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 freeing of captives; to be
steadfast in prayers, and practice regular charity; to fulfill 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-conscious." (2:177)
We are given a beautiful description of the
righteous and God-conscious 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:
Our faith should be true and sincere,
We must be prepared to show it in deeds of charity
to our fellow men,
We must be good citizens, supporting social
organizations, and
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 judgment
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.
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
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. Through belief in
God and the Day of Judgment 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 realms. It covers his life from home
to society, from the dining table to the battlefield 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.
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 that 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 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."
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.
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 lifetime, 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)
"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 a spendthrift." (17:26)
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 trees and
plants. For example, hunting of birds and animals for the sake of game is not
permitted. Similarly, cutting trees and plants that 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-conscious 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.
Source: The Institute of Islamic Information and
Education