Trust is a concept that is the foundation for everything we do in our lives. We utilize trust to establish and maintain our interactions with our family members, friends, business associates, other members of society, and any information technology we use. In our daily lives, we use statements like, “I trust my doctor,” “I trust my husband,” “I trust Google maps better,” or “I know my son is competent and honest, but I would not trust him to post a letter, because he is forgetful.” Then, what is trust? How can we build or rebuild it? What is the difference between trusting a “person” and trusting “abilities”? Why do you trust certain people and not others? How do you know them as trustworthy or untrustworthy? This article will explore these concepts in various contexts by showing an example from well-established studies.

Interpersonal trust has been studied extensively in the literature. One of the well-known definitions of trust is the “willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the action of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party” [1]. Willingness to be vulnerable is a key phrase and means opening oneself up to someone else. Mayer proposed three elements as the pillars of trust: ability, integrity, and benevolence. Together, the perception of these factors indicates the trustworthiness of a person in the eyes of others. Let’s explore these concepts one by one.

“Ability” is a group of skills, competencies, knowledge, and characteristics that allow an individual to have a certain influence in a specific domain [2]. It means that an individual must be knowledgeable or skillful in the area that is important to another individual who is the trustor (the person who gives trust). For instance, when I seek counsel for health issues as a patient, it is reasonable that I go to an individual with specific training in the medical area, such as a doctor. I would not go to someone who does not have knowledge or skills in medicine, such as a history teacher. That teacher may be trusted in education, but this does not mean he or she can be trusted to give advice in the medical field.

“Integrity” is the second pillar of trust, defined as “the trustor’s perception that the trustee adheres to a set of principles that the trustor finds acceptable” (Mayer et al., 1995, p. 719). In other words, each individual in the relationship must be on the same page regarding these principles. It is also critical to establish these principles for acceptability and adherence. They may be explicitly discussed but, more likely, implicitly assumed to exist and agreed upon. For instance, I am an academic, so I can give an example on sharing intellectual property. I would expect that anyone in my circle of colleagues who wanted to use or share with others something I had invented, written, or introduced to the field would ask me before doing so, because I have the same expectations of myself. In addition, following some sets of principles defines personal integrity [3]. However, if that set of principles is not deemed acceptable by the trustor, the trustee would not be considered to have integrity (also called “moral integrity”).

The last pillar of trust is called “benevolence.” Benevolence is “the extent to which a trustee is believed to want to do good to the trustor, aside from an egocentric profit motive” (Mayer et al., 1995, p. 718). Benevolence involves caring about the other person, not having a vested interest, and not benefiting from the relationship. For instance, you can offer advice and guidance to others, not expecting anything in return. Another example might be the relationship between the mentor (trustee) and the mentee (trustor). The mentor wants to help the mentee, even though the mentor is not required to be helpful and there is no extrinsic reward for the mentor. Benevolence is the perception of a positive orientation of the trustee toward the trustor.

Trust happens at the convergence of these three dimensions. Before we discuss how we can use these three individual dimensions to establish and maintain trust, I would also like to introduce the concept of “trust” versus “trustworthiness.” Should we aim to build trust or to be trustworthy? As individuals, it is much better to increase “trustworthiness” rather than trying to increase “trust.” In other words, first, we must establish qualities to be a trustworthy person, so people can trust us. Second, we should have more trust in the trustworthy but not in the untrustworthy. We are looking for trustworthiness before trust, because trust is the response, and trustworthiness is what we have to judge.

Rebuilding trust

Another common goal or task is “rebuilding trust.” How can we rebuild trust as an individual, group, or society? The response also lies in the concept of “trustworthiness.” First, we must understand that trust is distinctive since others give it. The best thing you can do is provide them with the basis and evidence for giving you their trust, so you have to be judged as trustworthy. This judgment requires us to look at three things: Are we competent? Are we honest? Are we reliable? And if we find that a person is competent in the relevant matters and reliable and honest, we will have a strong reason to trust them because they will be trustworthy. On the other hand, you may have a friend who is honest and competent but unreliable for certain tasks, and you may not trust them, especially for those tasks. Therefore, rebuilding trust also goes back to reestablishing qualities and pillars which will make you “trustworthy” again.

Let’s go back to the original “trust model” by Mayer: ability, integrity, and benevolence. We already defined what they mean; our last question now is, how can we use them to come up with a mathematical formula for “trustworthiness”? One formula could be as follows:

Trustworthiness = ability × integrity × benevolence [4]

In multiplication, if there is a zero among the factors, the product will be zero. If you get a zero in any of the pillars above (ability, integrity, or benevolence), your trustworthiness score will be, unfortunately, zero. On the other hand, if you score high in each pillar, your trustworthiness score will increase exponentially. This formula is especially essential for the critical roles such as “leaders” in the society.

Who are the top scorers in trustworthiness? Historically, the “Messengers of God” are among the most important figures for humanity. They had the most significant mission to guide and show the truth to the people of their time. Often, it was very dangerous for their followers to follow them and their teachings. Many of them were oppressed and even tortured. How could those people follow the messengers despite risking their own lives? Yes, the answer is trustworthiness. Those messengers were trustworthy to their followers and showed all the pillars and evidence of being trustworthy; thus, people trusted them and their teachings, and their legacy is still recognized after many centuries.

From another perspective, a great mission such as God’s messengership requires excellent qualifications. Being “trustworthy” is one of them. Chapter 26 (ash-Shu’ara) in the Holy Qur’an tells us about stories of various messengers and depicts their conversations with people. The messengers in the chapter were Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shu’ayb (peace be upon them). They all used precisely the same statement to prove that they were the Messenger, so they should be followed: “Surely, I am a Messenger to you, trustworthy” (107, 125,143, 162, 178). They all also emphasized “benevolence” by saying, “I ask of you no wage for that (for conveying God’s Message), my wage is due only from the Lord of the Worlds” (109). In other words, they expected no rewards from human beings for performing their missions.

Ali Ünal, an Islamic scholar, further explains these verses with a footnote in his translation of the Qur’an:

Trustworthiness and communication of God’s Message are two of the essentials of Messengership, the others being truthfulness, intelligence, sinlessness, and freedom from all bodily and mental defects. These are present in every Messenger. Truthfulness is the cornerstone of Messengership. No lies or deceit, whether explicit or implicit, were ever uttered by them. The second attribute of Messengership is amanah, an Arabic word meaning trustworthiness and which is derived from the same root as mu’min (believer). Being a believer implies being a trustworthy person. All Prophets were the best believers and, therefore, perfect exemplars of trustworthiness. To stress this principle, God summarizes the stories of five Prophets in this surah using the same statements: “Surely I am a Messenger to you, trustworthy” (107, 125, 143, 162, 178). Mu’min is also a Divine Name, for God is the ultimate Mu’min, the source of security and reliability. We put our trust in, confide in, and rely upon Him. He distinguished the Prophets by their trustworthiness, and our connection to Him through the Prophets is based entirely on their trustworthiness and reliability. [5]

We are all a part of our society as individuals, family members, and leaders. However, regardless of one’s role in society, the individuals who focus on building ability, integrity, and benevolence altogether are the ones considered trustworthy. Focusing on the three pillars, all of us need to work equally hard to develop our ability to deliver results; our integrity to “walk the walk”; and our benevolence to do well to others.

References

1) Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of management review, 20(3), 709-734.

2) Gubbins, C., & MacCurtain, S. (2008). Understanding the dynamics of collective learning: The role of trust and social capital. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(4), 578-599.

3) McFall, L. (1987). Integrity. Ethics, 98(1), 5-20.

4) Obtained from https://www.koganpage.com/article/the-3-pillars-of-trust

5) Ünal, Ali. 2006. The Qur’an With Annotated Interpretation in Modern English.

The opposite of altruism is the stinginess and selfishness that arise from avarice and attachment to this world. Both stinginess and selfishness are regarded as reasons for becoming distanced from the Creator, the created, and Paradise.^[1] While stinginess arises from avarice and attachment to the world, generosity, benevolence, and perfect goodness arise from altruism.

Generosity means that believers give some of their belongings to others without feeling any unease in the heart. Benevolence means considering one’s own happiness as dependent on the happiness of others and, more than that, putting the welfare of others ahead of one’s own happiness. As for perfect goodness or excellence (ihsan), it means preferring others, even when one is in need oneself. The Qur’an points to such excellence or the highest degree of altruism in this verse (59:9): They feel in their hearts no displeasure because of whatever the others are given, but rather give them preference over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot.

Altruism is valuable when one attains and follows it freely; it has no value if one is forced or if one performs such an act not out of one’s own free will.

The generosity and benevolence that arise from and are dimensions of altruism have degrees, as follows:

• Sacrificing one’s soul in God’s way (for God’s cause), therefore for the sake of belief and for the good of the believers, is considered the highest degree of nobility.
• Being able, when it is necessary, to renounce a (rightful) claim to leadership or similar high position for the well-being and unity of society, is seen as altruism one step below the first degree.
• Preferring the (economic) welfare of others over one’s own, is a third degree of nobility.
• Allowing others to benefit from one’s knowledge and ideas without expecting anything in return, is a virtue not quite as noble as the previous ones.
• Giving to others out of one’s income – this includes responsibilities for the giving of the prescribed and voluntary alms (zakah and sadaqa).
• Showing warmth, speaking soft and kind words, being of use to others, and being the means of various instances of good – these are examples of altruism that almost anyone can strive for in any situation.

The first of these degrees of generosity and benevolence is a profound and fundamental dimension of altruism that not everyone can achieve. Mawlana Jami’,^[2] the author of Baharistan (The Land of Spring), expresses it most memorably:

It is easy to show generosity with gold and silver
Worthy of respect is he who shows generosity with his soul.

Among the characteristics and degrees of those who practice altruism are:

• Offering food and feeding others at the cost of one’s own hunger and thirst, and neglecting oneself in the provision of others. Provided that no one’s rights are violated, this is a virtue characteristic of truly pious, saintly people.
• Despite all adversities, spending whatever one has as a favor from God in God’s way and purely for His good pleasure, and in such a disinterested manner that one forgets what good one has done. This virtue is particular to those with considerable nearness to God, who take far greater pleasure in giving than receiving.
• Attributing to God exclusively all the accomplishments with which one is favored without seeing oneself as the agent of any good and, without expecting any return, even in the form of spiritual pleasures, for all that one does for God’s sake, always being aware of Him and experiencing oneself as the shadow of the light of His existence.

This last one is the attitude and practice of those nearest to God, including primarily the noblest of humankind and the greatest of all times and places, upon him be peace and God’s blessings. His Ascension is a demonstration of his being accorded the highest honor and being sought after (by all the angels and many among human beings and jinn) as a reward for his incessant efforts for perfect knowledge of God. His return from the realms beyond the heavens to be among people in this world is such a great degree of altruism that nobody else has ever been able to achieve it. His emerging from Paradise and letting his profuse tears fall into the pits of Hell for the salvation of humankind expresses the greatest possible altruism.

O God! For the sake of your chosen Prophet, Muhammad, make us of those who do not begrudge what has been given to their brothers-in-religion, but prefer them to themselves, even though poverty be their lot, and may Your blessings and peace be on our master Muhammad and on His family and Companions.

^[1] Sunan al-Tirmidhi, “Birr,” 40.

^[2] Mawlana Nur al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Jami’ (1414-1492), commonly called the last great classical poet of Persia, and saint, composed numerous lyrics and idylls, as well as many works in prose. His Salaman and Absal is an allegory of profane and sacred love. Some of his other works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wu Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa’ih, al-Durrah. (Trans.)

Grace is a very significant feature of the Prophet’s character. In fact, whichever characteristic of him we may consider, he was able to make the best out of them so that all of his efforts paid back many times as much. Grace relates to his benevolence, generosity, and unselfishness. While these terms are differentiated from each other by tiny nuances, they all indicate the same point. The Prophet was taught by God, thus his character developed with the morals of the Divine, which he practiced so well that He did not waste even an iota of it. Then, God Almighty returned the results of that divine morality, but with a multiplied amount. The Prophet, as being the Pride of Humanity requires, has surpassed all people – and even the angels.

In fact, this is not something reserved to him exclusively. That is, whatever someone grants on the way to God’s contentment shall return to him/her a multiplied amount. Many of the verses of the Qur’an state this fact very clearly: “Whoever comes to God with a good deed will have ten times as much” (6:160). Yes, if a person does a unit of goodness, God Almighty shall multiply that goodness by ten and return it to him/her. This is the least degree of divine favor. God Almighty sometimes multiplies by hundred or thousand. It depends to a certain extent on one’s depth of sincerity. He may multiply even by thousands, in accordance with the depth that that particular person subjectively loads on that particular practice of worship. Still, depending on the particularity of certain days and nights, or on the degree of altruism and unselfishness of that person, and on the firmness of his/her association with God, God Almighty may grant him/her a million times more. In sum, something like that may happen to every single person. However, the Prophet, we can confidently argue, benefited from this potential in full and made the best out of it to the last drop.

Grace is one’s being locked on or knotted around benevolence, or that one’s nature is completely engaged in doing favors to others. Actually, this emotion is shared to a particular extent by any human being. However, some people dull this emotion, whereas some others enhance it by a life-long process of practice. When they do this, the path of grace becomes the main road for them. By this way, they live their life always as a devotee radiating around pearls of grace, without straying in any other direction.

Due to the heavy mission he was loaded with, God favored the Prophet immensely from the very beginning. Parallel to the magnitude of this load, his nature was equipped with kernels that were able to shoulder this weighty task and responsibility. Nonetheless, he improved those kernels and extended them beyond expectations. By means of His all-covering divine knowledge, God Almighty had taken into consideration that the Prophet was going to give his willpower its due in the future, and bestowed him, at the very beginning, grandeur exceeding all other creatures.

Grace covers his character of benevolence as well as his capacity to be blessed with wonders – as he gave away in charity, God bestowed upon him His favors. As each of these incidents also served to endorse his messengership, they can certainly be considered miracles. Indeed, miracle is defined as something wonderful created by God through the hands of a prophet, particularly aimed at the confirmation of his prophethood. The Prophet’s nature, peace be upon him, was already prepared to welcome such wonders.

Grace and generosity have been among the key features of praise throughout history. It is reported in a story that Prophet Abraham owned a herd of livestock, and he had shepherds and dogs to attend them. When some angels, according to the story, could not reconcile his mission with this extensive wealth he owned, God told them to test Abraham. Angels visited Abraham in human form, and when they came close, they praised God, saying, “You are All-Glorified, All-Holy, the Lord of angels and the Spirit,” and they made sure Abraham could hear their prayer.

Each single one of these words were chosen precisely in the name of the glorification and sanctification of God. The true value of chosen words in a poem can be appreciated by true poets and experts of oratory; similarly, the very fine selection of these words would certainly be appreciated by Abraham, whose conscience was able to perceive the situation. Therefore, once he heard the angels verbalizing that utterance of glorification, he almost lost himself and said: “what a beautiful expression! Please say it once more; I will give you one fourth of this herd in front of me!” And when they did so, he offered them half of it for one more utterance. And when said it once more, he declared “I am a slave of yours, together with my shepherds!” As you see, if wealth is firmly connected with that kind of feeling, it becomes a vital support, instead of opposing the post of prophethood.

Prophet Muhammad, too, peace and blessings be upon him, was blessed with wealth through Khadijah, his beloved wife, who was a reputable businesswoman. Nevertheless, by the second or third year following the advent of his call, they had nothing to eat. That huge fortune had almost melted for the sake of mission, spent on banquets to win the hearts of people, or to decrease the tension of conflict. But at the end, that huge fortune was used up. It was consumed to the point that the Pride of Humanity started to bind stones on His belly in order to rid himself of his hunger. You see, this generosity and grace inherited from Abraham was not something unfamiliar to the people of Mecca. And, any member of this city used to have a share from this grace, in accordance with their personal position. However, no single soul was in a position to compete with the grace of the Prophet – even before his prophethood. Indeed, God’s Messenger was the final and the most inclusive fruit of the tree of Abraham. He inherited almost the whole grace of Abraham. This grace increased after the prophethood, and God’s Messenger became an embodiment of grace and generosity.

Especially during Ramadan, as Aisha stated, God’s Messenger was like winds of grace and abundance; he used to give away everything he could to the people around him. For God’s Messenger, accomplishing the exalted mission God Almighty had loaded upon his shoulders was a blessed ideal, even an ambition. God Almighty modified and consoled him in the Qur’an by saying, “Yet, it may be that you will torment yourself to death with grief” (18:6). However, he never gave away his wealth in vain; in contrast, he appreciated doing so on the way to God’s contentment. He scattered whatever he was endowed with like seeds scattered on soil, and every single grain he scattered became an everblooming flower.

The devotees of today, who are striving for the good of all humanity “so that others may live,” are in no different a situation, as they may be considered as inheritors of the prophetic mission. These inheritors should behave in exactly the same way as the Prophet, who revived the character of generosity and grace in His own era and elevated it to its zenith. Taking him as a role model, we can invest all the resources God has given us in education, without wasting a penny. Yes, our generosity has brought about, and will bring about, results that are vitally important for the future of humanity, and so valuable as to be worth all sacrifices.