A Betrayal

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Allah Most High says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّـهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

O ye that believe! betray not the trust of Allah and the Messenger, nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you.

(Qur'an Al Anfal 8:27)

If we leave the orders of Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, we are essentialy betraying the trust of Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and we will be accountable before Allah.

Everything in our lives is in the form of a trust from Allah--our body, our possessions, our knowledge, our environment, our positions, and so on. Everything belongs to Allah.

وَلِلَّـهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّـهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّحِيطًا ﴿١٢٦

And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And ever is Allah, of all things, encompassing. (126)

[Qur'an An-Nisa 4:126]

Nothing belongs to us. We cannot do whatever we like with them. We must follow what the Owner wants us to do with them.

Just like when your neighbor gives you the keys to his house and ask you to take care of his house while he is traveling, you do just that--take care of his house. You will make sure the lawn is watered and no menace comes to his house. Actually you should take care of his property better than you would yours. You don't invite your friends and have a party by his pool. This is misappropriation, theft, breach of trust, abuse of the power that your neighbor had temporarily given to you, to name a few crimes you have committed. Just because you have access to his house, that doesn't mean you own his house and everything in it to allow you to do as you like. You will have to seek forgiveness from your neighbor and repent to Allah. Otherwise, it will be shown in the Day of Judgment, and it won't be an easy reckoning for you.

Allah says,

إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا ﴿١﴾ وَأَخْرَجَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا ﴿٢﴾ وَقَالَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا لَهَا ﴿٣﴾ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴿٤﴾ بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَىٰ لَهَا ﴿٥﴾ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا۟ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ ﴿٦﴾ فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٧﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٨

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake (1) And the earth discharges its burdens (2) And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" - (3) That Day, it will report its news (4) Because your Lord has commanded it. (5) That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. (6) So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (7) And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (8)

[Qur'an al-Zalzala 99:1-8]

May Allah protect us from disobedience and conceal our sins. Ameen.

Please don't foroget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

People's secrets

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

Occasionally, I have clients who asked me if he/she should tape his/her spouse and worse when they brought me tape recordings of their spouses/partners. Sometimes they gave me hard copy of private emails of their spouses/partners and other similar material, and photos and the like. They thought they could use them to win their cases or at a minimum, make the other side look bad in public. What do you think my reaction was?!

This evidence would not be admissible to prove the truth of the matter as they were obtained without permission of the other party. Further, this sort of evidence can easily be tampered and placed out of context. Even if there is a remote chance that this evidence is admissible in court to prove other than the truth of the matter, I would not have used them and so there was no need for me to view/listen/read them.

So why not? Isn't this is part of my job? Absolutely not! My eyes were not created to look at people's secrets or other people's private information without their consent. My ears were not created to eavesdrop. Ironically, it was a little easier to convey this message to my non-Muslim clients than to my Muslim clients.

When a man or woman decided to tape or hack into his/her spouse's email, they think they have the upper hand. But to me, it clearly shows that the marriage is a goner. When there is no trust or respect in a relationship or marriage to a point one have a need to tape or hack into the other spouse's email, there is only one solution--divorce. My job, as a legal representative, is one and only one--to make the exit as subtle and private as possible--the whole world, including me and their children don't need to see/hear the dirty laundry. He/she does not have to convince me that he/she is good and his/her spouse is bad. I am not the judge. The judging is best left in the hands of the Just Judge, al-Adl al-Hakam.

Unfortunately, technology has made it easier for people to pry into other people's lives--good or bad. While before people have to look through a peephole, hire agencies or private investigators to get people's information, now with a few keystrokes in the privacy of their own homes people can retrieve a lot of information about somebody. Even though nobody sees what you are doing, Allah is the all-Seer, He sees what you do. Even though you will not be prosecuted for the invasion of privacy, you have no right to the information, no matter how trivial, without explicit consent of the owner of the information, even if they are public records or on the web. Remember one day you are going to answer to Allah. Only Allah look at people's deeds and secrets--sins and otherwise. If you happen to see the secret of people, close your eyes. You don't want to spread what you know of others either and if you do, Allah will eventually seek your secret and expose them even the ones in your own house. Don't waste your time looking for or at people's secrets--spend that time in remembrance of Allah instead. Say SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar and many other dhikr instead.

May Allah grant us taqwa. Ameen. Please do not forget me in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

Wassalaam

Allah is watching over you

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Never feel alone. When you are in the pits of life, where nobody care about you, know that He is always there. Your friends or your loved ones may be too busy to notice your pain but not Allah, ar-Raqib. He sees every detail. He sees the little cry in your heart. He is not tired to listen to your cries, to your complaints. He is the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep. (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:255) If you make yourself known to Him in times of prosperity, in times of happiness, He will be with you in times of difficulties, in times of loneliness.

When you grieve, no need to show your grief to people--they cannot remove your grief. If you show it to the wrong people, it might come back to haunt you. Follow Ya'qub alayhissalaam. He complained only to Allah. "He said, 'I make complaint of my anguish and my sorrow unto God; I know from God that you know not." Qur'an Yusuf 12:86

"And put your trust in Allah; Allah suffices for a guardian." Qur'an An-Nisa 4:81

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

May Allah comfort our souls and make us not look to His creation but only to Him. Ameen. Please do not forget me in your night prayers. Ameen.

Wassalaam