BaKhabar, July 2013, Page-4 [The Day of Accounts, Qiyamah: The Driving Force behind being Honest and Ethical + ‘Did he not reach Ramadan, fast and pray?’]

The Day of Accounts, Qiyamah: The Driving Force behind being Honest and Ethical

From “Beyond Education” collection – Nissar Nadiadwala’s Editorial for Young Muslims

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Satyam is a so called huge company which showed a large number of employees and manipulated their accounts. These types of manipulation is common in many companies and also in those business where some partners are active and others are sleeping partners who just invest. Financial forgeries are the biggest crimes of our times which corrupt the masses in general. I remember a well-known cricketer of Pakistan who was accused of gambling and accepted bribe for letting his national team be defeated. The reason that came out was: “I lost my precious savings in the BCCI liquidation and had no options but to accept bribe,” the man said.

Last decade saw a catastrophic economic crime when a share broker called Harshad Mehta caused a big tumble in the Mumbai share market. I remember very clearly how news about tea-stall owners and small time middle class people lost their precious wealth in the fall of share market index. A woman's story still haunts me. She was a lady from Gujarat and her husband had saved a huge amount for their daughter's marriage which was very close. The lady got carried away by the rising share market index wave and without informing her husband, she sold the entire jewellery and bought the share planning to sale it off a week before the wedding in order to profit more and faster. But Mehta was arrested and the Mumbai share market saw a never seen before plunge and many people including this lady lost their capital as well. Imagine how embarrassing situation for the woman! I don’t know the rest of the story as to what happened afterwards.

The question is what drives a person to be honest and ethical? What makes a person accountable? How can honesty and ethics be groomed in a person? Are there any syrups or tablets to pull down the index of greed of a person?

There are two aspects of responsibilities; Accounts and Accountability. Accounts can be manipulated but accountability cannot be. It is directly connected with your heart and no open heart surgery can exploit it. This reminds me an incident in the life of Umar Khattab who was the famous righteous Khalif of Muslims. He once found that a camel from public property had escaped in the desert. So Umar searched in the afternoon of hot desert and when someone asked him, he replied, "It is a camel from the public property so I am searching for it." In another incident he found a poor widow's child crying for food. Umar went back quickly and carried a bag of food on his back; his helper too went along with him and offered his help to carry the bag on his back. But Umar replied, "Will you carry the burden on the day of Judgement?" This is accountability. One day you have to stand before your creator and give all the accounts of what you did. The sahih hadith says: No one will be able to move from their place until they have given account of few things; one of them is: where did you earn from and where did you spend?

The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) announced, "By Allah! Even if my own daughter Fatima steals, I will not hesitate to cut off her hands." This is honesty and honesty is protected through strict laws. Honesty and accountability are not imposed but established by the law. Strict law in the world and stricter after death. That is why Qiaymat is also called THE DAY OF ACCOUNTS... YAUM-E-HASHR

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