Satan's powerful illusion to adorn evil in our
eyes acts like hallucinating drugs. It makes us lose our
sanity, our senses, our judgment, and our guidance so
easily and unexpectedly! We actually start adopting his
offered logic and overlook God's clear teachings and
ethics. This is tragic for our souls. We can easily and
gradually wrong them while Satan is introducing all
kinds of sins to us, gross and small, along with his
own, seemingly logical justification. Once the sinful
act is adorned in our eyes, we actually continue
committing it, and we even extend the Satanic poison to
others, thinking we are offering goodness and setting a
righteous example! This is the deception and delusion
orchestrated by the master of hypnosis. One of his gross
offenses he attractively wrap up for us is breaking
covenants and oaths.
[5:1] O you who believe,
you shall fulfill your covenants. ...
[17:34] ... You
shall
fulfill your covenants, for a covenant is
a great responsibility.
[33:15] They had pledged to
GOD in the past that they would not turn around and
flee;
making a pledge with GOD involves a great
responsibility.
Like all forms of sinning, and through the above Satanic
illusion, our reverence of God and the fear of meeting
Him gets either temporarily or permanently shut off.
Satan seals our minds to the point we might imagine that
God is no longer watching us, or no longer aware of our
thoughts, so he succeeds in claiming us and we break our
covenants and oaths.
[11:5] Indeed, they hide
their innermost thoughts, as if to keep Him from knowing
them. In fact, as they cover
themselves with their clothes, He knows all their
secrets and declarations. He knows the innermost
thoughts.
[3:29] Say, "Whether
you conceal your innermost thought, or declare it,
GOD is fully aware thereof." He is fully aware of
everything in the heavens and the earth. GOD is
Omnipotent.
Quran is full of stories (eg. children of Israel),
lessons, and reminders that portray covenants as
commitments as great responsibilities. Keeping our words
and covenants is with no doubt an indication of
the growth of our faith and the development of our
character up to the standards of the Quran. It is
definitely proportional to the strength of our moral
character and our bond with our Creator.
The following are simply just a few reminders about
covenants starting with our original covenant with God
in 36:60, 7:172, 5:7, 13:19-22, 3:187, and 7:169 (And
remind, for the reminder benefits the believers.-51:55).
The Devil is the Other Alternative
[36:60] Did I not
covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall
not worship the devil? That he is your most ardent
enemy?
We Are Born With Instinctive Knowledge About
God*
[7:172] Recall that your Lord
summoned all the descendants of Adam, and had them bear
witness for themselves: "Am I not your Lord?"
They all said, "Yes. We bear witness."
Thus, you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, "We
were not aware of this."
[5:7] Remember GOD's
blessing upon you, and
His covenant
that He covenanted with you:
you said, "We
hear and we obey." You shall
observe GOD; GOD is fully aware of the innermost
thoughts.
[3:187]
GOD took a
covenant from those who received the
scripture: "You shall
proclaim it to the people, and never conceal it."
But they disregarded it behind their backs, and
traded it away
for a cheap price. What
a miserable trade.
Believers Versus Disbelievers
(1) The Believers
[13:19] Is one who recognizes
that your Lord's revelations to you are the truth equal
to one who is blind? Only those who possess intelligence
will take heed.
[13:20] They are the
ones who fulfill their pledge to GOD, and do not violate
the covenant.
[13:21] They join
what GOD has commanded to be joined, reverence
their Lord, and fear the dreadful reckoning.
[13:22] They
steadfastly persevere in seeking their Lord,
observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), spend
from our provisions to them secretly and publicly, and
counter evil with good. These have deserved the
best abode.
(2) The Disbelievers
[13:25] As for those
who violate GOD's covenant after pledging to keep it,
and sever what GOD has commanded to be joined, and
commit evil,
they have
incurred condemnation; they have incurred
the worst destiny.
Righteousness Defined
[2:177] Righteousness is not
turning your faces towards the east or the west.
Righteous are those who ....; and they keep
their word whenever they make a promise; .....
These are the truthful; these are the righteous.
[70:32] And the
believers keep their word; they are trustworthy.
You Shall Keep Your Word
[16:91] You shall
fulfill your covenant with GOD when you make such a
covenant.
You shall not violate the oaths after
swearing (by God) to carry them
out, for you have made GOD a guarantor for you.
GOD knows everything you do.
[16:92]
Do not be like the knitter who unravels her
strong knitting into piles of flimsy yarn.
This is your example if you abuse the oaths
to take advantage of one another.
Whether one group is larger than the other, GOD thus
puts you to the test. He will surely show you on the Day
of Resurrection everything you had disputed.
Do Not Take God's Name in Vain
[5:89] GOD does not hold you
responsible for the mere utterance of oaths; He holds
you responsible for your actual intentions.
If you violate an oath, you shall atone by feeding ten
poor people from the same food you offer to your own
family, or clothing them, or by freeing a slave. If you
cannot afford this, then you shall fast three days.
This is the atonement
for violating the oaths that you swore to keep.
You shall fulfill your oaths. GOD thus explains His
revelations to you, that you may be appreciative.
Violating Your Oath: A Serious
Offense
[16:94]
Do not abuse
the oaths among you, lest you slide back after having a
strong foothold, then you incur misery.
Such is the consequence of repelling from the path of
GOD (by setting a bad example); you incur a terrible
retribution.
[16:95] Do not sell
your oaths short before GOD. What GOD possesses is far
better for you, if you only knew.
[3:77] As for
those who trade away GOD's covenant, and their
obligations, for a cheap price, they receive no
share in the Hereafter. GOD will not speak to them,
nor look at them, on the Day of Resurrection, nor
will He purify them. They have incurred a painful
retribution.
[33:23] Among the
believers there are people who fulfill their pledges
with GOD. Some of them died, while others stand
ready, never wavering.
[76:5] As for the
virtuous, they will drink from cups spiced with
nectar.
[76:6] A spring that
is reserved for GOD's servants; it will gush out as
they will.
[76:7] They
fulfill their pledges, and reverence a day that is
extremely difficult.
Reflecting on all the above reminders, we realize
that breaking our promises and covenants with each
other, like any other sin, means nothing but
breaking our covenant with God almighty to observe
Him alone (36:60, 7:172, and 5:7) and to uphold the
scripture (13:19-22, 7:169). Keeping our promises
and oaths are among the divine ethics of all
scriptures, and violating them implies
an automatic violation of this original covenant we
all took with God almighty.
[5:7] Remember GOD's
blessing upon you, and
His
covenant that He covenanted with you:
you said,
"We hear and we obey."
You shall observe GOD; GOD is fully aware of the
innermost thoughts.
[7:169] Subsequent
to them, He substituted new generations
who inherited the scripture.
But they
opted for the worldly life instead, saying, "We will
be forgiven." But then they
continued to opt for the materials of this world.
Did they not make a covenant to uphold
the scripture, and not to say about GOD except the
truth? Did they not study the
scripture? Certainly, the abode of the Hereafter is
far better for those who maintain righteousness. Do
you not understand?
[7:170] Those who
uphold the scripture, and observe the Contact
Prayers (Salat), we never fail to recompense the
pious.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless you.
