Perdify (Hıyânat)

One of the malady of the heart is “hiyânat”. Committing “hiyânat” causes anger (ghadab). “Hiyânat” also is forbidden (harâm) and it is a sign of hypocrisy. The opposite of “hiyânat” is being trustworthy (amânat). The meaning of “hiyânat” is as follows: A person who portrays himself to others as trustworthy and then does something which belies this impression. A Believer (Mu’min) is a person to whom anybody would entrust their life or property. Amânat (trustworthiness) and hiyânat (perfidy) apply not only to property but also to spoken (or written) words. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “A person who is consulted is trustworthy.” As a matter of fact, others trust this person that he will tell them the truth and will not tell anyone else about the question he has been asked. It is necessary (wâjib) for him to tell the truth. A person may place his property with another whom he trusts. Similarly, one may consult with another whom he is sure will tell him the truth. The 159th âyat in Sûra “âl‑i ’Imrân” of the Qur’ân al-kerîm purports: “Consult with others beforehand the things you are planning to do.” Consulting with others is like a fortress which protects one from regret. The person whom one wants to consult should know the states of human beings of his time as well as the states and conditions of the country and the time. This is called knowledge of politics and administration (’ilm al-siyâsat). Furthermore, he should be a far sighted and wise person as well as a healthy one. It is sinful for him to say something which he does not know or to say something contrary to his knowledge. If he said these things by mistake, it would not be a sin for him. If one consults with a person who does not possess the above-mentioned attributes and qualifications, both parties will be committing a sin. Those who give religious judgment (fatwâ) with respect to worldly or religious matters although they do not fulfill the aforesaid qualifications, will be cursed by angels. Another kind of hiyânat (perfidy) is to order someone to do something which you know will be harmful.

It is written in the famous religious book Hadîqa that Abdullah ibn al‑Mes’ûd ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ said, “The first thing you will lose from your religion will be being trustworthy ‘amânat’. The last thing you will lose will be the ‘salât’ prayer. There will be some people who will be praying ‘salâts’ while indeed they will not even have any faith.” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Anyone who murders his friend is not one of my ‘Ummat’. This is true even if the person murdered is a disbeliever.”

A medicine that would be a common cure for all the vices is the recognition of the illness and things that are harmful to it, its cause, its opposite case, as well as effects of the medicine. The next step would be the diagnosis of the illness, which is done either by self-research or under the supervision of a guide, i.e. an ’âlim (a deeply learned Islamic scholar). A Believer is another Believer’s mirror. Self-diagnosis of one’s faults is a difficult task. A recommendable way of knowing your own faults, therefore, would be to consult with a dependable friend. A faithful friend is one who will protect you against dangers and fearful situations. Such a friend is hard to come by. It is to this effect that Imâm Shâfi’î ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ stated:

A person who has a vice should search for the reason (cause) of his contracting that vice. He should try to eliminating this cause and then try to get rid of it by doing its opposite. He should try very hard to do the opposite of the vice for getting rid of it. For, getting rid of a vice is very difficult. The nafs loves evil and ugly things. Another useful medicine for getting rid of vices is to establish a method of retribution. For example, when one commits a vice, immediately afterwards, one should do some action one’s nafs does not like. A good way of accomplishing this is to take an oath. Namely, one should take an oath to the effect that if one commits a vice, one will do extra goodness such as giving alms, fasting or performing salâts.

One should try to cure maladies of his heart, the bad habits of his soul, in every meanns and in every days continiously.