Very few

Nowadays, people have the bad habit of pretending to be what they are not. A politician will proclaim that he is working in the highest interest of the country. However, we all know that first of all, he is working for his personal interest. In fact, the politicians have admitted that politics is a question of personal interest. This does not mean that there are no sincere people. There may be, but very few.

An 'Aa'lim tells you that he is sincere in what he is saying. However, in reality, he is preparing his ground. Very often, he utters certain words in order to secure his position. He is afraid to say the truth because in saying the truth, his position is at risk. For example, there is a group of youngsters who claim to be holding the light of guidance but what is wrong with them is that they criticise certain things that are found in Fazaa'il-e-A'maal. However, when they find this same thing in the book of Sheikh-ul-Islam Allaamah Bin Taimiyyah, their light extinguishes and they are stuck. They may be afraid of losing their jobs or they may no longer receive help from abroad. Here also, we see that there are very few Ulama who are sincere.

A trader will always flatter his merchandise. Very rarely will he have the courage to disclose the defects that are present in his goods. Most of the time, he pretends to be working at a loss. Here also, sincere traders are very few in number. 

Finally, we notice that sincerity is something very rare in this world. This allowed people of the past to live in harmony. And if today there is no peace, it is due to lack of harmony. If we want to live in peace, we must do maximum effort to acquire it. Unfortunately, very few people have the will to develop this in them. 

[English version of "La sincérité" – Al Jamiat – Vol.3 No.11]