Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

dear burhan bhai,
asalam alaikum,
thank u so much for startin such a woderful forum
with due respect , can i ask how can islam help me trust people again, a thing i have totally lost to do again and is hurting my life immensely,
with regards,

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality)

Answer:

How to trust people ?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The question that you have posed is more to do with the psychology of man and the experiences of the individual himself; rather than Islam.

The facility of trust is in-built in every human being; whereby he uses his intelligence and experience and learns to trust the people and things who do good to him, and beware of people and things which bring him harm.

Thus when a baby is born, he is indifferent to all the services his parents render to him; but when he gets a few months older, he recognizes the faces who have been around him and smiles and accepts their services. And when the few month old baby sees a person it does not recognize, he immediately turns to the people he recognizes and trusts! This illustrates that trust is a thing which is developed over time with a person or people who one has experienced.

Besides man is not created to live alone, all by himself and away from everyone and everything. The world that he is created into comes as a package to him, and he will have to learn, with his intelligence and experience, whom and what to trust, and whom and what not to trust. And this comes naturally to every human being, whether he realizes it or not.

And the best way to build trust, is to start from the ones who are closest and dearest to oneself; like one’s mother, one’s father, one’s brothers and sisters, one’s near relatives, or near and fast friends. Besides, it could also be that the individual who does not trust others, might not be himself fulfilling the trust that his near and dear ones may have laid on him. Thus, it would be prudent to look into one’s own behavior, over which the individual has absolute control himself, and make sure they fulfill the trust that his near and dear ones lay upon him; and then expect the same in return. And the experiences of life naturally teach a person who is worthy of being trusted, and whom one has to beware.

The One Being whom one must absolutely and completely trust, is the One Who Created him and everything else that is in existence; for there is no better well-wisher of man than the Merciful Lord Who Created, and gave man everything and more than he needed or deserved.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 160:If Allah helps you, none can overcome you: if He forsakes you, who is there after that that can help you? In Allah then let believers put their trust.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqan verse 58:And put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate His Praise; and enough is He to be acquainted with the faults of His servants

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan