An honest mistake? Tragic incompetence? Illiteracy? Deliberate fraud?
Who knows?
All we can speak of is what is apparent.
And what is apparent prompts this inescapable question: “Are we a dishonest community?”
When people from amongst us register their untaxed vehicle to an address other than their own, so that someone else receives all of their parking and speeding fines, are they acting in good faith?
A simple error transposing their house number? A web form erroneously auto filling an old error? Or purposeful deception?
God alone knows. Well, God, the individual and those witnesses unseen.
Is it any wonder that others see no good in this path of ours?
Because all they see is what is apparent of our behaviour?
Whether willful or accidental, these are the deeds of jahiliyyah, revealing that our faith has not touched us at all.
For true faith is supposed to reform us: to make us the best versions of ourselves we can be.
That is, to be just, honest, fair, kind, and considerate, in both trade and personal relationships.
To be upstanding people, famous for our integrity. In short, to be salih.
Last modified: 28 June 2024
