Fraud Purification of the Heart

 

Purification of the Heart

Signs, Symptoms and Cures of

the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart

Translation and Commentary of

Imam Mawlud's Maṭharat al-Qulub

by Hamza Yusuf

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 someone who has a treaty with Muslims. Others have

interpreted [fraud] to be the embellishment of something that

lacks any real benefit.

 

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 detects. If the 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. Whoever makes the most skilled and persuasive argument is right. The sophists believed that the most important thing is to be convincing, whether one is telling the truth or lying, whether one is defending corruption or upholding justice. This is fraud of the tongue.

 

Rhetoric was also an art form in Islamic literary and oratorical history. But to the Muslim, rhetoric was the art of embellishing the truth and presenting it persuasively.

Source: Purification of Heart
to be continued ....