A Critical Examination of the Factors Contributing to the Decline of Mutual Trust in Islamic Society in the Modern Age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63468/Keywords:
Mutual Trust, Islamic Ethics, Amanah, Social Cohesion, Modern Challenges, BetrayalAbstract
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ[1]
“O you who believe, do not betray Allah and the Messenger, nor betray your trusts while you know.”
Trust, in the Qur’anic sense, is not a social courtesy. It is a demand of faith. The idea of Amanah stands at the heart of Muslim collective life, shaping how people relate to one another, how families hold together, and how societies survive moral pressure. When the Qur’an speaks of betrayal, it does not limit the warning to private matters. It points to a wider collapse that follows when trust is weakened.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made this meaning practical. He placed trustworthiness at the centre of belief itself and said:
أَدِّ الْأَمَانَةَ إِلَى مَنِ ائْتَمَنَكَ، وَلَا تَخُنْ مَنْ خَانَكَ[2]
“Return the trust to the one who entrusted you, and do not betray even the one who betrays you.”
Through this guidance, trust became a moral discipline, not a reaction to convenience or benefit.
Yet present Muslim societies show visible cracks. Suspicion has entered social dealings. Economic transactions lack reassurance. Families struggle to rely on one another. This study reflects on these conditions by reading classical Islamic sources alongside present social realities. It traces how a shift away from God-conscious ethics, replaced by self-interest and material success, has reshaped Mu‘āsharat. The loss of Muhāsabah has played a quiet but decisive role, while global market culture has reduced relationships to transactions.
Observations from family life and judicial practice suggest that law alone cannot repair what has been damaged. Rules may restrain, but they do not revive hearts. The discussion returns, therefore, to Ihsan as lived by the Prophet. Only when trust is restored as worship does communal life begin to heal again.
[1] Al-Anfal, 8:27
[2] Al-Tirmidhi, Muhammad bin Isa, Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Buyu, Hadith: 1264
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Copyright (c) 2026 Waseem Shaukat, Hafiz Muhammad Gulzar Ramzan, Dr Wajid Ali
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