Chapter on the Prohibition of Betrayal: Allah the Exalted said: “O you who believe, fulfill the contracts.”

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter on the Prohibition of Betrayal. Allah the Exalted said:

O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.

يا ايها الذين آمنوا أوفوا بالعقود

[Al-Ma'idah 5:1]

And He said:

And fulfill [every] commitment. Indeed, the commitment is ever [that about which one will be] questioned.

وأوفوا بالعهد إن العهد كان مسؤولا

[Al-Isra 17:34]

It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Whosoever possesses these four characteristics is a sheer hypocrite; and anyone who possesses one of them possesses a characteristic of hypocrisy till he gives it up. These are: when he is entrusted with something, he proves dishonest; when he speaks, he tells a lie; when he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous; and when he quarrels, he behaves in very imprudent, evil, insulting manner.

أربع من كن فيه كان منافقا خصلة ومن كانت فيه خصلة منهن كان فيه خصلة من النفاق حتى يدعها إذا اؤتمن خان وإذا حدث كذب وإذا عاهد غدر وإذا خاصم فجر

Riyad as-Salihin 1584

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
And it was narrated from Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Umar, and Anas (may Allah be pleased with them) that they said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

There will be a flag for every perfidious person on the Day of Judgment, and it would be said: Here is the perfidy of so and so.

لكل غادر لواء يوم القيامة يقال هذه غدرة فلان

Sahih Muslim 1736a

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
And it was narrated from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

On the Day of Judgment there will be a flag for every person guilty of the breach of faith. It will be raised in proportion to the extent of his guilt; and there is no guilt of treachery more serious than the one committed by the ruler of men.

لكل غادر لواء عند استه يوم القيامة يرفع له بقدر غدره ألا ولا غادر أعظم غدرا من أمير عامة

Sahih Muslim 1738b

Narrated by Muslim.
And it was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

There are three whose adversary I shall be on the day of resurrection: a man who gave a promise in my name then acted faithlessly; a man who sold a free man and enjoyed the price he received for him; and a man who hired a servant and, after receiving full service from him, did not give him his wages.

قال الله تعالى ثلاثة أنا خصمهم يوم القيامة رجل أعطى بي ثم غدر ورجل باع حرا فأكل ثمنه ورجل استأجر أجيرا فاستوفى منه ولم يعطه أجره

Mishkat al-Masabih 2984

Narrated by al-Bukhari. ”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Al-Nawawi said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the Prohibition of Betrayal”
Betrayal is the treachery of a person in a place of trust, meaning that someone entrusts you with something and then you betray him, whether you gave him a pledge or not. This is because the one who entrusted you relied on you and had confidence in you; so if you betray him, you have betrayed him.
Then the author provided evidence for the prohibition of betrayal by the obligation of fulfilling promises, because a thing is known by its opposite. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) cited two verses from the Book of Allah regarding the obligation of fulfillment.
The first verse is the saying of the Exalted: Meaning: bring them complete and intact, according to the contract you agreed upon with your partner. This includes all contracts, including sales contracts. So if you sell something to your brother, it is obligatory for you to fulfill the contract. If there is a condition between you, fulfill it, whether it is a negative or positive condition. For example, if you sell a house to your brother and condition that he live in it for one year, it is obligatory for the buyer to allow you to do so and not interfere with you, because you conditioned that he live in it for a year, and this is the requirement of the contract.
If you sell something to your brother and condition that he be patient with a defect in it, meaning you said, “There is a defect in it, so be patient with it,” then you must fulfill that and not return it. If you return it, you have no right, but originally you are obligated not to return it.
Here is an issue that some people adopt, and I seek refuge in Allah from it, which is forbidden: he sells an item and knows there is a defect in it, then he says to the buyer, “What I sold you is only what is in front of you, and be patient with all the defects.” This is known among them in car auctions, auctions under the microphone. You find the broker, the *simsimar*, calling out at the top of his voice and saying, “What I sold you is only the tires, what I sold you is only the hood, what I sold you is only such and such,” while he knows there is a specific defect, but he does not mention it, deceiving, and I seek refuge in Allah from that, because if he mentioned it, the value would decrease. So if he does not mention it, the buyer becomes hesitant, thinking there might be a defect or there might not be, and he offers a higher price than if he knew the specific defect. This is the one who sold under this condition. And if the buyer commits to it, if there is a defect in reality, he will not be absolved of it on the Day of Resurrection. He will be held accountable for it, and this condition will not benefit him. It is obligatory, if you know a defect in the merchandise, to disclose... the specific defect. Yes, suppose a person buys a car and it stays with him for a day or two, and he does not know of a defect, and no defect was conditioned upon him, then he wants to get rid of it and says, “I sold you this, what is in front of you is defective or sound, I am not responsible for it.” Then there is no harm in that. The important thing is that whoever knows a defect in the merchandise must disclose it, and whoever does not know may condition upon the buyer that there is no return and that nothing comes back to him, and there is no harm in that.
Among the fulfillment of contracts is what occurs between spouses at the time of the contract. The woman may condition certain things, or the husband may condition certain things, and it is obligatory for the one upon whom a condition is imposed to fulfill it. For example, if she conditions that he not live with his family, he must fulfill it, because some women do not wish to live with the husband’s family because they have heard that they are difficult, people who cause trouble, and talebearers. So she says, “I condition that I not live with your family,” and he must fulfill that, because Allah said:
Or she conditioned that he not take her out of her house. For example, she is the mother of children from a previous husband, and a new man marries her, so she says, “The condition is that you do not take me out of my house.” He must fulfill this condition and not make her life difficult. He does not say, “I did not take her out of her house,” but he makes her life difficult until she is fed up and tired. This is forbidden, because Allah said:
If she conditioned a specific mahr, saying, “I condition that you give me my mahr, for example, ten thousand,” he must fulfill it and not delay, because it is conditioned upon him. But if she or he conditions a defective condition, it is not accepted. For example, if she conditions, “I condition that you divorce your first wife,” this condition is not fulfilled and is not permissible. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Or he said: This is a forbidden condition because it is aggression against others, so it is invalid, and it is not permissible to fulfill it, nor is it obligatory to commit to it at all, because it is a defective condition. But if she conditions that he not marry over her, and he accepts, then his condition is valid, because there is no aggression against anyone in it; it prevents the husband from doing something he is permitted to do by his choice. This is permissible because the husband is the one who waived his right, and there is no aggression against anyone. So if she conditions that he not marry over her, and he marries, she has the right to annul the marriage, whether he agrees or not, because he violated the condition.
The important thing is that Allah commanded the fulfillment of contracts in everything. You must build everything on the contract, and not betray, not be treacherous, not conceal a defect, and not deceive. And, if Allah wills, the rest of the discussion on the second verse will follow. And Allah knows best.