Sunday 31 July 2016

RIGHTS OF PARENTS

Hazrat Abdullah Ibne Masood RAA has narrated that once I asked the Holy Prophet SAW that what is the act that Allah SWT likes most? Rasool Allah SAW said that Allah's favourite act is that a person prays Salah (Namaz) at the correct time. I asked, "and after Salah?" Rasool Allah SAW said, "treating your parents well." I asked, ""and after treating one's parents well?" He said, "doing Jihad in the way of Allah."

Hazrat further said that rights of parents are paramount among rights of all human beings (Huqooq-ul-Ibad). There is no one whose rights are more important than the rights of parents. Because parents are the conduit to a person coming into this world Allah SWT has declared their rights to be more important than rights of any other human being. It is narrated in a Hadith (saying of Rasool Allah SAW) that if a person looks lovingly at his parents once then Allah SWT grants him Thawab (eternal reward) equal to that of doing a Hajj and Umrah.

It is narrated in another Hadith that once a Sahabi (companion of Rasool Allah SAW) came to Rasool Allah SAW and said, "Ya Rasool Allah SAW! I want to do Jihad and my intention is only that Allah SWT becomes happy with me and grants me Thawab." Rasool Allah SAW asked, "Do you want to do Jihad solely yo get Thawab?" He replied, "Yes Ya Rasool Allah! I only want to earn Thawab." Rasool Allah SAW asked, "Are your parents alive?" He said, "Yes Rasool Allah! My parents are alive." Rasool Allah SAW said, "Then go and look after your parents. If your sole intention is to earn Thawab, then you will earn more Thawab by looking after your parents than doing Jihad."

Adapted from the talk "Looking after one's parents" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB

Saturday 30 July 2016

It is narrated by Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar RAA that Rasool Allah SAW said that everyone amongst you has been made responsible and accountable for some things, and on the Day of Judgment they will have to answer for what they were made responsible for. A ruler is responsible for everyone living under his rule and on the Day of Judgment they will be asked about how they behaved with these people, what did they do for their learning, and how well did they look after their rights. A husband is responsible for his family members. He will be asked about what did he do for their learning and development, and how well did he look after their rights. A wife is responsible for her husband's household and belongings. She will be asked about the things and people she was responsible for, as to how well she looked after them. An employee is accountable for the material goods and money that he has been given responsibility for, for example if he has been put in charge  of some funds then they are an Amanat (being entrusted with something) for him. On the day of Aakhirah (Day of Judgment) he will be asked about how well did he discharge his responsibilities towards that Amanat.

So everyone is responsible for something or someone and on the day of Aakhirah he/she will have to answer for how well did they carry out this responsibility.

Hazrat further said that there is no doubt that these days everyone is very busy. But everyone can dedicate at least 5-10 minutes of their time each day, to educate those people who are in their sphere of influence, something about religion. He can read a page from a book, or a sermon, or translation of one Hadith, so that they keep learning something about religion each day. That way one would InshaAllah (God willing) be able to discharge their obligations under the Hadith mentioned above.

Adapted from the talk "Character Building of One's Children" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.

EVERLASTING SADAQA (CHARITY)

Hazrat said that there is a Hadith of Rasool Allah SAW which says that there are three things which continue to earn Thawab (eternal reward) for a person even after he has left this mortal world. The first is knowledge which he has left, and which people are still benefiting from. For example, a person wrote a book and people still read and earn from it, or he used to impart religious knowledge, and now his pupils are teaching others. The second is Sadaqa Jarya (everlasting charity), for example, someone built a mosque, or a madrassah, or a hospital or got a well dug which people are still benefitting from. People keep getting Thawab (eternal reward) from such deeds even after their death. And the third source of eternal rewards is pious offspring. As long as they continue to pray for their parents they will keep getting the reward for it even after their death.

 Adapted from the talk "Character Building of One's Children" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.

SAVING ONE'S FAMILY FROM FIRE

"O those who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire, the fuel of which is human beings and stones, appointed on which are angels, stern and severe, who do not disobey Allah in what He orders them, and do whatever they are ordered to do." (Surah Al-Tahrim:6)

These days one often comes across people who are very pious, who pray regularly, fast regularly, and are very mindful of Hara'am and Halal. Yet when one sees their family members the family is going in a very different direction. They do not care much even about the mandatory Ibada't (prayers) and are not careful about refraining from sins. When these people are counselled about bringing their children closer to Deen (religion) their answer often is, "we have tried very hard to bring them close to religion but the overall environment and society are very corrupt these days. They do not listen no matter how hard we try. We have discharged our duty. Now they are are responsible for their own deeds."

By using the word "fire" in this verse the Quran has hinted about to what extent a person should go to save his family from sins. If there is a fire and someone's young child, who doesn't have full understanding, is advancing towards that fire would the parents be satisfied preaching from a safe distance, "My child! Don't go into that fire. You will get burnt." If they are real parents they would never be able to just keep giving advice from a safe distance. They would be so anxious that they would do anything to remove the child away from the fire.

The Quran has hinted that just like you can't bear the thought of your child getting burnt from fire in this world, make at least as much effort to save your child from burning in fire in the next one.

Adapted from the talk "Character Building of one's children" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB

Friday 22 July 2016

HOW TO REFORM OUR SOCIETY?

These days there are so many efforts are being made to reform our society. There are so many societies, so many associations, so many organisations, which have been set up with the express purpose of reforming our society, and reform human behaviour. However, when we look at the state of our society and what is happening in our shops, and markets, and offices, it seems like these efforts are proving totally futile. One can not see any appreciable difference being made in the prevailing practices of our society as a result of all these efforts at reformation. If there is any progress it is actually in the reverse direction. There are individual good examples here and there but on the whole our society seems to be going backwards in terms of morality. Why is that?

The above question has been answered in the following verse of the Quran:

"O those who believe, take care of your own selves. The one who has gone astray cannot harm you, if you are on the right path. To Allah is the return of you all. Then, He will tell you what you have been doing." (Surah Al-Ma'idah: 105)

In this verse the Holy Quran has told us that the reason our efforts for societal reform are failing is that whenever any of us sets out to reform our society, they always start with the goal of reforming others. He wants others to change and become better human beings but doesn't even consider that he himself may need to change too and become a better human being. Our gatherings are full of criticisms of other people about how bad they are and how wrong they are, but none of us takes a moment to reflect  that may be I am doing something bad too, may be I also need to improve as a human being, may be I also need to reform myself.

In a Hadith Rasool Allah SAW has said that the person who says that the whole world has become corrupt (criticising others that they has strayed from the right path, they are engaging in sins), he is the most corrupt of them all.

The way we need to start when setting out to reform our society is that we look at ourselves first and critically examine ur own behaviour, what is that we do which fits in with the dictates of the Shariah, what is against it, and if I am engaging in behaviours that displease Allah SWT then how do we go about reforming those undesirable behaviours of our own? If a few individuals start reforming themselves, and then a few more, and then a few more, one day it would lead to the reform of the whole society. But if all of us keep trying to reform others, but not ourselves, no meaningful change would ever come to our society.

Adapted from the talk "How can our society be reformed?" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.

Monday 18 July 2016

HOW TO DEVELOP TAQWA?

Sometimes people ask the question, how to obtain Taqwa (fear of Allah SWT), how to turn our Duniya (material world) into Deen (eternal rewards)? These questions have been answered in the following verse of the Quran:

یا ایھا الذین آمنو اتقو الّٰلہ و کونو مع الصادقین

"O those who believe! Fear from Allah and be with those who are righteous." Allah SWT is so kind to us that he just doesn't order us to do something, but also takes into consideration our human weaknesses, our limitations, and our needs, and then shows us the easy way of doing it. So Allah SWT has told us that the easy way of obtaining Taqwa is to seek the Suhbat (company) of those who already have Taqwa, and who are righteous. It is human nature that we absorb the influence of people we spend most time with.

Allah SWT has not sent a single Holy Book without a Prophet. There are many Prophets who came without any books, but there is not a single Holy Book which came without a Prophet. The reason is that for bringing about a significant and consistent change in a human being a book alone is never enough. If a person starts believing that as all the medical science books are freely available in bookshops now, he can become a doctor and start treating people once he has read and understood those books by himself, all he will end up doing is killing people. To become a doctor it is absolutely essential that a person, besides reading books, also goes through systematic training under the supervision of an (in fact many) expert doctor. Similarly, these days cooking books are easily available. But if a person who has never learnt to cook at all tries to prepare Biryani in his first attempt at cooking, just by following instructions given in a book, and without taking any input from an expert cook, goodness knows what kind of end product he would end up with. 

The situation with religion is exactly the same that to guide a human being on the right path a book alone is not enough. What is the meaning of the word Sahaba (the Holy Companions of Rasool Allah SAW)? They are known as Sahaba because they learnt Islam not through books but spending time in the Suhbat (company) of Rasool Allah SAW. And they taught it to people (تابعین) who sat in their Suhbat, who then taught it to the next generation of Muslims (تبع تابعین). This is how the true spirit of Islam has reached us. So Allah SWT has taught us that the easy way of developing Taqwa is to spend time in the company of someone who has already developed Taqwa. We will then InshaAllah (God willing) develop Taqwa as a result of their Suhbat (companionship). 

Adapted from the talk "Doing trade is both Deen and Duniya" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB. 

Friday 15 July 2016

WHAT IS AMANAT (BEING ENTRUSTED WITH SOMETHING)?

The third sign of a Munafiq (duplicitous person), as described by Rasool Allah SAW in a Hadith mentioned in a recent post, is breach of Amanat (being entrusted with something), meaning that it is not worthy of a Muslim to breach trust when he is entrusted with something. This has been emphasised so strongly that Rasool Allah SAW has said that a person who does not have Amanat does not have Iman (faith). It means that Amanat is an essential part of Iman.

WHAT IS AMANAT?
Today we have a very narrow view of Amanat. Most Muslims think that if a person comes to us and asks us to hold some money or valuables for him for a certain time, then that is Amanat. Similarly people think when the person asks for his money back and we have already spent it or refuse to give it to him, then that is Khiyanat (breach of Amanat). No doubt this is also included in the meaning of Amanat but Islam's concept of Amanat is much wider than this.

In Arabic language Amanat means trusting a person about some matter. If a person entrusts another person with either some duty, or some valuables, or some matter, and believes that that person will discharge that responsibility properly, and will not be careless about it, then this is known as Amanat. If we keep this definition of Amanat in mind then the concept of Amanat becomes much wider than the narrow example given in the previous paragraph.

OUR EMPLOYMENT HOURS ARE AN AMANAT
If a person has signed a contract for employment and has made a commitment to work for 8 hours a day for a specific salary, then he has sold his time for money. Now his 8 hours a day become an Amanat from the person who has employed him. If he now spends even a minute of this time doing things he is not allowed to do in those 8 hours by his employer, for example if his friends come and he is spending time within those 8 hours gossiping with them, then he is committing Khiyanat (breach of Amanat).

OUR OFFICE STATIONERY IS AN AMANAT
When we are working in an office everything that has been provided to us to do our job properly is an Amanat. If that stuff has been given to us with clear instructions and expectations that it is to be used for office work only, then using that stuff for personal chores is a breach of Amanat. Some people think that what difference does it make if we utilise that stuff for our personal use as it is not too expensive, but Khiyanat of things both big and small is still Hara'am and a major sin. We must try to avoid both as getting engaged in both runs the risk of incurring the wrath of Allah SWT.

PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS ARE AN AMANAT
In a Hadith Rasool Allah SAW has said that what is said in private gatherings is an Amanat with the listeners. For example, if a few people get together and share some private matters in an atmosphere of trust, then sharing of that private information with outsiders without the permission of other people in that private gathering is Hara'am and breach of Amanat. Sometimes a person hears something confidential in a private meeting, then he goes to a second person and tells him all the confidential stuff while warning the second person not to share this confidential information with anyone else, and then the third and the fourth person do the same, each person warning the next person about not sharing the information with anyone else. Each person thinks that by repeating this warning about not telling anyone else they have discharged their duty about keeping the information confidential, while the truth is that if the matter was confidential and it had been emphasised in the meeting that it should not be shared with anyone outside of that meeting, then no one should have shared it outside of that meeting, and doing it even with the warning about keeping the information confidential constituted breach of Amanat.

In summary the concept of Amanat is so broad that there is hardly any part of our life in which we have not been ordered to observe Amanat and to refrain from Khiyanat in some way. We must keep this Hadith in our minds all the time that there are three signs of a Munafiq; when he talks he lies, when he makes a commitment he breaks it, and when he is entrusted with some matter he breaches that trust. May Allah SWT keep us safe from these three undesirable habits. Ameen

Thursday 14 July 2016

IT IS WAJIB (OBLIGATORY UNDER SHARIAH) TO OBEY THE LAWS OF THE COUNTRY ONE LIVES IN

Every Muslim is obligated under Shariah to obey all the laws of the country they live in, regardless of whether they live in a so-called Muslim country or a non-Muslim one, with the sole exception of those laws which may force them to commit a sin or inflict unbearable pain or suffering on another human being.

When illustrating this point Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi RA used to give the example of Hazrat Musa (Moses) AS who had caused the death of one of Pharaoh's people by punching him, when he used to live in Pharaoh's kingdom before becoming a Prophet. Hazrat Musa AS used to do Istighfar (begging Allah SWT for forgiveness) and, as narrated in the Quran, used to say that I have committed a sin and a crime against their people. Mufti Muhammad Shafi RA said that Hazrat Musa AS did not intend to kill that person, he was only trying to defend one of his people and had no idea that the person would die as a result of Hazrat Musa punching him. Therefore, it wasn't murder in that sense, but because it resulted in the death of a person, he saw it as a sin and used to do Istighfar to be forgiven for that sin.

The question that arises from this story is that the person Hazrat Musa AS had caused the death of, was a non-believer, and belonged to a people Hazrat Musa's people were at war with. Even if he had deliberately killed that person why would it have been a sin, because he belonged to the category of a combatant non-believer? Hazrat Mufti Shafi RA said that the reason was that because Hazrat Musa AS was living in Pharaoh's lands it meant he had implicitly made a commitment to obey all the laws of that kingdom, and because under their laws it was unlawful to kill that person, what Hazrat Musa AS had done was in violation of that law and that is why he interpreted it as having committed a sin and always did Istighfar for it. What this suggests is that when a person is living in a country, regardless of whether it is a so-called Muslim country or a non-Muslim one, he has implicitly made a commitment to abide by all the laws of that country, except those which may force him to commit a sin.

Adapted from the talk "Breaking a promise" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

NOT FOLLOWING TRAFFIC RULES IS A SIN

Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi RA used to say that a commitment is not just verbal, it is also practical. For example, if a person is living as a citizen in a country then he is making a practical commitment to the government of that country that as long as he lives in that country he will abide by the laws of that country. Fulfilling that commitment is Wajib (mandatory) under Sharia, as long as the laws of that country do not force him to commit a sin.

For example traffic rules dictate that a person drives either on the right or the left side of the road, or that he should stop at red light and go at green light. Now as a citizen a person has made a practical commitment that he will abide by these rules, and if he breaks those rules he would be breaking a promise, and that would constitute a sin. People sometimes think that there is nothing wrong with violating traffic rules. Please remember that it is a sin in more than one way. First, it is a sin because a person is breaking a promise to abide by the laws of the country. But also, these rules have been made so that there is discipline on the roads and people can travel safely on the roads. If someone breaks these rules and it results in harm to another human being than the person breaching the rules will be accountable for it both in this world and the Hereafter.

Adapted from the talk "Breaking a promise" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB

Tuesday 12 July 2016

BREAKING A PROMISE 2

Hazrat Ma'awiya RAA was at one time governor of Syria. He was off and on at war with the Roman kingdom. Rome was one of the superpower at that time. At one point Hazrat Ma'awiya entered into a peace treaty with them that they wouldn't go to war until a certain date. Before that date came Hazrat Ma'awiya thought of a plan to place his army near the border. He thought that while he would respect the armistice date, he could attack immediately after the armistice came to an end. As the Romans would not be expecting an attack immediately after that date as they would not be expecting the Muslim army to mobilise so soon, they could be defeated quickly.

Hazrat Ma'awiya RAA placed his army on the border, and some of it even across the border, and prepared to attack. As soon as the sun set down on the last date of the treaty the Muslim army attacked. As the Roman Army was not prepared for such a quick attack the war tactic worked very well and the Muslim army started capturing towns and cities. All of a sudden they saw that a horse rider was coming from the direction of Arabia. Hazrat Ma'awiya stopped to find out if there was any message from the Caliph. When the rider approached hazrat Ma'awiya saw that it was Hazrat Amr Bin Absah RAA.

When Hazrat Ma'awiya asked him what the matter was Hazrat Amr Bin Absah RAA said, "It is the characteristic of a Muslim to be faithful, not to lie and not to break a promise." Hazrat Ma'awiya said, "I have not broken any promise. I attacked after the treaty had expired." But Hazrat Amr Bin Abash said that as Hazrat Ma'awiya had started preparing for war, and had also placed some of his army inside the Roman border before the treaty had expired, he had breached the treaty. Hazrat Amr then said that he had personally heard Rasool Allah SAW say that if you have a treaty with another nation do not breach it and do not alter it until the treaty has expired, or you clearly warn them that you want to end the treaty, and because Hazrat Ma'awiya RAA had started preparing for war without warning the other party that the treaty had ended, or before the treaty had officially ended, therefore what he had done was not in accordance with the teachings of Rasool Allah SAW.

Now imagine that there is a victorious army which is making advance and winning battle after battle, but as soon as Hazrat Ma'awiya RAA heard what Rasool Allah SAW had said he ordered his army to retreat and return all the conquered land to Romans. Why? Because the primary objective was not expanding one's empire, or conquering new lands, the primary objective was to please Allah SWT. So as soon as he found out that what he had done was breaking a promise, and breaking a promise would displease Allah SWT, he immediately returned the conquered land and went back to his own territory. This is what keeping one's promise should be like, that once one's word is given it should be kept, no matter how high the cost.

Adapted from the talk "Breaking a Promise" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB.

Sunday 3 July 2016

BREAKING A PROMISE

The second sign of a Munafiq (duplicitous person) that Rasool Allah SAW described in the Hadith (which was mentioned in full in the previous post) is that:

"و اذا وعد اخلف"

"When he makes a promise, he doesn't keep it". When a true Muslim makes a promise he fulfils it. The rule of Sharia is that if a person made a commitment or a promise, but subsequently circumstances changed and he was unable to keep that promise, then he must let the other person know that he can not fulfil his promise. For example, if a person promised someone that he will give him a certain amount of money on a certain date, but nearer the time some unforeseen circumstances happened and he doesn't have that much money to give, he must let the other person know immediately. But in the absence of a genuine reason he must keep his promise and fulfil his commitment.

Rasool Allah SAW kept his promises in such dire circumstances that it is difficult to come up with such examples in the present day. Hazrat Huzaifa Bin Yama'an RAA was a famous companion (Sahabi) of Rasool Allah SAW. When he and his father Hazrat Yama'an RAA converted to Islam they set out for Medinah to meet Rasool Allah SAW. On the way they were caught by Abu Jehel and his army who were going to fight Rasool Allah SAW and his companions at the venue of Badar. Abu Jehel asked them where they were going. They told honestly that they were going to Medinah to meet Rasool Allah SAW. Abu Jehel said that in that case he wouldn't let them go because they would join in the battle against his army. Hazrat Huzaifa RAA and his father said that their sole purpose of going to Medinah was to visit Rasool Allah SAW and that they had no intention of joining the battle against Abu Jehel and his army. Abu Jehel made them promise to it and then let them go.

By that time Rasool Allah SAW had left Medinah for the Ghazva (battle in which Rasool Allah SAW personally took part) of Badar and met them on the way. Hazrat Huzaifa RAA told him the story of how Abu Jehel's army had caught them and only let them go after he made them promise that they wouldn't participate in the war against his army. Hazrat Huzaifa RAA then asked for Rasool Allah's (SAW) permission to join the battle of Badar saying that Abu Jehel had extracted the promise from them with a knife against their throats, and that they had made the promise not to join the battle under duress because otherwise he wouldn't have let them go.

Had it been any other commander at that time he probably would have rationalised that he had 313 people with 8 swords between them against a fully equipped army of a 1000 warriors so they needed every body they could get, and that because the promise had been extracted under duress so it was okay to break it under the circumstances. But Rasool Allah SAW said that because you gave your word that you would not fight against them so you must keep your word, and you are not permitted to join the fight.

Why did Rasool Allah SAW refuse to let them join the battle when they desperately needed people to fight? Because he was not fighting to occupy a country, or to spread his kingdom, he was fighting the battle to please Allah SWT and one can not please Allah SWT by committing a sin which in this case would have meant breaking a promise. That is why Hazrat Huzaifa RAA and his father weren't allowed to join Ghazva of Badar because they were not allowed to break their promise to not joining the battle against Abu Jehel's army. This is what keeping a promise truly means.

Adapted from the talk "Not keeping promises" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB

Saturday 2 July 2016

THE PRESENT DAY FORMS OF LYING

Lying is Hara'am (forbidden) and it is such a great sin that there hasn't been a single nation, single Sharia in which lying was not forbidden. Even in the days of ignorance before Islam lying was considered wrong. Unfortunately in our society these days lying has become quite common, to the extent that people who are otherwise of a religious predisposition and do differentiate between Hara'am and Halal, do not consider that there is anything wrong with lying to get what they want. There are many forms of lying in the present day which it seems people have excluded from the definition of lying, and do not even consider that there is anything wrong with telling those lies. This kind of thinking incurs two sins, one of lying, and the other of not considering a sin as sinful.

FALSE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES
A person who appeared to be quite religious, who regularly prayed Namaz (Salah) and fasted, who recited Zikr and Tasbeeh, and who remained in contact with religious persons for his own betterment, who lived outside Pakistan, came to see me. I asked him when was he going back. He said that he would stay for about 8-10 more days, and then made a comment that even though his leave period had ended he had sent a medical certificate. I asked him, "What sort of certificate?" He said a certificate stating that he was too sick to travel. I asked him, "Does Islam comprise of only Namaz (Salah) and Roza (fasting)? You keep contact with Buzurg (spiritual teachers). Then why are you submitting a false certificate?" He said that it was the first time he had heard that there was anything religiously wrong with submitting a false medical certificate. I asked, "Are you not making a false submission? (saying that you are too sick to travel when you are not)." He asked, "Then how do I take more leave?" I said, "Take only as much leave as you are entitled to. If you want to take more leave then take leave without pay. But it is absolutely Hara'am to submit a false certificate for that purpose."

UNTRUTHFUL RECOMMENDATION
Another overtly religious person sent me a recommendation letter. At the time I was in Jaddah. It said that Mr So and So is coming to see you. He is from India and wants to visit Pakistan. Can you please recommend to the Pakistani Embassy that he is a Pakistani and can they please issue him a new Pakistani passport as he has lost his Pakistani passport in Saudi Arabia.

Now imagine, a person is doing Hajj, doing Umrah, doing Tawaf (going round the Ka'aba), and at the same time he is quite happy to lie and cheat to get his wishes fulfilled. People have started thinking that lying and cheating has nothing to do with Islam. May be people think that it is a lie only if you tell it with a deliberate intention of lying, otherwise getting  false medical certificate from the doctor, getting an untruthful recommendation, or filing cases on others knowing that it is based on a lie, these are not lies. Allah SWT says:

ما یلفظ قول الا لدیہ رقیب عتید: سورة ق ۱۸

Every word that comes out of your mouth is being recorded.

FALSE CHARACTER CERTIFICATE
These days getting a false character certificate to fulfil some requirement has become a norm in our society. For example someone needs a character certificate for a job or some other purpose. They would just go to someone they hardly know and they would issue a false character certificate saying that I know Mr So and So for five years, he has a very good moral character, he is very honest, etc. It doesn't even occur to either of them that if what is being written is not true then they are committing a major sin. In fact the person issuing the certificate believes that he is doing something good for which he would be getting thawab (eternal reward) because he is fulfilling someone's needs, while in fact if he didn't fully know about the character of the person he is writing the certificate about then it is Hara'am (unlawful under Sharia) for them to issue such a certificate. In these circumstances both the person who asked the other to issue such a certificate, and the person issuing it, would be committing a sin.

Remember that issuing such certificates is like giving evidence (گواہی) and according to this verse of the Holy Quran 

"الا من شھد بالحق و ھم یعلمون" ( سورة الزخرف۔۸۶)

it is only permissible to give evidence when a person is fully knowledgable about something and firmly believes it to be true. Giving false evidence is such a major sin that Rasool Allah SAW has mentioned it next to Shirk (believing that someone else shares Allah's characteristics or powers) in a hadith

An epidemic of lying has spread in our society and it has become so acceptable that even people who are otherwise religious, who pray Namaz, give alms, and do Zikr, have started believing that there is nothing wrong with obtaining or giving a false certificate, and that it is not a sin. Rasool Allah SAW has said, "اذ احدث کذب"  and all forms of lying are included in it. All of this is an essential part of Islam and to think of these as something which has nothing to do with Islam is the gravest form of ignorance.

Adapted from the talk "The present day forms of lying" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB