Umar's advice to the judges

Here's a summary of some timeless advice prepared by Umar (God be pleased with him) for his judges. It's taken from Dr Ali Muhammad as-Sallabi's book about the life and times of Umar Ibn al-Khattaab. A small example of the fruit of the faith which the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) planted in his heart!..

Try to understand when cases are presented to you,

for there is no use in a person presenting a case if it is not understood.

Treat people equally when you address them

so that no noble man will hope for your unfair siding with him

and no weak man will despair of your justice.

Be gentle with the weak one

so that he will have the courage to speak.

The burden of proof rests with the plaintiff,

the oath is required of the defendant,

and judgement must be based on evidence and oaths.

Strive to bring about reconciliation,

unless it becomes clear to you who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

If you passed a judgement yesterday

then examined it further and are guided to a different conclusion,

let it not prevent you from returning to the truth.

And returning to the truth is better than persisting with falsehood.

The verses of Riba in Surah Al Baqarah

Here's some points taken out from Ma'aariful Qur'an about the verses of Riba (interest/usury) in Surah Al-Baqarah. Worth a ponder!

1. The verses of Riba (verses 275-279) are surrounded by the verses of charity (verses 261-274 and verse 280), signifying perhaps that the two concepts are related to and at odds with each other. One is to do with giving (decreasing one's stock), and the other is to do with taking (increasing one's stock).
2. God does not respond to the reasoned argument that "Riba is similar to trade" with a counter-argument but, rather, responds by stating that one is allowed and the other is not. (See verse 275.)
3. God has stated that one who lived his life in the consumption of Riba will be raised on the Day of Judgement like one tormented by Satan's touch. Raising the consumers of Riba in this state is perhaps indicative of a certain parallelism: They lived their lives in pursuit of money, senseless & unaware of the harms of their actions, and thus they will be raised.

The etiquettes of giving in charity

Here's some lessons on giving charity taken out from verses 261 to 274 of Surah Al-Baqarah:

1. Give to attain God's approval, and as an affirmation of your faith, and not to be seen by people.
2. Do not follow your giving with reminders of benevolence or hurtful words.
3. A kind word and forgiveness is better than a charitable deed followed by hurtful words.
4. Give from the good things you have acquired and not from the bad things which you yourself would not accept.
5. To give openly is good, and to give in secret is even better, and know that God is well aware of all that you do.