qualities are built, such as respect, dignity and trust. If the foundation of integrity is weak or fundamentally flawed, then being a righteous Muslim would be impossible. The reality of life is that if you cant trust a person at all points, you cant truly trust him at any point. Even people who are able to hide their lack of integrity for a period of time will eventually experience failure, and whatever they have temporarily gained will soon become a mirage. Integrity Is Not Based On Credentials In recent times one noticeable feature of our sunken morality is the obsession with titles and appellations.
Many people spend thousands of Naira just to be called Alhaji, Alhaja, Chief, Otunba, His Highness etc. They forget that character is who we are and not the credentials weve add up inspite of our character. Credentials can never achieve what our character can. Integrity is even required in little things Quite often people think they can do whatever they like in little things so long as they can avoid those major lapses. But it doesnt work that way. Ethical principles are not so flexible. A little white lie is still a lie. Theft is theft, whether it is 1 or 1 million. Character is made in the small moments of our lives. Anytime you break a moral principle, you create a small crack in the foundation of your integrity. When times get tough it becomes harder to act with integrity.
Everything you have done in the past and the things you have neglected to do come to a head when you are under pressure.
The key is: Don't do what you wouldn't feel comfortable reading about yourself in the papers the next morning. The road to integrity may not be the easiest one, but it is the only one that will get you where you ultimately want to go.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited