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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 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 of truth, the God-fearing. (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:
1.Our faith should be true and sincere
2.We must be prepared to show it in deeds of charity to our fellow-men.
3.We must be good citizens, supporting social organizations and
4.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 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 standards which afford reasonable
scope for genuine adjustments, adaptations and innovations though not
for perversion, 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. Through 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 others without cause. It takes up all
the commonly known moral virtues 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 realm. 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 eradicate 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 is most 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
situation, 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 honor. 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 the traveler; and do not squander your wealth in the manner of
spendthrift. (17:26)
Neighbors:
The Prophet (PBUH) has said: He is not a 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 situations. It nourishes noble qualities
from which only good may be expected.
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Source:
WAMY SERIES On Islam
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
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