Quran Garden

Session 401

Chapter 3

Verse 75

Among the People of the Book are some who, if you entrust them with a weight of treasure, they will return it to you intact; and among them are some who, if you entrust them with one gold coin, will not return it unless you keep insisting on its return. That is because they claim, "We have no responsibility toward the unlettered people." Thus they speak lies in attribution to God, and do so knowingly. (Chapter 3: Verse 75)

This verse is a display of absolute divine fairness.  In the preceding verses, Allah exposed the plans some of the People of the Book devised to discredit Islam and weaken the followers of Prophet Muhammad.  But this did not mean that Allah was waging a campaign against the Jews and Christians.  Allah highlighted certain behaviors and simply singled out those who did them. 

In the verse under study, Allah sheds light on the Jews and Christians who are distinguished with honesty, again pointing out behaviors rather than individuals.  He says, "Among the People of the Book are some who, if you entrust them with a weight of treasure, they will return it to you intact."   

The call of Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent as a mercy to all humankind. The Jews and Christians are the closest to the believers because they recognize that the heavens send messengers armed with miracles and scriptures.  More importantly, their books highlight the signs of the advent of Muhammad, peace be upon him.  And among them are those who took the time to study these signs and consider Muhammad's message.  Many converted to Islam because they saw it as an essential step of their Christian or Jewish faith. 

Had God initiated a campaign against all the People of the Book, those who were considering Islam would have said, "We were thinking of believing and implementing God's teachings; How could Muhammad launch a war against us?" But, when Allah declared that some Jews and Christians were distinguished by honesty, He gave them comfort that Muhammad only spoke of what His just Lord informed him. God says:

Yet they are not all alike: among the People of the Book there is an upright community, reciting God's revelations in the watches of the night and prostrating. (3:113)

Allah reassured those who occupied themselves with studying the new religion, and there lies the divine justice in the phrase "Among the People of the Book are some who, if you entrust them with a weight of treasure, they will return it to you intact."   

Some scholars tried to limit the phrase "People of the Book" to the Christians, excluding the Jews.  We answer that such interpretation takes away from God's fairness.  Among the People of the Book, whether Jews or Christians, are those with a healthy conscious and pure heart.  In other verses of the Quran, God specified the Jews or the Christians by name; thus, the phrase "People of the Book" should be understood to include both.  Allah recognizes the good and the vile in the Quran, which will be recited until the Day of Judgment.  And, when people read verses that highlight the virtues of some Jews and Christians, they should also take seriously the verses that describe the evil characteristics of others among them.  Allah only speaks the truth, and thus the Quran is a book of absolute fairness.   

The word "entrust" is derived from the Arabic الأمانة (Amanah).  The Amanah trust begins when something is given to you for safekeeping.  It could be money, a car, or even a piece of information.  Trust means that there are no guarantees, collaterals, or contracts.  In other words, if I entrust you with some of my money for safekeeping, and then we sit down to write a contract or bring witnesses, then it is no longer known as the Amanah trust.  By definition, trust relies exclusively on the entrusted person's consciousness.

Here, I would like to remind you of a critical point: there is a big difference between accepting the trust and performing the duties of the trust.  I will explain with an example.  A friend may come and ask, "I will be going overseas for four years.  I have ten thousand dollars. Can I trust you to keep it safe until I come back from my studies?" You reply with, "Yes, of course." This is what we call accepting the الأمانة (Amanah) trust.  It is the easy part because you may accept the responsibility and have full intention to safeguard your friend's money, but life is not predictable.  What if you fall on hard times during the next four years and need money for a critical medical operation for your child? What if the only money available to you is the money your friend entrusted you with? Would you take some?  Would you tell your friend? Would you procrastinate in giving the money back?  That is the difference between accepting the trust and fulfilling the duties of the trust.  Fulfilling the duties is the difficult part.    

The issue of accepting the trust and bearing its responsibilities is not specific to this verse or financial dealings.  It is a common pitfall of all human beings.  In fact, this very issue has to do with the origin of our humanity as trustees in the universe.  God says:

We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it; humankind undertook it –they have always been unjust and ignorant. (33:72)

The entire universe feared to bear the trust of free will.  It understood the difference between accepting the trust of faith and fulfilling that responsibility.  No one can guarantee to properly fulfil the trust when the time comes.  Hence, the universe declined God's offer and chose to keep its will in the hands of God, the Creator.  What was the result? A universe that performs its duties as God intended, working like clockwork.  There is, however, an exception: humankind.  Man accepted the trust and thought, "I am intelligent, and I will always choose the best between alternatives.  I will earn my way to Paradise." Look around you: where does corruption come from? It comes from the places where people abused their God's Amanah, interfered in nature, and chose to follow their whims over God's teachings.  

Always remember: you may be strong when accepting the trust, but what about at the time of fulfillment? God says, "Humankind undertook it –they have always been unjust and ignorant." If you commit yourself to something and do not do it properly, then you are unjust to yourself.  Similarly, if you commit yourself to something without fully appreciating the time and effort it will take to be fulfilled, then you are ignorant.

This brings us back to the verse.  The phrase "Among the People of the Book are some who, if you entrust them with a weight of treasure, they will return it to you intact" indicates that the treasure is only held by a word with no contract or witnesses.  Such people did not allow the brilliant shine of gold to distract them from their duty towards the trust.    

The phrase "a weight of treasure" is translated from the Arabic origin قِنْطَار (Quintar), which is a unit for measuring weight.  In ancient times, a sign of a person's wealth was when he or she would own enough gold to fill the skin of a bull.  This volume was called "Quintar."  Later on, rather than using the word "Quintar" to refer to the volume of gold needed to fill a bull's skin, people started using it to refer to the weight of that amount of gold, which equals about 144 kilograms or 317 pounds. 

قِنْطَار (Quintar) was the heaviest unit of measurement known at the time of the Prophet, and gold is the most precious metal.  Allah used the example of the heaviest weight and the most precious metal to highlight for us that honesty is more valuable than either.   

In Islamic jurisprudence, the minimum value over which the thief's hand is amputated is a quarter of a dinar, which equals about a quarter of an ounce of gold.  However, the compensation due to a victim who lost his or her hand by accident is 500 dinars.  Naturally, some have questioned, "How can you value a hand at 500 dinars in one law and a quarter of a dinar in another?"  One of the scholars replied, "An honest and trustworthy hand is most precious, while a hand that betrays the trust of others is almost worthless."