One of the fundamental principles of living is to co-operate and mix with people so that both groups benefit from one another, and both are satisfied.
We are all after the some goal, to attain the pleasure of Allah and Inshallah enter His eternal paradise. This makes us all like partners, working together to achieve the same ends.
To be deceitful or cunning means to put yourself in a better position by tricking or lying to someone else, while at the same time making them think that you are helping them.
This is why it is an extremely bad act and cannot be forgiven by anyone else, but the victim himself.
To gain at someone else's expense is never allowed in Islam.
To commit deceit, you have to make the person believe one thing while the opposite is true.
If I was to tell you that this stamp is very rare and worth £5,000, and I'll make you a deal by selling it for £2,500.
If you bought it and then found out it was worth only £5 then you have been DECEIVED by me.
A lot of people do this is in real life and claim that in business, everything is allowed!
This sort of business will lead to ruin. Your name will be spoilt and your heart will become mean and no one will trust you.
Once you have lost trust then you will never find happiness in your life, nor when you rise on the day of Judgement. Not only do we have to be fair and true, but we must be aware of those people who try and deceive us !!
There are people who pretend to follow Islam, but try and lead us away from the right path. When anything good happens to you, they pretend to be happy, but really, they are very jealous and mean. These people are just trying to deceive you into thinking they are good.
Allah explains to us in the Holy Qur'an (Surah 3 ayat 120):
"If aught that is good befalls you, it grieves them; but if some misfortune overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if you are constant and do right, not the least harm will their CUNNING do to you, for God compasseth round about all that they do."
Shaytan is always trying to deceive us. He makes us think so much of this world, that we forget that we are here only temporarily. But Allah explains to us, in the above verse and in the next, that if we believe and have faith, no one will be able to trick us (Surah 4 ayat 76)
"Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil: so fight you against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the CUNNING of Satan."
The worst thing to be tricked in is your belief. When people come to you and talk to you, and say that what you are following is wrong, think about what they say. Do not follow them blindly, but question yourself and try and understand your faith. Allah tells us that there will always be someone trying to guide us astray, we should be careful and avoid these people (Surah 6 ayat 112/3),
"Likewise did We make for every Messenger an enemy, evil ones among men and Jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of DECEPTION... To such (deceit) let the hearts of those incline, who have no faith in the Hereafter: let them delight in it, and let them earn from it what they may."
We are told in this ayat, the ONLY PEOPLE who will be deceived are the ones who have no belief in the next life, and in the Day of Judgement. If we keep firm on our path, Allah will guide us through all dangers and trickery.
When a person commits deceit, they might gain for a little while, in this world. They might gain money or fame, but in the long run, they are losing because on the Day of Judgement, the person they tricked will be in front of them, and only then will they be sorry, but it will be too late !!
(Surah 6 ayat 123):
"Thus have We placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot (and burrow) therein: but they only plot against their own souls, and they perceive it not."
The points to learn from this is that if you commit deceit, you are harming yourself in the long run. You should never let others suffer from your gain. If you do, that is selfishness and going against the creatures of Allah, and therefore against Allah Himself.