Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 903 [Read full issue]
Fraud
All kinds of cheating are prohibited in Islam. Any form of unjust exchange in dealings or making profit by cheating others in business transactions is prohibited. As is stated in the following hadith, he who deceives is not of the believers: "Whoever defrauds us is not one of us." [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud]
A seller must inform the buyer about all the characteristics of the thing they are selling and inform the buyer about the defects, if there are any. Such a conduct will not only secure trust, but also invoke God's abundance. Honest traders will be shaded under the shade of God's Throne and will be assembled for judgment together with the righteous and martyrs on the Doomsday.
In Islam, it is not permissible for the seller to refrain from mentioning the defects of a commodity. The following tradition shows the significance given to absolute justice and fair play in business dealings: Once, when passing by a grain merchant, the Prophet (peace be upon him) thrust his hand into the heap of grains and found it wet. "What is this, O merchant?" he asked. "It is because of rain," the man replied. The Prophet then said to him, "Why did you not put it on top so that the people could see it? He who deceives us is not of us." [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud]
The Muslims of earlier times observed the practices of truthfulness in transactions and described the commodity they sold, exposing the defect in the commodity. Today, however, trade seems to be based on misleading people, often mentioning something that is not true about the commodity. In particular, TV commercials and advertisements claim the goods to be very different from what they actually are. They cheat large masses of people by making use of every trick to convince and deceive when promoting their commodity.
Compiled From:
"Cleanliness in Islam" - Remzi Kuscular