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ISLAMIC ETHIC
By Asghar Ali Engineer
Every religion lays great emphasis on ethical aspects of human conduct in
its own unique way. Generally there is great commonality between different
religions as far as moral and ethical questions are concerned. In fact to
mould a moral character is the most fundamental function of religion.
All other functions are subsidiary to it. But it is also true that each
religion has unique way of doing it and every religion puts differing
emphasis on different aspects of human morality. Islam is also unique in
this respect. It has its own ethical values and moral concepts, which are
universal as well as specific to Islam. This paper will throw light on
Islamic ethic.
Islam has unique morality of its own. It puts great deal of emphasis, for
example, on equality and justice and emphasises dignity of all human
beings. We will deal with these issues in the course of this paper.
However, there are also universal moral values, which Islam lays emphasis
on. The Qur'an gives us the concept of what it calls `amal salih' which,
translated into English, would mean 'good deeds'.
But this translation does not adequately convey the meaning. The key word
here is 'salih'. The root of the word is 'slh' from which are derived many
words with the meaning to be good, to repair, to mend, to improve, to be
righteous, to be efficient, to be suitable, peace and friendliness,
reconciliation etc.
Thus it will be seen that 'amal salih' leads to a society which is
reformed, good, efficient, suitable (to humanity), improved and above all
which is peaceful and friendly to all human beings. The Qur'an uses the
word 'amal salih' repeatedly. For a moral conduct, according to the Qur'an,
'amal salih' is very necessary. In the chapter 103 the Qur'an says,
"By the time! Surely man is in loss, except those who believe and do
good work ('amal salih'), and exhort one another to Truth and exhort one
another to patience."
Thus the key ethical concepts here in this chapter are 1) 'amal salih'; 2)
to be truthful and 3) to observe patience. One can say that these are key
elements of Islamic ethic. Man is surely in loss but those who perform
good deeds are truthful and patient would not be. Thus for 'amal salih'
truth and patience are highly necessary. One can say that this is most
comprehensive statement of the Qur'anic ethic.
TO BE STEADFAST AND PATIENCE
Here important question is why so much emphasis on 'patience'? Why truth
and patience are made integral to each other? Because to be truthful is
most arduous and challenging. One has to face great problems in order to
be truthful. One will have to face opposition, even intrigues, from vested
interests. It is, therefore, necessary, to be steadfast and patient and
face all these challenges with fortitude and courage. All this requires
great deal of patience. Hence the Qur'an lays so much emphasis on being
steadfast and patient to follow the path of truth. Only a man of great
patience can be truthful.
Truth is a universal value in all religions. Some religions like Hinduism
also maintain that truth (Satyam) is God. The Qur'an also elevates truth (Haq)
to the status of being God. Allah has been described as Haq in the Qur'an.
No human being can claim to be Truth in absolute sense. Mansur al-Hallaj,
the famous sufi saint who claimed to be ana'l haq (I am the Truth) was
hanged because it meant claiming to be God. Thus truth has great
significance in the Islamic ethical system.
Here it should be remembered that truth is not mere conformity with
observable facts as in empirical sciences. Truth in moral sciences,
especially in religion, has moral or ideological dimension also which is
not necessarily verifiable. It is this aspect of moral or religious truth,
which separates religion from science. However, it should also be born in
mind that truth should not be contrary to observable facts also. All one
can say is that truth, in moral and religious discourse, is not mere
conformity with fact. It is more than mere conformity with fact.
In Islamic system of morality, as in some other religions too, it is
establishment of a moral society that is very fundamental. The emphasis of
Islamic teachings is not personal salvation but establishment of a society
that is just and free of zulm (oppression). Here we will like to deal with
this aspect of Islamic ethic in greater detail, as it is most central to
Islam. The Qur'an lays great emphasis on 'adl' (justice). It is the
central value in the Islamic ethic. The Qur'an says that "Be just; it
is closest to being pious." (5:8).
Thus in Islam there is no concept of piety without being just. The
opposite of 'adl' is 'zulm' (oppression). Zulm is derived from the root 'zlm'
that has several shades of meaning i.e. to do wrong, injustice, darkness,
iniquity, oppression etc. The Qur'an often uses it in the sense of wrong
doing and oppression.
ESTABLSHING JUST SOCIETY
Islam basically lays emphasis on establishing a just society free of all
forms of oppression. The Prophet also says that a society can live with
unbelief (kufr) but not with oppression (zulm). Thus Islamic ethic
conceives of a society which will be free of all forms of exploitation and
oppression. Islam basically is a non-violent religion. It does not approve
of violence at all. The most basic attribute of Allah is mercy and
compassion of which we will talk more little later.
But Islam approves of violence (in a highly controlled sense, of course)
only to remove zulm, the structures of oppression.. Thus the Qur'an says,
"And how could you refuse to fight in the cause of Allah and of the
utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, O our
Sustainer! Lead us forth (to freedom) out of this land whose people are
oppressors, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, a protector, and raise for
us, out of Thy grace, one who will bring us succour!". (4:75)
Thus the Qur'an's emphasis is on fighting against injustice, against
oppression. Everyone has the right to live in peace in ones own country.
If someone tries to throw them out just because they have their own inner
conviction, they cannot be thrown out of their homeland. And if someone
tries to do that, one has to stand up to that and fight against this
injustice. Islam does not permit violence in matters of preaching of
religion.
It believes, as is obvious from the above verse also, in full freedom of
conscience. In fact if this freedom is violated that Islam permits use of
regulated force. As for preaching of religion it has to be done only
through 'goodly exhortation and wisdom' (16:125). There is no question of
use of violence for that purpose. If someone does that it is against the
Divine injunction. It is zulm.
There is much misunderstanding about inter-connection between Islam and
violence which needs to be clarified here since we are dealing with the
question of Islamic ethic here. Islam does not approve of violence except
in certain extraordinary circumstances. The word Islam has been derived
from the root 'slm' which means to escape danger, to be free from fault,
to deliver or hand over, to commit oneself to the will of God, to lay down
arms, to establish peace. Thus the best meaning of the word Islam will be
to establish or promote peace in harmony with the Will of Allah.
Thus a Muslim is not a true Muslim if he commits acts of violence either
for spread of Islam or for purposes of achieving power be it in the name
of Islam. His primary duty is to establish peace so that justice prevails
and humanity prospers. The Prophet has also said that the best form of
jihad is to say truth in the face of a tyrant ruler. Tyranny could be both
physical and psychological.
The Qur'an says that no human life can be taken except in keeping with
law. Thus we find in the Qur'an that "whoever kills a person, unless
it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he had
killed entire humanity. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had
saved lives of all men." (5:32) The Qur'an, it will be seen is
against violence against humanity. It could be resorted to only for a just
cause that too after great deliberation and if all other doors are closed.
It is true the Qur'an has permitted retaliatory violence (for qisas). But
the Qur'anic statements should also be seen at various levels. At the
level of the Arabian society, with its customs, norms and traditions,
permitting qisas (retaliatory violence) was necessary. The Qur'an had to
deal with a given society.
RETALIATION IS HUMAN, TO FORGIVE IS DIVINE
But at the higher moral level retaliation is not a good moral practice. It
may be necessary in a society which is not highly morally developed. But
in a morally developed society the virtue of pardon is the highest virtue.
There is great moral worth in the act of pardon. One of Allah's attributes
is that He pardons. He is 'Ghaffar' i.e. He is the forgiver. Forgiving is
the great moral virtue.
Retaliation may be human but forgiving is divine. Retaliation amounts to
giving vent to ones anger but forgiving amounts to suppressing ones rage
and suppressing ones anger or rage is described as great virtue by the
Qur'an. Those who suppress their anger are called 'kazim al-ghayz'. On
moral level the Qur'an deals with this issue in the verse 3:133. The verse
reads, "Those who spend in ease as well as in adversity and those who
restrain (their) anger and pardon men. And Allah loves doers of good (to
others).
This verse (3:133) deals with the moral aspect whereas the verse dealing
with the question of qisas deals with the prevailing practice. The
Qur'an's intention is not to perpetuate the practice of retaliation but to
build a human character on the basis of restraining anger and forgiving.
To absolutise the verse on retaliation and to maintain that it is the
ultimate divine will is to do injury to the spirit of the Qur'an which is
to cultivate higher morality among human beings. It is the verse 3:133
which represents this higher morality. This is further reinforced by
Allah's own attributes of being Merciful and Compassionate on the one
hand, and repeated assertion by the Qur'an of the concept of 'ihsan'
(doing good to others). Thus it will be seen that the Islamic scripture
does not morally approve even retaliatory violence which has at least some
justification.
Thus the question of violence has to be dealt with great caution as far as
the Islamic tradition is concerned. At the level of the value Qur'an
upholds non-violence and exhorts Muslims to use wisdom and benevolence (hikmah
and ihsan) while dealing with others. Whatever violence has taken place in
the Islamic history it is Muslims and the then Arab society and their
norms that could be held responsible and not the teachings of the Qur'an.
TRANSCENDENTAL NORMS OF THE QURAN
It is highly necessary to make this distinction in order to properly
understand the essence of the Islamic ethic. Certain concessions to the
situation should not be mixed up with the transcendental ethical norms
given by the Qur'an. In this connection it should also be borne in mind
that the Qur'an's repeated advocacy to fight (qatilu) is not to give
permanence to violence or the glorify it but in the situation the Qur'an
was dealing with, there was absolutely no other alternative but to fight.
Inter tribal wars went on for years.
Violence, in other words, was very much in the air. Also, there were
powerful vested interests who were out to destroy Islam in its infancy and
to eliminate the Prophet physically. Any moral discourse would not have
influenced such people. The only alternative was to first defeat or subdue
such elements and then to build new moral human from out of the believers.
It was very difficult task indeed.
If there has been bloodshed, and there has been, in the history of Islam
the problem lies with the type of the society rather than the quality of
the religious teachings. Most of us read into religion what suits our
interests. In other words, we often instrumentalise religion for our own
purposes. There is abundant proof in history if we care to examine it
carefully. Buddhism, Jainism and Christianity laid great deal of stress on
compassion, non-violence and love and yet these religions put together
could not build a society based on these values. Society still is full of
violence, conflict and clash of interests.
However, there is one more aspect we have to deal with to clear Islam of
the charge that it promotes violence. It can be said that the Buddhist,
Jain or the Christian scriptures do not permit or talk of violence where
as the Islamic scripture does. But here one has to keep in mind the
historical and social situation those scriptures were dealing with and the
Islamic scripture was called upon to deal with.
PASSIVE SPIRITUAL FORCE
Here one has to refer to the Meccan context also. In Meccan verses there
is absolutely no mention of meeting violence with violence. Therefore some
of the religious thinkers like Mehmoud Mohammad Taha of Sudan have laid
emphasis on the Meccan Islam. The Muslims were a persecuted minority in
Mecca and they bore with great patience all the persecution let loose on
them. Islam in Mecca was a great spiritual force. Those who lay emphasis
on Meccan Islam would argue that had Muslims not migrated to Madina Islam
would have remained a passive spiritual force like Buddhism or
Christianity.
There is great deal of truth in this argument. But there are some
problems, if not flaws, in it. Firstly, even in Meccan stage Islam was not
a religion of individual salvation. Right from the beginning Islam laid
great emphasis on building community. The concept of ummah was a
collective concept. The concept of the community was always at the heart
of the Islamic movement. In tribal society in which Islam arose in Mecca,
individual is always subordinate to the collectivity. If Islam had laid
emphasis on individual spiritual salvation the Meccan tribal lords would
have hardly bothered to oppose it.
However, Islam had a social agenda. It aimed at reforming not only the
individual but also the whole society. It knew that the roots of
exploitation and oppression lay in social structure, not only in
individual avarice. So it aimed at transforming the society along with the
individual. If the Meccan verses are examined carefully the transformatory
agenda of Islam becomes very clear. It forcefully attacks accumulation of
wealth and exhorts the believers to spend their wealth on the poor, needy
and orphans and widows. The rich of Mecca were neglecting them. Thus, the
Islamic agenda even at the Meccan stage was to set up a society which was
based on socio-economic justice. Look at this powerful denunciation of
accumulation of wealth in one of the Meccan chapters (104):
* Woe to every slanderer, defamer!
* Who amasses wealth and counts it
* He thinks that his wealth will make him abide.
* Nay, he will certainly be hurled into the crushing disaster;
* And what will make thee realise what the crushing disaster is?
* It is the Fire kindled by Allah,
* Which rises over the hearts.
* Surely it is closed on them,
* In extended columns.
More such chapters and verses could be cited from the Meccan verses. Thus
it becomes clear that Islam was attacking the very roots of social and
economic exploitation and trying to lay foundation for a just society. The
Meccan lords were, therefore, determined to throw out such a movement
lock, stock and barrel.
They, therefore, severely persecuted Muslims and forced them to migrate.
When the Prophet migrated to Madina he seriously busied himself in laying
the foundation of a just society. In doing so he became threat not only to
the Jews of Madina whom he had given full religious freedom in his
covenant with them (known as Mithaq-e-Madina) but also continued to remain
a threat for the Meccan vested interests.
FIGHT FOR DEFENCE OF ISLAM
The Meccan vested interests were determined to thwart any attempt to set
up a just society even in Medina as successful experiment in Madina could
pose serious challenge to their own interests. They were lording over an
exploitative system. Thus they went in full force and attacked Madina .
The Prophet was again faced with a violent situation and had to defend
himself and urge his followers to fight for defence of Madina and for
defence of Islam.
The Jews and hypocrites betrayed him and thus he had to face internal
strife also. He had to mobilise forces to fight the Jews with whom he had
no religious quarrel. The Jews, who otherwise free to practice their own
religion, felt threatened that they could no longer dominate the Madinese
market. The migrants from Mecca too were expert traders and were now
posing challenge to the dominance of the Jews.
The Prophet of Islam had hardly any choice. In an attempt to set up a just
society based on high ethical standards, integrity of character and
spiritual values he had to take on most powerful vested interests out to
wreck his movement. Thus violence appears in the history of Islam not out
of choice but out of compulsion. It is certainly not prescriptive violence
but imposed one.
Now as for the instances of Meccan model of Islam we do come across them
in history, particularly in Sufi Islam. Sufi Islam is essentially build
around the theory of individual salvation. A Sufi saint is engaged more in
individual character building and spiritual practices and hence his whole
emphasis on 'ibadat' (prayers). The Prophet of Islam, it is interesting to
note, was a perfect synthesis of a Sufi and an activist engaged in
building a just society. That is why the Sufis consider the Holy Prophet
as their Master from whom they derive their spiritual practices.
But in later history of Islam we find either the Sufis or the activists or
the 'Ulama (theologians) who theorised on the basis of the Qur'an and
available reports of the Prophet's sayings and practices. The problem with
the 'Ulama was that they froze Islam in its first century and lost track
of its fundamental vision. Thus they could not keep pace with the changing
society or new challenges emerging from different historical situations.
The Prophet combined in himself both the Meccan and the Medinese Islam and
thus he became a perfect model to follow.
ISLAM IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH POWER
However, for those who came after him the Meccan Islam lost all relevance
and they became more involved with building up a political community. The
overemphasis in history of Islam on building up a political community
created several problems and Islam became politicised rather than
spiritualised. Hence its critics usually maintain that Islam is integrally
associated with power.
However, it would be a serious mistake to associate Islam with power.
Islam, like any other religion, has strong spiritual and ethical base. Its
basic emphasis on ethical foundations of individual action cannot be
ignored. The 'ibadat' (which include praying, fasting, giving alms and
performing hajj - pilgrimage) are very central to Islam. It is these 'ibadat'
which, according to the Qur'an, lead to inner peace (sakinat al-qalb).
Thus the Qur'an says "He it is who sent down inner peace into the
hearts of the believers that they might add faith to their faith."
(48:4). Inner peace and spiritual solace are the very foundation stones of
an ethical conduct.
Here we would like to point out that compassion like in Buddhism, is very
central to Islam also. The key word for this is 'rehmah'. This word has
been derived from its root 'rhm' which in its root meaning means womb of
the mother. And one of the ethical concept of Islam is 'sila-i-rahmi' i.e.
maintaining close relationship with those connected with ones mother's
womb i.e. close relatives.
Since mother nurtures and sustains life, she is more compassionate than
man. Thus compassion and mother's womb are derived from the same root in
Arabic. God is most compassionate (arham al-rahimin) as he is the creator
and sustainer of all life. His Mercy and Compassion envelop everything in
this universe (7:156). Thus a Muslim who worships Allah has to display
compassion by all his actions. True worship does not mean merely
physically bowing down before Allah.
It means bowing down to His attributes and to imbibe these attributes in
ones life. Thus a true Muslim is compassionate to all forms of life and he
is committed to remove suffering from this earth. In other words, a Muslim
is quite sensitive to sufferings of all living beings and he should never
be a cause of suffering of others. The Prophet is reported to have said
that a good Muslim is one at whose hands others are safe.
The Islamic prayers ('ibadat') sensitivise Muslims to the suffering of
others. The salat makes him sensitive to equality of all human beings
since all Muslims, irrespective of their social status have to stand in
one line to pray; fasting during the month of Ramadan makes him sensitive
to others' hunger and thirst and zakah makes him conscious of others'
financial needs. And we need these prime virtues in human beings to make
them righteous and conscious of their duties to other human beings. The
Qur'an also lays great stress on spiritual freedom and accepts different
ways of worship. Spiritual freedom is very basis of a free human person
responsible to himself as well as to whole humanity.
Source: http://www.dawoodi-bohras.com
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