slip-sliding away…..

Continuing our Ramadaan series, this post continues the book entitled “Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart” – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson‘s translation and commentary of Imam Muḥammad Mawlūd’s didactic poem “Matharat al-Qulub” (purification of the heart). The Imam was a 19th century Mauritanian scholar. For notes on the copyright status of the book, as well as links to purchase your own copy, please see the introductory post of the series.

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Fraud

POEM VERSES 128–129

Fraud is to conceal some fault or harm, either religious or worldly, even from one who is part of a protected minority,

Or from someone who has a treaty with Muslims. Others have interpreted [fraud] to be the embellishment of something that lacks any real benefit.

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Discussion

The next disease is fraud (ghish). It is concealing from people some fault, blemish, or harm, either of a religious or worldly nature. Others have said that fraud is making something useless or defective seem useful and beneficial, or making something bad appear to be good. One of the most widely transmitted hadith in the Islamic tradition is the Prophet’s saying, “Whoever defrauds us is not one of us.” Sacred law forbids selling something without pointing out its defects. If the seller conceals defects or fails to disclose them intentionally, this is fraud, whether its victim is a Muslim or not.

The Sophists of ancient Greece loved and practically worshipped rhetoric. They were the first historical relativists in that they held the theory that right and wrong do not exist in an objective and transcending sense, and that whoever makes the most skilled and persuasive argument is right. The Sophists believed that the most important thing is to be convincing, regardless of whether one is telling the truth or lying, or whether one is defending corruption or upholding justice. This is fraud of the tongue. Rhetoric was also an art form in Islamic literary and oratory history. But to the Muslim, rhetoric was the art of embellishing the truth and presenting it persuasively.