643. Imām Ali (a.s.): “The best [feature in relation to] Islam is to fulfill one’s pledges.”¹

644. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in his instructions to Mālik al-Ashtar: “If you bind an agreement between yourself and your enemy or grant him a protective covenant (dhimmah), guard your agreement in good faith and tend to your covenant with loyalty. Make of yourself a shield before what you have granted, for men, despite the division among their sects and the diversity of their opinions, are not united more firmly in any of the obligations (imposed upon them) by God than in attaching importance to fidelity in agreements. The idolaters had already adhered to that (honoring agreement) among themselves before the Muslims, by reason of the evil consequences of treachery that they had seen. So never betray your protective covenant, never break your agreement and never deceive your enemy, for none is audacious before God but a wretched fool. God has made His agreement and His protective covenant a security, which He has spread among the servants by the Grace of His Mercy and a sanctuary in whose impregnability they may rest and in whose proximity they may spread forth. Within it there is no corruption, treachery or deceit.
Do not make an agreement in which you allow deficiencies and rely not upon ambiguity of language after confirmation and finalization (of the agreement). Let not the difficulties of an affair in which an agreement before God is binding upon you invite you to seek its abrogation unjustly. For your patience in the hardships of an affair, hoping for its solution and the blessing of its outcome is better than an act of treachery that you fear its consequences and being questioned by Allah and you could not ask for forgiveness for it in this world and the next.”²

643. عنه علیه السلام: مِن أفضَلِ الإِسلامِ الوَفاءُ بِالذِّمامِ.¹

644. عنه علیه السلام ـ في عَهدِهِ إلى مالِكٍ الأَشتَرِ ـ: وإن عَقَدتَ بَينَكَ وبَينَ عَدُوِّكَ عُقدَةً، أو ألبَستَهُ مِنكَ ذِمَّةً فَحُط عَهدَكَ بِالوَفاءِ، وَارعَ ذِمَّتَكَ بِالأَمانَةِ، وَاجعَل نَفسَكَ جُنَّةً دونَ ما أعطَيتَ؛ فَإِنَّهُ لَيسَ مِن فَرائِضِ اللهِ شَيءٌ النّاسُ أشَدُّ عَلَيهِ اجتِماعاً مَعَ تَفَرُّقِ أهوائِهِم وتَشَتُّتِ آرائِهِم مِن تَعظيمِ الوَفاءِ بِالعُهودِ. وقَد لَزِمَ ذلِكَ المُشرِكونَ فيما بَينَهُم دونَ المُسلِمينَ لِمَا استَوبَلوا² مِن عَواقِبِ الغَدرِ. فَلا تَغدِرَنَّ بِذِمَّتِكَ، ولا تَخيسَنَّ بِعَهدِكَ ، ولا تَختِلَنَّ عَدُوَّكَ؛ فَإِنَّهُ لا يَجتَرِئُ عَلَى اللهِ إلّا جاهِلٌ شَقِيٌّ. وقَد جَعَلَ اللهُ عَهدَهُ وذِمَّتَهُ أمناً أفضاهُ بَينَ العِبادِ بِرَحمَتِهِ، وحَريماً يَسكُنونَ إلى مَنَعَتِهِ ويَستَفيضونَ إلى جِوارِهِ. فَلا إدغالَ ولا مُدالَسَةَ ولا خِداعَ فيهِ.
ولا تَعقِد عَقداً تُجَوِّزُ فيهِ العِلَلَ، ولا تُعَوِّلَنَّ عَلى لَحنِ قَول بَعدَ التَّأكيدِ وَالتَّوثِقَةِ، ولا يَدعُوَنَّكَ ضيقُ أمر لَزِمَكَ فيهِ عَهدُ اللهِ إلى طَلَبِ انفِساخِهِ بِغَيرِ الحَقِّ؛ فَإِنَّ صَبرَكَ عَلَى ضيقِ أمرٍ تَرجُو انفِراجَهُ وفَضلَ عاقِبَتِهِ خَيرٌ من غَدر تَخافُ تَبِعَتَهُ، وأن تُحيطَ بِكَ مِنَ اللهِ فيهِ طِلبَةٌ، فَلا تَستَقبِلُ فيها دُنياكَ ولا آخِرَتَكَ.³