Al-Baqarah 282: Oh you who believe! When you give loans to each other for a determined period, write it down. And let a scribe write it down justly. No scribe should stay back from writing it as Allah has taught Allah. The one who has a right upon him (the borrower) should also let it be written down, fear his Lord and not write the debt incompletely. If the borrower is (mentally) instable or weak and is not in a position to say it himself and write it down, his custodian should let it be written down justly. Let two of your men be present. If two men cannot be found, (find) a man with whom you will be pleased and two women, so that if one errs, the other can remind her. When they are called, the witnesses should not be reluctant to come. Large and small, do not abstain from writing anything down until its maturity. Doing so is more just in the sight of Allah and more firm for testimony and more appropriate for not having doubts. Only when your matter is a spot trade that you conduct and complete, it is different; (in this case,) there is no sin upon you if you don’t write it down. When engaging in trade, have witnesses. Neither the one writing it down, nor the witness shall incur a loss. If you do (harm them), indeed you have gone astray. Fear Allah. Allah teaches you the things that are necessary. Allah knows everything.

To the verse: of Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 282. In this verse Allah Almighty gives the Muslims a very fine law, on solid foundations, He makes it known. I will read it to the end. Because it is very long, and at the same time very clear and plain, I will not dwell on it much. It is already very clear and plain in the verse. O you who believe, says Allah Almighty, to those who believe He calls. The unbelievers here are not interested in this matter, so Allah Almighty calls to those who believe. When you contract a debt with one another for a fixed term, write it down. For a fixed term. What is this? In three months, in five months I will give you my money.

Write it down.

Let a scribe write it down with justice. A scribe. Let no scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him. That is, let him never write it crookedly, altering it. As Allah taught him, that is, without departing from justice, let him write what the debtor and the creditor say, exactly as it is.

Let him write everything as it is; it says so right after. The one who owes the right, the debtor, let him dictate; let him dictate. Let him fear his Lord and never dictate his debt as less. Let him fear Allah. If the debtor is feeble-minded or weak of mind, or is unable to speak and dictate himself, if he is in that state, let someone dictate with justice.

And have two witnesses from among your men. If two men are not found, then from the witnesses you approve of, one man, and, so that if one of them errs the other may remind her, two women let there be. Let the witnesses not refuse when they are called. Large or small, until its term, never be too lazy to write anything down. Doing so is more just with Allah, more sound for testimony, and more suitable so that you do not fall into doubt. But if it is a cash trade you complete between yourselves, this case is different. In that case there is no harm for you in not writing it down.

Generally, take witnesses when you trade. Let neither the scribe nor the witness be harmed. If you do this, if you cause harm, there is no doubt this is your going astray, it means.

Fear Allah; Allah teaches you what is needed; Allah knows everything, it says. The verse is already fixed. Here we explain this verse in somewhat more detail. Let's read two or three pages.

If needed, we will make some additions in the tafsir. If not, we will read and move on. With this verse Allah Almighty, so that human rights can be protected in the best way, so that people are not harmed by one another, and while helping one another no unpleasant incidents arise between them, so that people do not cut off their help from one another, shows people the way. So that agreements may be sound, with their scribe and their witnesses reinforcing one another, in a way that brings people to life, He has taught people His laws and held a light before them. Let's say I borrowed twenty thousand lira from Doğan, Doğan gave it to me, and between us there is no witness. I said to Doğan, I took fifteen thousand lira from you.

No, Hodja, I gave twenty thousand lira, he says. Do you have any proof? No. I'll swallow your five thousand lira, your ten thousand lira. Or Doğan said to me, you took 25 thousand lira from me; come on, Doğan, I took 20 thousand lira from you. Well, do you have proof? No. You have to give the 25 thousand lira, you'll give it. What happened? In the dealing, in mutual help, an unpleasant incident arose between them. A witness wrote it, a witness wrote it.

Two men beside the witness, not a witness but the scribe wrote. Two witnesses were present beside the scribe, they wrote. Zuhan said, I gave this man twenty-five thousand lira.

It has been written wrongly here. The scribe says, you gave twenty thousand lira. The witnesses said, yes, you gave twenty thousand lira. No, no, I gave twenty-five thousand lira, he says, and if he goes after them, that shows the person has gone astray, it says.

So what is going astray? Even though he carried out Allah's commands, by using force on the witness and the scribe, by frightening them, taking more money from the one he lent to. That is what shows the person has gone astray, it says.

Allah's commands in this verse are used in today's civil law, at notaries. Notaries. When people go into debt to one another, with a scribe and two male witnesses present among you, write down the debts you have taken. If you cannot find two men, on condition of one man and two women, so that if one of the women forgets the other reminds her, between you draw up your contracts. As for the scribe, let him not be too lazy to write these; write them down to the finest detail; let him not say, this has no value, it doesn't matter if this isn't written.

So that this part may be better understood, an incident that happened to us I will tell. So that it is better understood.

My father had lent money to several people. He had money owed to him. Or he had given goods. He had money owed to him.

Somewhere he had also bought a field.

The field, a man plows it, sows it. Of whatever he earns from it, he brings some to my father as an allowance, that is, he brings it as produce. That is, he brings some of its beans, its rice, its eggplants, its tomatoes.

My father passed away.

We don't know who owes him and who doesn't.

He appears in a dream to my elder sister. My daughter, I have money owed to me with so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so; I have land over there, he says. The next day my sister tells this dream to my mother. Two or three hours pass. (?) one of them comes. I heard. Yusuf Ege has passed away. I have this much of his money. Here you are, he says. The same money.

My sister says, in such-and-such place, such-and-such place, such-and-such place too, he said. My girl, she says, can you remember? There are three more places, but I can't remember, she says. The money in three places was lost. The man he had leased the land to came.

When he heard my father had died, he said, oh no; I am a witness to this. He passed and went, gone for good; where the land is, where the property is, that is not known either.

So, write it down to the finest detail, If I die, to my children: your father owed me this much, someone will say. Otherwise, may Allah's peace be upon him. When he comes to my child and says, your father owes me this much, how do we know, he says. All right, but how do we know? That's right. Now here Allah Almighty leaves no door open. Do you see the law? What a fine law. Yes.

I suppose it is better understood now.

With examples.

If the one for whom it is written is very old and not in a state to speak, or whose mental state is not sound, for such people those who are in the position of their guardian should dictate with justice. What does dictate with justice mean here? Without slanting it to his own benefit. And seeing all his relatives as his own relatives, since his own relative is his guardian anyway, he should dictate accordingly, with justice, fearing Allah.

The meaning of "let his guardian dictate with justice" is: the guardian should not take advantage of this person's condition and, for worldly goods, dictate it to his own benefit.

Let him not step outside Allah Almighty's justice, and even if it is against himself, let him dictate to the scribe uprightly. Let the lender or the debt be dictated neither less nor more.

Let's clarify this a bit more. I am very old. I am not in a state to dictate; I can't collect my thoughts. And my guardian is Ceyhun. Ceyhun is my guardian.

And I have lent money to Ceyhun.

I can't say it. I am old, and Ceyhun doesn't have the money he took from me written down, so as to make it vanish. That is what He means by dictate with justice. If that person over him, the guardian's, the goods he gave to his guardian, property, money, whatever it is — what do we say? — even if it is against himself, let him dictate it uprightly. This man has 10 dönüm of land with me, or 5 dönüm of land. This man has 100 grams, 200 grams of gold with me. This man has 10 thousand lira owed to him by me. He will have that written down.

That testimony, in the presence of the witnesses, if the man comes to himself and says to his guardian, I have donated it to him, then two situations arise here. One: since the man's mental balance is not sound, his heirs may object to it, to the man. They are right. They may object. Or not. His guardians too, that is his heirs, say: yes, this is our father. What our father says is right for us. Even though his mental balance is not sound, right now, believing that our father's mental balance is sound, we have cancelled his claims on his guardian — if they say this, it's settled, it's over. This is over.

When there is a dispute between them, when the witnesses are called, let them not refuse to come. Why would the witnesses not come? Because they fear that man. The man who claims more money threatens them: you will give the testimony like this, you will do it like that. And because they are witnesses, because they fear Allah, they stay away. Do not fear anyone, says Allah Almighty. And when you are called, come and give the testimony uprightly. When there is a dispute between them, when the witnesses are called, let them not refuse to come. Acting this way is more just in Allah's sight, and people will not fall into doubts.

Into doubts.

To abolish this verse, to make people enemies of one another, to keep witnesses from bearing witness, there are invented sayings.

We write that here. By slipping some invented words in among Muslims, to drive Muslims away from one another and to do away with mutual help among them — do not heed the words the enemies of Islam say for this purpose. For example: if you have no sense, be a witness; if you have lots of money, be a guarantor.

These are words the enemies of religion say against this verse, to set people at odds.

If you have no sense, be a witness; if you have lots of money, be a guarantor.

Now, I'll tell you a (?) matter. It happened. I tell it here further below. Let's finish this part, then we'll come to that.

Yes.

(?) be a guarantor. These are words invented by the enemies of Islam. A Muslim brother of yours is in a tight spot. Won't you help him? Let's say Ceyhun Efendi is having a house built, he has nearly finished the work, it has come to the final moment; he will move in or finish it, (?). He comes: Hodja, can you help me with a few pennies? I don't have any. I'll get it from Ahmet, from Mehmet, and still give it. Why? He has finished his work by now. He will finish his work. That is what mutual help is.

Let's say we will free him from paying rent. Or else we will keep his head (?). His work is finished. Yes. That is mutual help in Islam.

Won't you also stand guarantor for him? Here, an incident that took place in the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), we cannot pass on without relating it to you, I say.

In the time of Umar, he is the Commander of the Faithful. Umar is the Commander of the Faithful of his time. During his caliphate a caravan enters the city. A person in the caravan sees a stone on the road. It is a fairly large piece of rock. He lifts it off the road and lets it drop over the edge of the fence. In the religion of Islam, removing stones from the road, and thorns and glass that would touch people's feet, is a good deed. So that they don't pierce people's feet. It is the noble Sunnah.

In Islam, removing from the road pieces of stone that would harm people and trip their feet, thorns, pieces of glass, and such things that would harm people, is a good deed. This person too, with this intention, lifts the rock from the road, and over the fence of a field at the side of the road he throws it down. Below where he threw the stone, the owner of the field is working, and the stone strikes the man's head and the man dies of a brain haemorrhage.

The dead man's two sons are working in the field beside their father at the same time. Seeing this, the dead man's sons immediately seize the man and bring him before the caliph of the time, Umar. O Umar, while with our father we were working in the field, that is, while we were working in the field with our father, this man threw a piece of rock in his hand at our father's head, and our father died on the spot. We bring a case against this man, they say. Umar asks the plaintiffs. What was the dead man to you, he says. And the plaintiffs: he is our father, O Commander of the Faithful, they say.

The Commander of the Faithful's answer to them is this. Since the dead person is your father, your testimony is not accepted, he says.

That's so. Because he is their father, their close one. Their testimony is not accepted. They get carried away by feelings. Is there any witness besides you, he asks. The dead man's children say, no, there is no other witness who saw it. This time the Commander of the Faithful has the man who caused the accident sit down, and asks the man: these people claim that you killed their father. Is it true, he says.

The man who caused the accident answers, yes, O Commander of the Faithful, they speak the truth. Umar asks the man again. With such an answer of yours, do you know what your punishment could be? he says. The guilty one: yes, O Commander of the Faithful. My punishment is qisas, he answers. Well, I ask you again, being of sound mind. No one saw you except the dead man's children. In that case, do you still claim that you killed him? he says. Then, do you claim it? Is he in his right mind? Are you of sound mind?

The person who caused the accident tells the incident just as it happened. Yes, O Commander of the Faithful, besides them there is one more who saw it, and that is Allah, he says, it is Allah. So that it would not harm people, in order to carry out the noble Sunnah we learned from the Messenger of Allah, I threw the rock on the road, so that it would not harm people, over to the other side of the fence. It turns out a man was working below. When the stone struck his head, he died. (?) I am ready to bear it, he says. Thereupon the Commander of the Faithful says, you too will be killed. Qisas. Some of the Companions who heard of this incident also come, as listeners, into Umar's presence.

They hear of this incident. And the person confessed his crime. Though none of them saw it, they come to see him, wondering supposedly what kind of person this is.

Many Companions become witnesses to the incident too. Thereupon the person who caused the accident, turning to Umar: O Commander of the Faithful, in such-and-such town there are two orphans. They entrusted me with a purse of gold to be given to these orphans. Permit me to give this trust to these orphans, to deliver the trust to its place, then come back; after that, carry out qisas on me, he says. Umar says, if you find a guarantor in your place, you may go. A guarantor. Thereupon the man who caused the accident turns to the Companions. To someone he picked out with his eye: O Umar, this person is my guarantor, he says.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) loves that person very much.

They ask the guarantor. Do you stand guarantor for this man? The Companion who will be guarantor, without any hesitation: yes, O Commander of the Faithful, I am this man's guarantor, he says. Head for head. Not for money. Not for goods and property.

Look at the beauty of the Companions. Look at the Muslim. He stands guarantor with his head.

Umar warns the one who stands guarantor.

The Messenger of Allah loved you very much. We would not want any harm to come to you. Have you thought it through? Look, if this witness does not come, you will be subject to qisas. The Companion who stood guarantor answers, I am ready for anything. Thereupon they ask the man. They calculate the road he will travel. He will go in two days. Without stopping there, he will come right back. And in two days he will come back: four days. He is given respite until noon of the fifth day, and they let the man go.

The man goes; noon of the fifth day comes; the man is nowhere to be seen.

Thereupon, since the Messenger of Allah loved the Companion very much, we might make a mistake; perhaps the man comes, and we will have taken his life in vain, they say, and they consider carrying out qisas on the guarantor after the noon prayer. After the prayer they give the guarantor respite until the afternoon prayer. The afternoon comes; the man who left is still not in sight.

They say, let's wait for the evening as a last resort. Toward evening a dark shape is seen on the horizon. For the person to reach them, timewise, would pass the evening hour. After this qisas cannot be carried out, but perhaps this is the man, let's wait for this too, they say; they perform the evening prayer, and the man comes to them. He immediately falls at the feet of the Commander of the Faithful. Is my guarantor still here, he says. Thereupon they show him the guarantor, and the man is relieved. Now I am ready for qisas, O Commander of the Faithful, he says.

This time the Commander of the Faithful asks the man who caused the accident, why were you late? The person facing qisas: O Commander of the Faithful, I was caught in a desert storm on the way, I could not make headway. That is why I was late, and I begged Allah a great deal that no harm come to my guarantor, he answers. Umar asks again: now that you had gone and saved your life, why did you come back to die, he says. He asks, and the man gives this answer: O Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed on to the hereafter only a short time ago. If we do not keep our covenant, those after us will never keep their covenants.

Let this life be sacrificed on this path, but let Allah's religion continue until the Day of Judgement, he says. This time they ask the guarantor: how did you stand guarantor with your life for a man you did not know at all, he says. The blessed Companion gives the same answer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) passed on to the hereafter only a short time ago. A Muslim brother of mine is in a tight spot.

If we do not help him in this tight spot, those after us will never find a guarantor for one another. Therefore let this life be sacrificed on this path, but let Allah's religion remain until the Day of Judgement, he says. Thereupon the dead man's children cannot bear this.

They drop their case and the qisas is waived. And the man pays them a suitable blood money, (?). Look at Islam, how beautiful it is. These are the Companions; these are human too, and we too are human. If they are human, they are human, and we are human too. Why shouldn't we be like this? Why shouldn't we help one another? Why shouldn't we hold fast to Allah's religion together? We did none of these things; we slowly closed the doors of unity and togetherness. We fell for the games of non-Muslims and the enemies of Islam. We said, may the snake that doesn't bite us live a thousand years. Look, look, look at the sayings, look at the sayings.

The unbeliever's invention. What does it say? May the snake that doesn't bite us live a thousand years. We said, the state is a sea, whoever doesn't eat from it is a pig. Whose saying is it? The enemies of religion's. The saying of their dark ambitions. The state is a pig, supposedly. A sea, supposedly; whoever doesn't eat is a pig, supposedly. Look how it urges Muslims to wicked trickery. With these feelings we committed treason against the homeland. We broke the bonds of brotherhood. We drifted away from religion. And while doing these things, whether we noticed it or not, the result was very bitter. All the states of the world worked, united, rose.

We stood still, became enemies to one another, and stopped asking after each other's well-being.

Fearing our money would go, we cut off our relations with our relatives, and stopped wanting them. Is this humanity? As Muslims, did Allah tell us to act like this? Well, if we are Muslims, why, far from Allah, outside His commands, are you living? Tomorrow, on the Day of Judgement, will people not be called to account for these things? Or are we asleep, and with lullabies that please the nafs, do we not want to wake up?

So now we have learned better where being a guarantor and being a witness have struck us. Allah shows us the way so that we reach guidance; may Allah grant a fine guidance. But, it says, in cash trades there is no harm in our calling a scribe and having it written. Generally, in the trades that are made, keeping a witness is also better. For example, when you buy goods, that so much goods were sold at such a price and so much money was received — it is more fitting to write this down. If the person holds the document for the goods bought, he will be protected from an objection he may meet tomorrow.

What do they do? Today they issue an invoice, an invoice. Yes, this one bought this item at this price. Its invoice proves it. If the person holds the document for the goods bought, he will be protected from an objection he may meet tomorrow. Or, I bought this item, I purchased it. Someone comes and says, this is my property. You stole it. Ah, I bought it from such-and-such place. Do you have proof? Ah, here's the invoice. Isn't it? How fine. Yes.

Do no harm to either the scribe or the witness.

If you pressure the scribe and the witness and, in favour of the one pressuring, cause the scribe and the witness to (?), then (?) if you cause them to speak, then you are among those who have gone astray.

In such cases, beware of such situations, fear Allah. For our return is to Him. Every soul shall taste death, and in the end your return is to Me, says Allah Almighty. There is no other door to go to besides Him.

Allah teaches people what they do not know, so that people may find salvation among themselves; Allah is the One who knows everything best, I say.