The decay and decline of a society begins with many ugly behaviours, with the main culprits being dishonesty, greed, jealousy and injustice.

Combined, they amount to pure evil and can lead to the destruction of a society.

Relationships of any sort cannot thrive amid such practices; societies cannot prosper amid such heinous behaviours. Bermuda is no exception.

Over the past two decades dishonesty, greed, jealousy and injustice have eroded the caring society we know as home. Investigations into murders and shootings have received little assistance from the community. With no assistance the madness will continue to grow and inevitably get worse.

Only recently a young man full of life and promise – a beloved father, a son, a grandson, a partner, a brother, a cousin, a friend and a member of our society – was struck down and left to die on a lonely, dark and cold street.

How awful … I don’t think it could get any worse. Have we reached an all-time low? To not even check or call for the ambulance to assist the victim is beyond explanation. To just leave a fellow human being is unfathomable to say the least. Shayton (the Devil) is definitely at work.

Somebody knows who committed this act of inhumanity and, for their own sake, needs to come forward.

Islam is strong on speaking the truth, no matter what, even if it is incriminating to oneself.

“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allāh, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allāh is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allāh is ever aware, of what you do.” (Koran 4:135)

Let’s do the right thing for the victims, their families, yourselves and the future of our Bermuda society by coming forth and saying something.

Allah advises in the Koran: 2:42. “Do not mix truth with falsehood or hide the truth knowingly. And do not mix truth with error or knowingly hide the truth.”

Remember, we get away with nothing, the good nor the bad. All deeds are accountable and duly rewarded, maybe not right now, but surely without a doubt in due course. Allah is aware of all we do.

If we as a society are to continue to flourish, we must nourish truth, honesty and justice, each person at a time. Let us be a society that lives by the commands of God: “And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful.” (Koran 3:104)

It is the duty of each and everyone of us to enjoin that which is good and forbid that which is evil, so that we may attain the pleasure of Allah and sustain the Bermuda we have so proudly dubbed as “paradise”. In doing the right thing while here on Earth we can attain the ultimate Paradise of the Hereafter.

I pray that justice will prevail and our prayers go out to the families who have been so sadly affected by the actions that claimed their loved ones and the deafening silence that followed.

Bermuda, may you be bestowed with a week of truth, honesty, justice and peace.

As salaamu alaikum.

• Linda Walia Ming is a member of the Bermuda Hijab Dawah Team, a group of Muslim women who reside in Bermuda and have a goal of educating the community about the religion of Islam