Ya Bunayya!
This post was inspired by a documentary that I watched a few months ago. I hope by documenting my thoughts and lessons I derived from the documentary lives as a reference for you in the nearer and the farther future.
I believe the story to be true. In fact, it’s easy to verify stories of this nature from our personal encounters in life. Thus, it’s significant that this letter of Yā Bunayya! reaches you.
The Story
A security force breaks into the house of a man. The man was deep asleep. As you’ve rightly guessed, the break-in was in the middle of the night.
While asleep, he was beaten to unconsciousness. To cut a long story short, he died. They killed him. Actually, they murdered him. In a cold blood.
The security forces who committed this crime belonged to the national security forces of the Middle Eastern country.
The grieving family of the victim took legal action. This should be normal. Right? But what wasn’t normal is what follows.
What is unsurprisingly surprising is that a lawyer accepted to represent and defend the security forces. As per the documentary, the lawyer made statements as if he was at the crime scene. Thus, not only was he defending criminals. But was also making false testimony. In this case, while the killers committed one crime, which was killing, the lawyer was committing two. First, for representing criminals, and second for making false testimony. And both sins are major in the sight of Allah subḥānahū wa ta’ālā.
The scariest is this: Just imagine a lawyer making a living for himself and his household from defending criminals and making false testimony.
But there’ No Alternative… What to Do?
Ya Bunayya!
It’s better to starve to death than make a living from a job (any job) that renders you a criminal in the sight of Allah. Let alone, a job that renders you a liar in the sight of Allah.
Allah has created with every soul its prescribed share of provision in this life. This means, that Allah didn’t create any soul to survive on haram earnings. Thus, surviving on haram earning is a personal choice. And choices have implications.
Moral of the Story: Give Yourself No Excuses!
Ya Bunayya!
Do note that, this post is not about security forces killing. Even though killing is already a major crime. Also, this post is not about a lawyer doing what he’s passionate about. Well, some people are only passionate about dirt and impurity.
The post is rather about the need to make your earnings from halal sources. Don’t ever testify to what you have no knowledge about. Don’t accept employment for any employer who you are certain operates, trades in, or serves in haram. Especially haram involving major crimes. And if you're asking yourself, “what's the big deal with earning from haram?” then you should check out this article.
Allah knows best!
Good Advice