Islamic Ethics - Part 1

 

The Universe not only is, but is also becoming and moving from what is to what will be. Human beings are part of this process. In so far as they are conscious and behave rationally and intelligently they move from "what-is" to "what-ought-to-be". To live we need "Facts" as well as "Values", ideas as to what is true and what is good. Our actions are based on both. We need knowledge, motives and ability for action. Ethics deals with motives and values.

There are in general four questions in Ethics:-

(1) What is the Good?

(2) How can it be known and obeyed?

(3) Why should it be obeyed?

(4) How can it be established?

 

Question (1) - What is the Good?

In Islam all things begin with Allah. He is the fundamental Reality, the ultimate objectivity. As He is the self-existing origin of all things by His own intentions and purposes (there being no cause external to Him), He is the creator of all facts and also of all values.

For some people this presents a problem:- Since evil exists, God is either not good or He is not omnipotent. But this is not a problem in reality but in the mind. Firstly, we cannot say that Allah conforms to something called "Good". If He did then, the Good would be greater than Him and He would be subject to it. But by definition Allah is the Greatest. If, however, "good" was something less than Allah, then there could be other things that Allah also did, which were evil. This problem is solved by defining "Good" as "that which Allah does or Commands".

"(Allah it is) Who made good everything that He has created..." 32:7

"Whatever befalls thee of good, O man, it is from Allah; and whatever befalls thee of bad it is from thy soul. We have sent thee (Muhammad) to instruct mankind as a Messenger, and Allah suffices for a witness." 4:79

If Allah is the Good and we have Unity (Tawhid) rather than duality then evil is merely the absence of good. It has been shown in another article that existence is layered - there are 7 heavens, which might be represented by concentric circles or spheres Each succeeding one can be regarded as condensing from a previous finer one so that it is courser, more rigid and inert. The closer one gets to the centre or source, Allah, the greater is the goodness. The further one is from Allah the further from goodness. Goodness diminishes and the furthest spheres can be called the Outer Darkness. But there is no point at which Allah or His influence is not present. We can also illustrate this by drawing a line from a point X where we have maximum virtue to a point Y where we have minimum virtue. We can also put two points A and B on this line so that A is nearer to X and B is nearer to Y. Then A has more virtue and is relatively better than B. B has less virtue and is relatively worse than A.

Purpose is what defines what is good or bad. That which fulfils the purpose is good and that which flouts it is evil. Things can be said to have inherent purpose owing to their existence. That which destroys them is evil for them and that which maintains them or causes their development is good. But all individuals or entities exist as part of some greater system with which they interact and with respect to which they have a function. The good of this greater system is clearly a greater good than that of the part. Ultimately, the purpose for which the Universe was made is the ultimate good and all things in it have a function with respect to that purpose. That which flouts the purpose or ceases to fulfil it suffers, degenerates and is destroyed. This leaves those things that do fulfil the purpose. The destruction of that which does not fulfil the purpose or flouts it, is also a good thing because otherwise it would cause chaos and because it releases materials and energy for new constructions which will fulfil the purpose.

"Have they not pondered upon themselves? Allah created not the heavens and the earth, and that which is between them save with Truth and for a destined end." 30:8 and 38:28

"Allah says: I was a hidden treasure, and I wished to be known. Therefore I created the universe so that I might be known." A Hadith Qudsi

"And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods - and His Throne was upon the water - that He might try you which of you is best in conduct..." 11:7 and see 67:2-5

"And when thy Lord said unto the angels: I am about to place a Vicegerent (Agent, Successor, Inheritor) in the earth, they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do evil therein and shed blood? While we celebrate Thy praise and glorify Thee? Said (the Lord): I know what you know not. And He taught Adam the Names (qualities), all of them." 2:30-31

"(I swear) By the sun and its noonday brightness! And the moon when it follows him! And the day when it displays him! And the night when it covers him! And the wondrous structure of the heavens and Him who built it! And the earth and Who spread it! And the soul and Who fashioned it, And enlightened it with what is wrong and right for it. He indeed is successful who causes it to grow (or purifies it)! And he indeed is a failure who corrupts it!" 91:1-10

"He it is who made you Vicegerents of the earth, and raised some of you above others in degree (or rank, virtue, power, wealth, ability etc.), to try you by that which he has given you; Verily, thy Lord is swift to punish, but, verily, He is Forgiving and Merciful." 6:166

These verses can be regarded as formulae that tell us something about the structure of reality and our position in it. The ultimate purpose of existence is the increase in knowledge, awareness, responsibility, and the evolution of the capacities for these. But why Allah wished to be known is a mystery hidden in Allah alone. Something has to be the ultimate irreducible, which cannot be explained in terms of anything else. We could, of course, have started just with the existence of the Universe, taking that for granted as scientists do, but this would have given us no purpose and no ethics. By affirming that Allah exits, it is also affirmed that there is intelligence, consciousness and purpose behind the observed Universe. This is a good explanation for their existence in us, and gives meaning to our life. It is a more reasonable assumption than the existence of a dead Universe. It is only possible to sustain this attitude artificially by dividing reality into the conscious observer and the dead object and also ignoring the interaction between them. Having done this we are required to study only the object and ignore the observer entirely. And yet it is the observing consciousness that makes sense of the world even in science, technology, art, politics and economics.

But religion is concerned mainly with the observer and his interactions with the Cosmos and other creatures including his fellows, and with these other concerns as means rather than ends. If he does not fulfil his purpose then he can be removed.

"Thy Lord is the Absolute, the Lord of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you and can cause what He will to follow after you, even as He raised you from the seed of other folk. Lo! that which you are promised will surely come to pass, and you cannot escape. Say (O, Muhammad): O my people! Work according to your power. Lo! I too am working. Thus you will come to know for which of us will be the happy sequel. Lo! The wrongdoers will not be successful" 6:134-136 Also 35:16

"Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth in Truth? If He please He can remove you and bring (replace you with) a new creation." 14:19

The good is, therefore, to serve the purposes of Allah and this implies fulfilling the function for which we were created. Human beings were created as Vicegerents (See 2:30-31 above) of Allah with the Spirit of Allah in them.

"So when I have fashioned him in due proportions and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down making obeisance unto him." 15:29

"Then He fashioned him (man) and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight and hearts (feeling); little is it that you give thanks." 32:9

This gives man the responsibility to act on behalf of God, and it also bestows on him some of the powers of God to do so. The responsibilities towards his Creator include those towards (a) his own soul, (b) other people and the human community, (c) the environment and all things in it - minerals, plants, animals etc.

We must distinguish between Objective and Subjective values. Objectively, there is no evil. Evil is the absence of good. But human beings judge things according to how these affect themselves. Whatever causes us suffering is regarded as evil and whatever gives us pleasure we call good. The distinction between these two value systems arose when man received the ability to disobey Allah owing to the introduction into him of the divine spark (32:9). This disobedience led to their expulsion from Paradise, the realm of innocence and brought them suffering. Human beings are now required to transcend this pair of opposite and flee unto Allah, the Unity (51:49-50), and return to Paradise. The story is a formula for a profound truth that also provides us with our Ethics. There is a difference between what is really beneficial to us and what we only think is beneficial. For our own sake, we ought to adopt the objective value system. That is, we must judge by what Allah has given (5:44, 47). This is defined as Surrender (Islam). When we injure ourselves we suffer pain. We dislike pain. But pain is an indicator that we have injured ourselves. Without it we might die. But because of pain we are led to do something beneficial. Therefore, pain is good.

An objection could be raised that Good has no meaning except in contrast with Evil. Therefore, to say that the Universe is all good has no meaning. But the verse 4:79, does make the contrast. In effect it tells us that the Real World is good and our subjective judgements are bad. In other words we know about the goodness of God as a contrast to the evil produced by our subjective judgements. It is these also which lead to evil behaviour - behaviour that is not in accordance with our nature as made by Allah - or vice versa.

In a sense the scientific attitude transcends the pair of opposites in that it makes no moral judgements - there are only facts. But this attitude seems wrong and cuts out much knowledge. If there is a purpose and all things have a function, then we must know what this function is. It is only in medicine that we recognise a state of health and a state of disease. This is because we recognise that the various organs do have a function with respect to the whole. There is no reason whatever for believing that this principle does not extent to the whole universe. It is also true that facts by themselves are useless. They must be given meaning and this is done by interpreting them according to a value system. Those who try to ignore the value system behind science let one into it unconsciously and, therefore, without control. In fact, the search, selection, interpretation, organisation and application of facts, all depend on assumptions, motives and actions and science is often driven by desire for profit, power or prestige, personal, corporate or national, or by the desire to create a technology to control nature. Or it might be altruistic, owing to the desire to serve humanity. From the Islamic point of view it must have the desire to serve Allah and facilitate spiritual development.

There is, of course, an objective polarity between the state of disease and health. The pair of opposites do exist in nature - pleasure and pain, electrons and positrons, matter and antimatter etc. But they do co-operate and complement each other and do combine. It is also to our own advantage that we wish to cultivate health and avoid disease. Thus, even an objective value system is relative to man. We must, therefore, distinguish between a subjective and an objective value system (both refer to man) and both are distinguished from the Absolute value system - i.e. the purpose and judgement of Allah. Ultimately surrender means accepting the Absolute system.

Continued in Part 2

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Islamic Ethics - Part 2..........Content