Br. Mohammed Ismail gave the 2nd khutba. In it he talked about the importance of keeping promises.
“O you who believe! Fulfill your obligations.” (5:1)
“Fulfill God’s covenant when you make a covenant, and do not break your oaths after ratifying them. You have made God your guarantor, and God knows what you do” (16:91)
“Be true to every promise, for truly you will be called to account for every promise you have made” (17:34)
The Prophet (PBUH) was known as the truthful and the trustworthy even before his prophethood as well as after.In the treaty of Hudaibiya he, PBUH, agreed with non-Muslims that anyone from Mecca who flees to Medina will be turned back to the non-Muslims. This happened shortly after Abu Jandal fled from non-Muslims and accepted Islam. But as promised, Prophet Muhammad returned him back to non-Muslims in order to keep the treaty.
Keeping promises is part of obeying Allah and following the Prophet’s example and avoiding hypocrisy.
“The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he talks he lies. When he promises, he breaks his promise. When he makes a covenant he proves treacherous.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]
This has great benefits with our family, friends, work-life and to ourselves. Being known as someone who keeps their promises leads to respect and has emotional value. Breaking promises reduces truest. This is especially crucial when dealing with children. Keeping pomises boosts our self-respect while breaking them increases guilt.
Why could it be hard to keep our promises
| problem | solution |
| We make a promise we didn’t mean | Only say what we mean |
| We forgot | Set reminders |
| We belittled the promise | Don’t belittle any promise |
| We made a promise beyond our boundaries | Stay within our boundaries |
| We are selfish | Ask Allah for help and practice selflessness |
What can we do today?
Please fulfill one promise that you are currently capable of fulfilling. This could be as simple as calling someone days after you promised to call back, returning a borrowed thing, or spending time with someone that you promised.