v130r82a@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Ali A Jaffri) (07/13/90)
MORAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM
Islam has laid down some universal fundamental rights for
humanity as a whole, which are to be observed and respected
under all circumstances. To achieve these rights Islam
provides not only legal safeguards but also a very effective
moral system. Thus whatever leads to the welfare of the
individual or the society is morally good in Islam and
whatever is injurious is morally bad. Islam attaches so much importance to
the love of God and love of man that it warns against too much of
formalism. We read in the Quran:
It is not righteousness that you turn your
faces towards East or West; but it is
righteousness to believe in God and the last
Day and the Angels, and the book, and the
Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of
love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for
the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask;
and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast
in prayers, and practice regular charity; to
fulfil the contracts which you made; and to
be firm and Patient in pain (or suffering)
and adversity and throughout all periods of panic.
Such are the people to truth, the Godfearing. (2:177)
We are given a beautiful description of the righteous and God-fearing man
in these verses. He should obey salutary regulations, but he should fix his
gaze on the love of God and the love of his fellow-men.
We are given four heads:
a) Our faith should be true and sincere
b) We must be prepared to show it in deeds of charity to our
fellow-men
c) We must be good citizens, supporting social organization
and
d) Our own individual soul must be firm and unshaken in all
circumstances.
This is the standard by which a particular mode of conduct is
judged and classified as good or bad. This standard of
judgement provides the nucleus around which the whole moral
conduct should revolve. Before laying down any moral
injunctions Islam seeks to firmly implant in man's heart the
conviction that his dealings are with God who sees him at all
times and in all places; that he may hide himself from the
whole world but not from Him; that he may deceive everyone
but cannot deceive God; that he can flee from the clutches of
anyone else but not from God's.
Thus, by setting God's pleasure as the objective of man's
life, Islam has furnished the highest possible standard of
morality. This is bound to provide limitless avenues for the
moral evolution of humanity. By making Divine revelations as
the primary source of knowledge it gives permanence and
stability to the moral standard which afford reasonable scope
for the genuine adjustments, adaptations and innovations
though not for perversions, wild variation, atomistic
relativism or moral fluidity. It provides a sanction to
morality in the love and fear of God, Which will impel man to
obey the moral law even without any external pressure.
Though belief in God and the Day of Judgement it furnishes a
force which enables a person to adopt the moral conduct with
earnestness and sincerity, with all the devotion of heart and
soul.
It does not, through a false sense of originality and
innovation, provide any novel moral virtues nor does it seek
to minimize the importance of the well known moral norms, nor
does it give exaggerated importance to some and neglect other
without cause. It takes up all the commonly known moral
virtue and with a sense of balance and proportion it assigns
a suitable place and function to each one of them in the
total scheme of life. It widens the scope of man's individual
and collective life - his domestic associations, his civic conduct, and his
activities in the political, economic, legal, educational, and social
realms. It covers his life from home to society, from the dining-table to
the battle-field and peace conferences, literally from the cradle to the
grave. In short, no sphere of life is exempt from the universal and
comprehensive application of the moral principles of Islam. It makes
morality reign supreme and ensures that the affairs of life, instead of
dominated by selfish desires and petty interests, should be regulated by
norms of morality.
It stipulates for man a system of life which is based on all good and is
free from all evil. It invokes the people, not only to practice virtue, but
also to establish virtue and eradicates vice, to bid good and to forbid
wrong. It wants that the verdict of conscience should prevail and virtue
must not be subdued to play second fiddle to evil. Those who respond to
this call are gathered together into a community and given the name
MUSLIM. And the singular object underlying the formation of this community
(Ummah) is that it should make an organized effort to establish and enforce
goodness and suppress and eradicate evil.
Here we furnish some basic moral teachings of Islam for
various aspects of a Muslim's life. They cover the broad spectrum of
personal moral conduct of a Muslim as well as his social responsibilities.
God-Consciousness
The Quran mentions it as the highest quality of a Muslim:
The most honorable among you in the sight of God is the one who
God-conscious. (49:13)
Humility, modesty, control of passions and desires, truthfulness,
integrity, patience, steadfastness, and fulfilling one's promises are moral
values which are emphasized again and again in the Quran. We read in the
Quran:
And God loves those who are firm and
steadfast. (3:146)
And vie with one another to attain to your
Sustainer's forgiveness and to a Paradise
as vast as the heavens and the earth, Which
awaits the God-conscious, who spend for
charity in time of plenty and in time of
hardship, and restrain their anger, and
pardon their fellow men, for God loves those
who do good. (3:133-134)
Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just,
and forbid what is wrong; and bear patiently
whatever may befall you; for this is true
constancy. And do not swell your cheek
(with pride) at men, nor walk in insolence on
the earth, for God does not love any man proud
and boastful. And be moderate in your pace and
lower your voice; for the harshest of sounds,
indeed, is the braying of the ass. (31:18-19)
In a way which summarizes the moral behavior of a Muslim, the prophet
(PBUH) said:
My Sustainer has given me nine commands: to remain
conscious of God, whether in private or in public;
to speak justly, whether angry or pleased; to show
moderation both when poor and when rich; to reunite
friendship with those who have broken it off with
me; to give to him who refuses me; that my silence
should be occupied with thought; that my looking
should be an admonition; and that I should command
what is right.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
The teachings of Islam concerning social responsibilities are based on
kindness and consideration of others. Since a broad injunction to be kind
is likely to be ignored in specific situations, Islam lays emphasis on
specific acts of kindness and defines the responsibilities and rights of
various relationships. In a widening circle of relationship, then, our
first obligation is to our immediate family - parents, husband or wife and
children, then to other relatives, neighbors, friends and acquaintances,
orphans and widows, the needy of the community, our fellow Muslims, all our
fellow human beings and animals.
PARENTS
Respect and care for parents is very much stressed in the Islamic
teaching and is a very important part of a Muslim's expression of faith.
Your Sustainer has decreed that you worship
none but Him, and that you be kind to parents.
Whether one or both of them attain old age in
your life-time, do not say to them a word of
contempt nor repel them, but address them in
terms of honour. And, out of kindness, lower
to them the wing of humility and say: My
Sustainer! Bestow on them Your mercy, even
as they cherished me in childhood. (17:23-24)
OTHER RELATIVES
And render to the relatives their due rights,
as (also) to those in need, and to traveller;
and do not squander your wealth in the manner of
a spendthrift. (17:26)
NEIGHBORS
The Prophet (PBUH) has said:
He is not believer who eats his fill when
his neighbor beside him is hungry; and He
does not believe whose neighbors are not
safe from his injurious conduct.
Actually, according to the Quran and Sunnah a Muslim has to discharge
his moral responsibility not only to his parents, relatives and neighbors
but to the entire mankind, animals and useful trees and plants. For
example, hunting of birds and animals for the sake of game is not
permitted. Similarly cutting trees and plants which yield fruit is
forbidden unless there is a very pressing need for it.
Thus, on the basic moral characteristics, Islam builds a higher system of
morality by virtue of which mankind can realize its greatest potential.
Islam purifies the soul from self-seeking egotism, tyranny, wantonness and
indiscipline. It creates God-fearing men, devoted to their ideals,
possessed of piety, abstinence and discipline and uncompromising with
falsehood. It induces feelings of moral responsibility and fosters the
capacity for self-control. Islam generates kindness, generosity, mercy,
sympathy, peace, disinterested goodwill, scrupulous fairness and
truthfulness towards all creation in all situations. It nourishes noble
qualities from which only good may be expected.