USING OTHER PEOPLE’S PROPERTY

In a Hadith, the Holy Prophetﷺ said,

“Whoever eats through hurting a Muslim, Allah Ta’alah will feed him fire from Hell
(Jahannam) equal to the weight of that food.”
This Hadith is referring to situations where a person earns their income by causing some sort of harm to another person. This includes, for example, making a living by taking bribes, or defrauding people, or forcing someone to hand their money over against their wishes.
Similarly, if a person earns his income while causing harm to and doing injustice to another person, and makes a dress from that income, Allah Ta’alah will make him wear a dress made of fire in Jahannam (Hell).
In the same way, if a person tries to become famous by defaming and denigrating other people, for example, when two people are competing for the same post or position as in election, it is very common for them to say all sorts of negative things about their opponent, Allah Ta’alah will defame them on the Day of Qiyamah (Day of Doom). He may have become famous in this world but Allah Ta’alah will defame him in the Hereafter and everyone will be made aware that he was the person who had earned fame through damaging the reputation of another Muslim.
This Hadith is a great warning for us that violating the rights of another human being is a major sin (گناه کبیره). We must always be very careful in our behaviour and in our speech lest we violate the rights of another human being and then have account for those acts in Allah Ta’alah’s court. May Allah Ta’alah protect us all from breaching the rights of other people. Ameen.

USING SOMEONE ELSE’ PROPERTY
In another Hadith, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that none of you should take possessions of your friends or acquaintances, either in jest or in seriousness. If an item belongs to another person we are not allowed to use it or take possession of it without their permission, or in fact without their ‘happiness of heart’(طیبِ خاطر). Even if that person is a close friend or relative we are not allowed to start using their stuff unless they happily allow us to do so.

HAPPINESS OF HEART (طیبِ نفس)
In another Hadith the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said;

لا یحل مال امری مسلم الا بطیب نفس منھ

“It is not Halal to take or use the property of a Muslim unless he permits it willingly.”
In this Hadith the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has not used the word permission, rather he has used the term Teeb-e-Nafs طیب نفس which can be translated as “happiness of heart”. For example, if you ask a person to lend you something, and though he wasn’t happy to give it to you but does so under pressure and duress, in that situation it will not be Halal (permissible) for you to use that item.

IMAM ABU HANIFAH’S (may Allah bless him) ADVICE
Once Imam Abu Hanifah RE advised his student Imam Abu Yusuf (may Allah bless him),

“When you buy or rent something, pay more than what other people pay, so that ‘Ilm’ (knowledge) and Deen (religion) are not devalued because of your paying less.”
DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO UNTO YOU
If you want to borrow something from someone, first ask yourself whether you would have been happy to lend it to him if he had asked you to borrow it from you. If not, then do not ask him for it. Maybe he would give it to you feeling obligated though not really wanting to give it to you. In that case this Hadith will apply to you that you should not take anyone’s property unless they are happy to give it to you.

MA’ASHRAT (WAYS OF RELATING TO PEOPLE) IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF DEEN
We have excluded all these etiquettes of Ma’ashrat from our Deen (religion) and have started believing that Islam consists solely of Salah, fasting and other Ibadah (acts of worship). For example, it doesn’t even occur to us that it is against the etiquettes of Deen to turn up at a person’s home at mealtimes without any forewarning, as it inconveniences them about hastily arranging a meal for the uninvited guests.
Even those people who consider themselves very religious, who are very regular about Fard (mandatory) and Nafl (non-obligatory) Salah and other Ibadah, are sometimes completely unaware of these etiquettes. It doesn’t occur to them, for example, that imposing themselves on someone else at mealtimes is also included in the meaning of the Hadith above about taking a Muslim’s property without him being happy about it. May Allah Ta’alah grant us a true understanding of Deen and give us the ability to do justice to every Sunnah of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم at its appropriate time.

COLLECTING DONATIONS UNDER DURESS
Similarly, when one is collecting donations for any noble cause one should be very mindful that it is not collected under pressure or duress. Even if this collection is for a religious cause, like for a Madrassah, a Masjid, or Jihad or Tableegh, if it is collected under even the least bit of pressure it becomes Hara’am (unlawful). Hazrat Thanvi Rehmatullah Elaih used to say that sometimes such institutions engage people of a high social status to collect donations on their behalf, so that potential donors would feel compelled to contribute. This is using one’s social status to put pressure, and if the person contributes because they feel pressured, rather than because they wanted to contribute happily, such donation becomes Hara’am.

COLLECTING DONATIONS PUBLICLY
In the same way, people sometimes announce and collect donations for a good cause publicly. It puts pressure on people that if they don’t contribute, or contribute only a small
amount, then they will feel embarrassed in front of everyone. Thus, they contribute more under that social pressure, rather than with a genuine desire to contribute that much. Such a donation is Hara’am because it has been taken without the person being happy about it. That is why Hazrat Thanvi Rehmatullah Elaih did not allow collecting donations publicly even for religious purposes.

THE CORRECT WAY OF COLLECTING DNATIONS
The correct way of collecting donations is that you just inform people about a good cause and remind them that they will get thawab (eternal reward) for spending money on that cause. Then if someone wishes, they can contribute to that cause whenever they want, and as much or as little as they want.

All these rules are extracted from the hadith which says that a person shouldn’t take another person’s property either in jest or in seriousness, unless they give it willingly.

NOT RETURNING BORROWED ITEMS PROMPTLY
In the next sentence the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said;

“Even if you have borrowed a walking stick from someone, you should return it.”

It means that if you have borrowed an item from someone for a specific purpose, then you should return it as soon as that purpose has been achieved. Otherwise, you will be causing undue inconvenience to a person who has been kind enough to you to lend you their property. They may need that item but may be feeling embarrassed asking you to return it. If that is the case then you are using his property without him being happy about it, which is Hara’am (unlawful).

NOT RETURNING BOOKS
It is a misconception in our society that theft of books is not a theft, and that if we have borrowed a book from someone to read, then we don’t need to bother about returning it. Even after we have read the book, it just keeps lying in our home and it doesn’t occur to us that we need to return it promptly.

As mentioned above, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said that if we have borrowed something from someone then we must return it too. May Allah Ta’alah help us follow all of these teachings of Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم. Ameen

وآخر دعوا ان الحمد ﷲ رب العالمين