Overview (Verses 75 - 77)

A Transaction Ending in Ruin 
 
Among the people of earlier revelations there is many a one who, if you trust him with a treasure, will return it to you intact; and there is among them many a one who, if you trust him with a small gold coin, will not return it to you, unless you keep standing over him. For they say: “We have no obligation to keep faith with Gentiles.” Thus they deliberately say of God what they know to be a lie. Indeed those who fulfil their pledges and guard themselves against evil [enjoy God’s love]; for God loves the righteous. Those who barter away their covenant with God and their oaths for a trifling gain will have no share in the life to come. God will neither speak to them, nor cast a look on them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them of their sins. Theirs will be a grievous suffering. (Verses 75-77)
 
In these verses, the Qur’ān describes the people of earlier revelations as they are, identifying the points of weakness in their characters. It also states the correct values of the Islamic faith. It begins by describing two types of people and their behaviour in commercial and social transactions. We note here that the Qur’ān maintains a high standard of fairness, stating the facts and denying no one his due credit, despite the fact that those people of earlier revelations were in conflict with the Muslim community. It seems that the same is true of those people in all generations. Nevertheless, their hostility towards, their plotting and scheming against and their attempts to undermine Islam and the Muslims, are not cause for the Qur’ān to deny the good ones among them their due credit. Here we note the Qur’ānic statement that among the people of earlier revelations, there are trustworthy individuals who will not usurp anyone his right, even under the greatest of temptations: “Among the people of earlier revelations there is many a one who, if you trust him with a treasure, will return it to you intact.” (Verse 75)
 
Others among them, however, are too greedy and have no respect for the rights of others. They do not return something which rightfully belongs to another person, no matter how small, unless they are faced with continuous and insistent demands. They try to justify this contemptible habit by knowingly and deliberately telling lies about God: “And there is among them many a one who, if you trust him with a small gold coin, will not return it to you, unless you keep standing over him. For they say: ’We have no obligation to keep faith with Gentiles.’ Thus they deliberately say of God what they know to be a lie.” (Verse 75)
 
This particular characteristic is typical of the Jews. It is they who make this statement and have, in moral and social dealings, double standards. When there is a transaction between one Jew and another, they are honest and trustworthy. When they deal with non-Jews, cheating, false pretences, deception and swindling become admissible practices which stir no conscience and cause no twinge of remorse. We note here that the Qur’ān quotes them as saying, “We have no obligation to keep faith with Gentiles.” The Arabic term used in the Qur’ānic text for the word “Gentiles” means “the illiterate or unlettered people”. This was a reference to the Arabs, since the Arabs at that time were largely an illiterate nation. In fact, that was the term they employed to denote all non-Jews.
 
What is worse, they allege that they are instructed to do so by their God and their religion. However, they know this to be false. They know that God does not approve of any falsehood or any evil manner. He does not allow any community of people to usurp the property of others by fraud and deceit, or to betray their trust or indeed to deal with them unfairly. The Jews, however, have made their hatred to the rest of mankind an essential characteristic of theirs, and indeed part of their religion: “They deliberately say of God what they know to be a lie.”
 
At this point, the Qur’ān states its universal rule of morality, in essence its universal moral standard. Moreover, it relates this to the basic requirement of being conscious of God and fearing Him: “Indeed those who fulfil their pledges and guard themselves against evil [enjoy God’s love]; for God loves the righteous. Those who barter away their covenant with God and their oaths for a trifling gain will have no share in the life to come. God will neither speak to them, nor cast a look on them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them of their sins. Theirs will be a grievous suffering.” (Verses 76-77)
 
What we have here is a single rule applicable to all. Anyone who observes this rule by fulfilling his pledges and guarding himself against evil will earn himself God’s love and honour. Anyone who takes a paltry price in exchange for his covenant with God and his oaths — needless to say, any worldly gain or, indeed, this whole world is nothing but a paltry price and a trifling gain — will have no share whatsoever in the life to come. He will be rejected by God and he will not be purified by Him. The only wages he gains himself are simply a grievous suffering.
 
We note here that the fulfilment of one’s pledges relates to fear of God. Hence, there can be no double standards, one for friends and another for enemies. Pledges are not viewed from the point of view of self-interest. Their fulfilment is a matter which relates to dealing with God: the identity of the other party to whom a pledge is given is of little significance.
 
This explains the general Islamic theory of morality which is applicable to the fulfilment of pledges and to other moral considerations. We deal in the first place with God, and we are, therefore, keen to please Him and to avoid His anger. Hence, our moral incentive is not our self-interest. Nor is it the tradition of the community, nor its particular circumstance. A community may go astray and it may have false standards. It is important, therefore, to have a constant standard which is applicable to both the community and the individual. In addition, this standard must derive its strength from a higher source which is universally valued as taking priority over what people may decide for themselves or what their changing circumstances may require of them. In other words, values and standards must be derived from God. We must try to determine what moral practices and values are acceptable to Him and implement these in the hope that we earn His pleasure and remain righteous. It is in this way that Islam nurtures man’s aspiration to a more sublime horizon.
 
Those who betray their trust and do not honour their pledges are indeed people who “barter away their covenant with God and their oaths for a trifling gain.” In matters of pledges and trust the relationship is between man and God in the first place although the pledges are made to other people. For this reason, people who do not honour their agreements have no share with God in the life to come. The betrayal of their trust and pledges is perpetrated for only a trifling gain, for something which is available in this life. Therefore, as punishment for their disavowal of His covenant, and their pledge to convey His message to other people, God does not care for them.
 
Here, the Qur’ān employs its familiar method of drawing an image in order to express a certain attitude. God’s neglect of such people and the fact that He withdraws His care from them are described in terms of His not speaking to them, looking at them or cleansing them. These are all familiar symptoms of neglect. The Qur’ān chooses to make use of them in order to draw a vivid image of what happens on the Day of Judgement. In this way, the verses have a much more profound effect on man than a mere statement of fact.