Wanting for yourself what you want for your brother Muhammad Eusha Everyday our local media

are stained with chronicles of the latest fraudulent schemes our fellow nationals have concocted or some casualty they have inflicted upon another for insignificant gains. On the news this may be followed by a brief statement made by the culprit, whose demeanor is more appropriate to that of someone narrating an anecdote and not a tragedy. Would their reaction be the same if something similar happened to them or their families? Do the corrupt fishmongers feed their families formalin treated fish? These people undoubtedly do not consider the consequences of their actions as they think they are safe from their deceptive ways themselves. Islam places a great deal of importance on the rights of a person over another. In fact it is woven into the very fabric of our faith. According to a hadith: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: none of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.[alBukhari, Muslim] . This hadith shows that faith is not confined to the relationship between Allah and an individual only, but encompasses his dealings with society and the people around him. In other words, simply praying, fasting and looking after one's own needs and ignoring others' will leave a defect in his faith. This does not in anyway imply that he will become a disbeliever but that higher level of completeness cannot be achieved unless he also tends to social problems. Selfishness is an innate property of man, which is why he must first recognize it then try his best to control it. When inflicted with injustices themselves, they should consider how fair their own dealings have been. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has said: "Allah is only merciful with those who show mercy to others."[alBukhari]. This hadith again echoes the importance Islam places on treating others as we would want to be treated, not just by other people but by Allah Himself. And truly Allah is the One in charge of all our affairs.

Our country has been placed high on the 'most corrupt countries in the world' list too many times. While many breathe a sigh of relief as statistics shows that our condition has improved now, in reality it is the same or perhaps even worse. This is obvious from the fact that the food we eat cannot be trusted, bribery has become an accepted norm in the form of a peccadillo, professionals in all fields including doctors give their pockets preference over those they are looking after and there is no one to turn to as the leaders and even the law cannot be trusted. In short, insecurity is prevalent in every aspect of our lives. A probable cause of us having moved down the corruption list is that there have emerged many other countries considered much more corrupt than ours, and sadly most of them are Muslim countries. We as a nation are in dire need of a moral facelift. Following the simple principle of wanting for your brother what you want for yourself will not only put an end to corruption but also bring about prosperity. One wonders if the extravagant lives of some of the rich in our country would be impaired in any way if they treated the poor as their brothers and spent a dollop of their wealth on them to help them lead decent lives. To emphasize how strongly our afterlives and true future are tied to our dealings with the people around us this hadith is sufficient: the Messenger (peace be upon him) said,"Whoever loves to be saved from the Fire and entered into Paradise should die with belief in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people in the way that he wishes to be treated by them" [Sahih alMuslim].