Honesty in conducting trade - Life Changing short stories from Prophet Muhammad's life

Honesty in conducting trade.

Honesty in trade (or business transactions) as defined by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the foundational requirement of transparency, fairness, and moral integrity, ensuring that commercial dealings are free from deception, fraud, and usury.

The Prophet—himself a trader known as Al-Amin (the Trustworthy) and As-Sadiq (the Truthful)—taught that honest trading is a form of worship and a key to receiving divine blessing (barakah) in one's livelihood.

Key aspects of honesty in trade defined by Prophet Muhammad include:

1. Transparency and Disclosure of Defects

Honesty requires that a seller clearly discloses any flaws, defects, or faults in the goods being sold, rather than concealing them to inflate the price.

Hadith Principle: "If they are honest and open, their transaction will be blessed, but if they lie and conceal anything, the blessing of their transaction will be lost" (Bukhari and Muslim).

Example: The Prophet once instructed a companion to sell a slightly defective item by showing the defect, rather than hiding it.

2. Justice in Weight and Measurement

Prophet Muhammad placed extreme importance on using accurate scales and measures, condemning those who cheat in quantity.

Prohibition of Fraud: He warned that tampering with scales or reducing measurements was a cause for the destruction of previous nations.

Generosity: He encouraged traders to give slightly more in weight when measuring out goods.

3. Avoiding Deception and Misrepresentation

Honesty excludes any form of deception, including false advertising, manipulating prices, or misrepresenting product quality.

Specific Prohibition: He forbade the practice of Najsh (artificially bidding up the price of a product without intending to buy it).

Clear Identity: The Prophet famously said, "He who cheats is not one of us".

4. Mutual Consent and Fair Dealing

Trading must be based on fairness, mutual agreement, and voluntary consent between the buyer and seller.

Option to Cancel: The Prophet gave both parties the right to cancel the transaction (the "option of choice") as long as they had not been physically separated, which protects against impulsive or deceptive deals.

5. Prohibition of Usury (Usury) and Hoarding

Honesty means earning profit through legitimate trade, not through exploitative practices like Riba (interest/usury) or hoarding goods to cause artificial shortages.

The Spiritual Reward

The Prophet emphasized that honest traders will hold a high status in the hereafter, stating: "The truthful and trustworthy merchant will be with the Prophets, the truthful, and the martyrs" (Tirmidhi)

The person referred to in the above paragraph is none other than Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), whose stature in the history of mankind remains unparalleled even to this day. His life is a beacon of light for the pious and God-fearing. To fully grasp how an orphan rose to become the greatest benefactor of mankind, we need to study and focus on the primary lessons that can be derived from his immaculate life.

Honesty in conducting trade
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was extremely honest and trustworthy in his day-to-day affairs. This was a rare quality in the era he lived in, when merchants and vendors used to swindle and deceive consumers for petty profits. When he left on a trade journey, his female employer at the time, Hazrat Khadija (R.A) sent another employee to accompany the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) to observe the way he dealt with her goods. 

His findings indicated that Khadija’s (R.A) business was being handled by the Prophet (P.B.U.H) with utmost diligence and sincerity. Upon return, the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) came bearing handsome profits on account of his honest dealings. This unique characteristic of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H)  impressed her so much that later on she sent him a proposal of marriage, which ultimately the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) accepted.

 

Who is Allah? Understanding God in Islam.

According to the Islamic statement of witness, or shahada, “There is no god but Allah”. Muslims believe he created the world in six days and sent prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and lastly Muhammad, who called people to worship only him, rejecting idolatry and polytheism.

The word Islam, which means submission, was not at first the name of a religion founded by Muhammad. It referred, rather, to the original religion of all mankind – and even of the universe itself which, like us, was created to serve Allah.

Earlier prophets and their followers were all Muslims (submitters to Allah), though Muslims do tend to conflate the general and specific meanings of the words Islam and Muslim.

Some prophets received scriptures from Allah, notably the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus. Their messages and books, however, became corrupted or were lost.

Miraculously, the Qur’an (“recitation”) revealed to Muhammad – the very word of Allah – will not suffer this fate, so there is no need for further prophets or revelations.

The names and character of Allah

The Qur’an refers to Allah as the Lord of the Worlds. Unlike the biblical Yahweh (sometimes misread as Jehovah), he has no personal name, and his traditional 99 names are really epithets.

These include the Creator, the King, the Almighty, and the All-Seer. Two important titles of Allah occur in a phrase that typically prefaces texts: Bismillah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful).

Allah is also the Master of the Day of Judgment, when the good, especially believers, will be sent to their heavenly reward, and the wicked, especially unbelievers, will be dispatched to hellfire. Muslims claim to reject anthropomorphic descriptions of Allah, yet the Qur’an describes him as speaking, sitting on a throne, and having a face, eyes and hands.

Nothing can ever happen unless it is caused or at least permitted by Allah, so when making plans of any kind, Muslims typically say in sha‘ allah (God willing).

If matters go well, one says ma sha‘ allah (Whatever Allah wills), but in any event one can say al-hamdu li-llah (Thanks be to Allah). In their prayers and on other occasions (including battles and street protests), Muslims declare that Allah is the greater than anything else (Allahu akbar).

Allah and the god of the Bible

Allah is usually thought to mean “the god” (al-ilah) in Arabic and is probably cognate with rather than derived from the Aramaic Alaha. All Muslims and most Christians acknowledge that they believe in the same god even though their understandings differ.

Arabic-speaking Christians call God Allah, and Gideon bibles, quoting John 3:16 in different languages, assert that Allah sent his son into the world.

Addressing Christians and Jews, the Qur’an declares, “Our god and your god are one” (29:46). The names Allah and al-Rahman were evidently used by pre-Islamic Jews and Christians for God, and the Qur’an (5:17-18) even criticises Christians for identifying Allah with Christ and both Jews and Christians for calling themselves children of Allah.

Allah is not a trinity of three persons and has no son who was incarnate (made flesh) as a man. Some Christians therefore deny that Allah is the god they acknowledge. Yet, they seem sure that Jews worship the same god despite similarly rejecting the trinity and the incarnation.

Claiming that the Qur’an’s god and the Bible’s god are different beings is rather like arguing that the New Testament’s Jesus and the Qur’an’s Jesus (who is not divine and was not crucified) are different historic individuals. Some will reply that while there are competing interpretations of the one Jesus, God and Allah have different origins.

Polytheistic origins

Indeed, Allah was recognized mostly by polytheists before the revelation of the Qur’an. Muhammad’s own father, who died before the Prophet was born, was called Abdullah (Servant of God).

However, the argument that Allah cannot be God because he was originally part of a polytheistic religious system ignores the origins of Jewish monotheism (and its Christian and Islamic derivatives).

Biblical writers identified the Canaanite high god El with their own god even though he originally presided over a large pantheon. The closely related plural form Elohim is used more often in the Bible, but both derive from the same Semitic root as Allah.

El and Elohim, the New Testament theos (hence theology), the Latin deus (hence deism), and the pre-Christian, Germanic god can all refer both to the Judeo-Christian god and other supernatural beings.

So Jewish, Christian and Islamic understandings of the divinity originated in polytheistic contexts. Just like traditional Jews and Christians, however, Muslims believe that the religion of the first humans, Adam and Eve, was monotheistic. Because it was corrupted into polytheism, Allah sent prophets who all taught that there is only one god.

Islam took over from Judaism the notion that Abraham in particular was the one who (re)discovered monotheism and rejected idolatry. Thus Muhammad sought to restore the authentic monotheism of Abraham, from which even Jews and Christians had allegedly deviated.

Gods as human constructions

If he lived at all, which is doubtful, Abraham presumably flourished early in the second millennium BCE. Critical historians and archaeologists, however, argue that Israelite monotheism only developed about the time of the Babylonian Exile – well over a thousand years later.

The reason why there are different conceptions of God and of gods is surely not that humans have culpably strayed from an original revelation. Rather, these beliefs are human constructions and reconstructions that reflect our own rationalisations, hopes, fears and aspirations.

The latter include attempts by particular groups of people to defend their identity or even assert their hegemony over others on the grounds that they have been uniquely favoured by God with authentic revelation.

That seems to be why some Christians deny that Allah is just another name for God. It also explains Malaysian Muslim efforts to prevent Christians from referring to God as Allah for fear that legitimising the Christian understanding of Allah will threaten Islamic dominance in their country.

Chapter 5- The Prophet Is Born.

The Prophet Is Born

One day, while traveling north, one of the Arab tribes from Makkah met a hermit in the desert. Some of the men stopped to speak with him. Hermits were known to be wise and the Arabs often asked their advice. The hermit asked where they had come from. When they replied that they were from Makkah, he told them that Allahﷻwould soon sends a prophet, who would come from their people. They asked the name of this prophet and the hermit answered that his name would be Muhammad and that he would guide them to a new way of life.

Meanwhile, in Makkah, Aminah, although saddened by the loss of her husband, felt especially well and strong as she awaited the birth of her baby. During this time she dreamt of many things. On one occasion it was as if a great light were shining out of her, and on another, she heard a voice telling her that she would have a boy and that his name would be Muhammad. She never forgot that voice but she told no one about it.

On Monday, the twelfth day of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant, Aminah gave birth to a son. Allahﷻ sends man many signs when one of His chosen Prophets is born and on that twelfth day of Rabi al- Awwal in the year 570 A.D, many such signs were seen. Some were seen by Jewish scholars who had read in their scriptures of a coming Prophet.

One of these learned men in Yathrib, for instance, saw a brilliant new star he had never seen before as he studied the heavens that night. He called the people around him and, pointing the star out to them, told them a Prophet must have been born. That same night another Jew was passing by the meeting place of the leaders of Quraysh in Makkah. He asked them if a baby boy had just been born and told them that if it were true, this would be the Prophet of the Arab nation.

Aminah sent news of the birth to her father-in-law, 'Abd al-Muttalib, who was sitting near the Kaaba at the time. He was very happy and began at once to think of a name for the boy. An ordinary name would not do. Six days came and went and still, he had not decided. But on the seventh day, as he lay asleep near the Kaaba, 'Abd al-Muttalib dreamt that he should give the baby the unusual name of Muhammad, just as Aminah herself had dreamt. And the child was called Muhammad (PBUH), which means 'the Praised One. 

When 'Abd al-Muttalib told the leaders of Quraysh what he had named his grandson, many of them asked, 'Why did you not choose the sort of name that is used by our people?' At once he replied, 'I want him to be praised by Allahﷻ in the heavens and praised by men on earth.

Eight Miraculous Signs of the Birth of  Rasulullahﷺ

‘And We have not sent you, [O Prophet], except as a mercy to the worlds’

                                                                      [The Noble Qur’an, 21:107]

The birth of  Rasulullahﷺ has been the greatest blessing and favor to our Ummah and mercy to all the world. His birth was an exceptionally important event and  Allahﷻ sent several miraculous signs to the world, many of which have never been experienced before.

‘Indeed Allahﷻ conferred a great favor on the believers when he sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting unto them His verses, and purifying them, and instructing them (in) the Book (Quran) and Al-Hikmah, (the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw)), while before that they had been in manifest error

(Qur’an, 3:164)

SubhanAllah, here are just a few of the amazing miracles that preceded the blessed birth of Rasulullahﷺ.

 1. A light that shone like never before

 Before his birth, Rasulullahﷺ mother, Aaminah, was conscious of a light within her when she was pregnant with him, which one day shone from her so intensely that she could see the castles and palaces of Syria. (Ibn Ishaq)

 2. The Persian Fire was extinguished 

Pre-Islam, the Persians worshipped fire and kept a fire burning continuously for a thousand years. Imam Baihaqi narrated from Hani’ I-Makhzumi that as soon as Rasulullahﷺ was born, this fire went out. This was a sign of the truthful call of Rasulullahﷺ to his followers, to worship Allahﷻ alone.

3. The Throne Arch of Chosroes shuddered 

The throne arch is referred to as the Aywan and indicates the political shift caused by the Prophet’s (saw) birth. The Arch (Aywan) of the Palace of Kisra (Chosroes), the ancient emperor of Persia, trembled when Rasulullahﷺ was born. [Baihaqi]

 4. Fourteen royal balconies collapsed 

The throne arch is referred to as the Aywan and indicates the political shift caused by the Prophet’s (saw) birth. The Arch (Aywan) of the Palace of Kisra (Chosroes), the ancient emperor of Persia, trembled when Rasulullahﷺ was born.

 [Baihaqi]

 The Palace of Kisra, mentioned in Baihaqi’s narration, had fourteen balconies which all collapsed when Rasulullahﷺ was born. This was a sign that Persian rule would only last for fourteen more Persian kings. The fourteenth (and last) Persian king ruled from the time of the Prophet (saw)’s birth until the Muslims completely destroyed the whole of the Persian Empire under Umar Bin Khattab (ra) and Uthman Bin Affan (ra). 

[Baihaqi]

 5. Lake Sa’wah ran dry

The lake of Sa’wah is located in Qum and Hamadan in modern-day Iraq. It was known as a city of evildoers but on the night of the birth of Rasulullahﷺ, the lake, which was vast enough for ships to sail through, dried up entirely. [Baihaqi]. This was seen as a sign of Allahﷻ power and a reminder to the people of Sa’wah to follow the path of righteousness.

6. Idols fell flat

The birth of Rasulullahﷺ signaled the end of idol worshipping in the lands of Arabia. When the Prophet (saw) was born, a total of 360 idols fell in and around the Holy Kaaba.  One of those idols was called Hubal, which resembled a human figure and was believed to control acts of divination.

Several people witnessed the falling of the idols, including Abdul-Mutallib, the grandfather of Rasulullahﷺ. The idols remained on the floor for a full twenty-four hours and any effort to pick them up and erect them throughout the world was unsuccessful.

 Abdul Muttalib (ra) took his grandchild to the Kaaba and named him Muhammad (saw), three days after the idols fell. As soon as the child was taken to the Kaaba for the naming ceremony, the four corners of the walls of the Kaaba spoke and declared:

“There is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Seal of Prophethood.”

 7. The throne of Iblis collapsed

 Iblis had a god complex and observed that the throne of Allahﷻ is upon water as is mentioned in the following Qur’anic passage: ,

"He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days - and His Throne was over the waters - that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct. But if thou were to say to them, "Ye shall indeed be raised up after death", the Unbelievers would be sure to say, "This is nothing but obvious sorcery!"

(The Noble Quran 11:7)

When he was banished from Paradise, Iblis established his throne upon water on planet earth, but this collapsed at the time of the birth of Rasulullahﷺ..

 

8. The devils were attacked by shooting stars

The devilish Jinn would ascend to the lower sky and attempt to listen to the conversations of the angels positioned at the Kaaba, with the intention of hearing about people’s Qadr (divine decree).

'And we pried into the secrets of heaven, but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. 'We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing; but any who listen now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.

[The Noble Qur’an, 72:8 & 9]

At the time of Rasulullahﷺ. birth, they were stricken with falling stars and barred from accessing this knowledge, and chased away instead by flames and comets. Among the signs is that Iblis, the forefather of the devils, was blocked from the news of the sky so he rang out a very loud scream.

 The beauty of Islam allows us to continue drawing divine links from Rasulullahﷺ. birth to events that took place centuries before it. The miraculous signs of His birth are a reminder that He is indeed the Seal of the Prophets, that he was sent down as a mercy to mankind.

Rasulullahﷺ. taught us about the virtues of giving, so this Rabi ul-Awwal follows his Sunnah of spreading love, peace, and mercy by donating towards one of our appeals, and helping the less fortunate.

    Allahﷻ

 Rasulullahﷺ

Rasulullahﷺ

 Allahﷻ

Allahﷻ

 Rasulullahﷺ

Rasulullahﷺ

رضي الله عنه

  سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى‎ ﷺ.

Chapter 4 - The Invasion of Abrahah

 

Illustration Only

The Elephant Refuses To Move

Abrahah, who came from Abyssinia-a country in Africa-conquered Yemen and was made vice-regent there. Later, he noticed that at a certain time of the year large numbers of people would travel from all over Yemen and the rest of Arabia to Makkah. He asked the reason for this and was told that they were going on a pilgrimage to the Kaaba. Abrahah hated the idea of Makkah being more important than his own country, so he decided to build a church of colored marble, with doors of gold and ornaments of silver, and ordered the people to visit it instead of the Kaaba. But no one obeyed him.

Abrahah became angry and decided to destroy the Ka1bah. He prepared a large army led by an elephant and set off toward Makkah. When the Makkans heard that he was coming they became very frightened. Abrahah's army was huge and they could not fight it. But how could they let him destroy the Holy Kaaba? They went to ask the advice of their leader, 'Abd al-Muttalib. When Abrahah arrived outside Makkah, 'Abd al-Muttalib went to meet him. Abrahah had taken Abd al-Muttalib's camels, which he had found grazing as he entered Makkah, so „

Abrahah said, 'What do you want?'

Abd al-Muttalib replied, 'I want my camels back.' 

Abrahah was very surprised and said, 'I have come to destroy your Holy Kaaba, the holy place of your fathers, and you ask me about some camels?' '

Abd al-Muttalib replied calmly, „The camels belong to me; the Kaaba belongs to Allah and He will protect it.' 

Then he left Abrahah and went back to Quraysh and ordered them to leave Makkah and wait for their enemies in the mountains. In the morning Abrahah prepared to enter the town. He put armor on his elephant and drew up his troops for battle. He intended to destroy the Kaaba and then return to Yemen. At that moment, however, the elephant knelt down and refused to get up, no matter how much the soldiers tried to get it to move by beating it.

But when they turned its face in the direction of Yemen it immediately got up and started off. In fact, it did the same in any other direction, but as soon as they pointed it towards Makkah it knelt down again. Suddenly, flocks of birds appeared from over the sea. Each bird carried three stones as small as peas and they dropped them on Abrahah and his army. The soldiers suddenly fell ill. Even Abrahah was hit by the stones and fled in fear with the rest of his army back to Yemen, where he later died. On seeing their enemy flee the Arabs came down from the mountains to the Kaaba and gave thanks to Allah.

After this, Quraysh gained great respect and became known as 'the people of Allah', and the year in which these events took place, 570 A.D was named the 'Year of the Elephant. In that year Allah saved the Kaaba and he would soon bring forth a Prophet from among Quraysh. 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful: 

“Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not bring their stratagem to naught, And send against them swarms of flying creatures, Which pelted them with stones of baked clay, And made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)?

 (Qur'an 105.1-5)

.

Chapter -3 The Promise At Zam Zam

Illustration Only

The well of Zamzam, which disappeared when the Arabs placed idols at the Kaaba, remained buried under the sand. Thus, for many years the people of Quraysh had to fetch their water from far away. One day 'Abd al-Muttalib was very tired from doing this and fell asleep next to the Kaaba. He had a dream in which he was told to dig up Zamzam. When he woke up he was puzzled because he did not know what Zamzam was, the well having disappeared many years before he was born. This same dream would reoccur for a few days.  However, in those dreams, the name of the well was alternated between Zam-zam, Barrah, and Mudnunah.

After a few nights of this reoccurring dream, finally, Abdul Muttalib’s dreamed differently, this time he dreamed about the long-lost location of the well.  When he woke up, Abdul Muttalib quickly went to the location with his son Al-Harith.  When they arrived at the place, which was between the idols Isaf and Nailah, he heard the same voice from his dreams telling him to dig in the ground between the two idols.

Additional info:  The idol Isaf was once a real-life man while Nailah was a woman.  Both of them came from Yaman.  They fell in love and they both came to Makkah to perform the Haj together.  One day when there were few people around the Kaabah, they snuck into the Kaabah and committed adultery.

By the will of Allah, they were turned into stones.  When people found the stones, they brought them out and placed them outside of the Kaabah.  Since Isaf was well-known at the time, they recognized that the stones were actually of Isaf and his lover, Nailah.

The stones later were made idols and were revered and worshiped The next day he had the same dream, but this time he was told where to find the well.

'Abd al-Muttalib and his son Al Harith, they together began to dig. The work was so difficult that Abd al-Muttalib made an oath to Allah that if one day he were to have ten sons to help him and stand by him, in return he would sacrifice one of them in Allah's honor. After working for three days they finally found the well of Zamzam. Pilgrims have been drinking from it ever since. 

Illustration Only

The years passed by and 'Abd al-Muttalib did have ten sons. 

They grew into fine, strong men and the time came for him to keep his promise to Allah. He told his sons about the promise and they agreed that he had to sacrifice one of them To see which one it would be, they decided to draw lots, which was the custom of Quraysh when deciding important matters. 'Abd al-Muttalib told each son to get an arrow and write his own name upon it and then bring it to him. This they did, after which he took them to the Kaaba where there was a man whose special task it was to cast arrows and pick one from among them. This man solemnly proceeded to do this. On the arrow he chose was written the name of 'Abd Allah, the youngest and favorite son of 'Abd al-Muttalib. Even so, the father took his son near the Kaaba and prepared to sacrifice him.

Many of the Quraysh leaders were present and they became very angry because 'Abd Allah was very young and much loved by everyone. They tried to think of a way to save his life. Someone suggested that the advice of a wise old woman who lived in Yathrib should be sought, and so 'Abd al-Muttalib took his son and went to see if she could decide what to do. Some of the Makkans went with them and when they got there the woman asked, 'What is the price of a man's life?' They told her, 'Ten camels', for at that time if one man killed another, his family would have to give ten camels to the dead man's family in order to keep the peace among them.

So the woman told them to go back to the Kaaba and draw lots between 'Abd Allah and ten camels. If the camels were chosen, they were to be killed and the meat given to the poor. If 'Abd Allah was picked then ten more camels were to be added and the lots drawn again and again until they finally fell on the camels.

„Abd al-Muttalib returned to the Kaaba with his son and the people of Mecca. There they started to draw lots between „Abd Allah and the camels, starting with ten camels. „Abd al-Muttalib prayed to Allah to spare his son and everyone waited in silence for the result. The choice fell on „Abd Allah, so his father added ten more camels. Again the choice fell on „Abd Allah, so they did the same thing again and again, adding ten camels each time. 

Finally, they reached one hundred camels, and only then did the lot fall on the camels. „Abd Allah was saved and everyone was very happy. 'Abd al-Muttalib however, wanted to make sure that this was the true result so he repeated the draw three times and each time it fell on the camels. He then gave thanks to Allah that He had spared „Abd Allah's life. The camels were sacrificed and there was enough food for the entire city, even the animals and birds. 'Abd Allah grew up to be a handsome young man and his father eventually chose Aminah, the daughter of Wahb, as a wife for him. It was a good match for she was the finest of Quraysh women and 'Abd Allah the best of the men. 

He spent several months with his wife but then he had to leave her and travel with one of the caravans to trade with Syria. On his way back to Mecca from Syria 'Abd Allah became ill and had to stop off in Yathrib to recover. The caravan, however, continued on its way and arrived back in Mecca without him. On hearing of 'Abd Allah's illness, „Abd al-Muttalib sent another son, al-Hareth, to bring 'Abd Allah back to Mecca, but he was too late.

When he arrived in Yathrib „Abd Allah was dead. Aminah was heartbroken to lose her husband and the father of the child she would soon give birth to. Only Allah knew that this orphan child would one day be a great Prophet.