A Maulvi writes
- Wheeling and dealing

A neighbour of mine had a teribble time. He was made redundant and someone stole his bicycle. Poor guy. But never mind I knew the solution to his problems. After all what are neighbours for? I wanted to help him, the good Sunni that I am.

So as I was about to buy a new cycle I said to him. Here, take my cycle. It is a bit old but it is in good condition. I have never had any problems with it. But I don't have any money to pay you with, said Ali. Hey, I said, I am your friend. Don't you worry . Pay me in a f ew weeks time. It's OK.

I'm sorry, I won't be able to pay you in a few weeks time either, Ali replied. Look here I said. I did say I am your friend didn't I? We have known each other for years. We do have a very special relationship. We are like brothers. Pay me when you can. Pay me next month if you want. O.K.?    

Ali was quite reluctant but he accepted the cycle as if I was doing him a big favour. For a minute I thought I would never get rid of it! The poor dupe never even bothered to ask the price. It's a good thing he had complete trust in me - like a Muslim should have in his brother.

He must have really trusted me because he never checked out the cycle otherwise he might have found out about the problem with the chain. I'm glad he took it. The bigger problems did not appear until later after he had paid me. The trusting saphead even gave me the price I asked for. At least twice what it was worth.

Excuse me now. I have to go the Mosque for my Friday prayers . If you don't go for Friday prayers you will never be a good Sunni.

In the Quran in Sura Mutaffifeen, Allah has said that the some people expect full measure when receiving, but when giving they try to hold back. Perhaps these people never expect to be held accountable for their actions. But I tell these people: don't cheat, just be a good Sunni like me.