Morals and Morality Part 1

After faith, the second important requirement of religion is purification of morals. This means that a person should cleanse his attitude both towards his creator and towards his fellow human beings. This is what is termed as a righteous deed. All the shari’ah is its corollary. With the change and evolution in societies and civilizations, the shari’ah has indeed changed; however faith and righteous deeds, which are the foundations of religion, have not undergone any change. The Qur’an is absolutely clear that any person who brings forth these two things before the Almighty on the Day of Judgment will be blessed with Paradise which shall be his eternal abode:

وَمَنْ يَأْتِهِ مُؤْمِنًا قَدْ عَمِلَ الصَّالِحَاتِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمُ الدَّرَجَاتُ الْعُلَى. جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ جَزَاء مَن تَزَكَّى (٢٠: ٧٥-٧٦)

And he who comes before Him as a believer having done righteous deeds, exalted ranks are for such people, evergreen gardens beneath which streams flow. They shall abide therein forever and this shall be the reward of those that keep themselves pure. (20:75-76)

It is doing these righteous deeds which is termed as sound moral behaviour and while the emanation of unrighteous ones is termed as immoral behaviour. The Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق. إنما (I have been sent to achieve the culmination of high moral standards).¹ He is also reported to have said:

‘The best among you are those who are morally sound from others.’ 2

‘These are the people who are very dear to me.’ 3

On the Day of Judgement, it will be high moral behaviour which will carry most weight in the scales of a person. ⁴

A believer achieves the same rank through high moral behaviour as can be achieved through fasts and the night prayers. ⁵

Basic Issues

وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا� قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا� وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا (٩١: ٧-١٠)

And the soul bears witness and the perfection given to it. Then [God] inspired it with its evil and its good that he succeeded who purified it and he failed who corrupted it. (91:7-10)

What is the means through which a person can know what good and evil is? This is the most fundamental question of moral philosophy. In the above quoted verses, the Qur’an has made it clear that just as the Almighty has blessed a person with eyes to see and ears to hear, similarly, he has blessed him with a faculty which distinguishes good and evil for him. A person is not mere body and intellect. He is also a moral being. This means that the ability to distinguish good from evil and the appreciation that good is good and evil is evil are innately ordained in him. In some other verses of the Qur’an, this aspect is referred to by the words:’ إِنَّا' هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ (٧٦: ٣)’ (We inspired in him the way of good and evil, (76:3)) and(90: 10)’ وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ (Have We not shown him both paths? (90:10)). This appreciation of good from evil is a universal reality. Thus when the most evil of persons does something wrong, he tries to hide it in the first phase. When Adam’s son, Cain, tried to hide the body of his brother, Abel, after killing him, it was because he knew that he had committed a sin. Same is the case with good. A person loves what is good and respects and reveres it. When he establishes a society, he always sets up a system of justice in it. This is ample testimony of his innate ability to distinguish between good and evil. No doubt, at times, a person may justify a sin he commits, however, at the very time he invents excuses for this justification, he very well knows that he is inventing these excuses against his nature. The reason for this is that if someone else commits the same sin against him, he regards it to be an evil without any hesitation, and vehemently protests against that person. The Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: ‘Virtue is professing high morals and sin is that which pricks your heart and you would not like others to come to know of it.’⁶ It is this part of a person that the Qur’an has termed as nafs-i lawwamah (the reproaching soul)⁷and has unequivocally stated:

بَلْ الْإِنسَانُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ بَصِيرَةٌ وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ (٧٥: ١٤-١٥)

In fact, man himself is a witness upon his own self however much he may put up excuses. (75:14-15)

However, in the interpretation of this innate ability to distinguish between good and evil, there could have been differences because of different circumstances and periods of time and because of a variation in perception between people themselves. It is a great blessing of the Almighty that He has not even left any possibility for such differences and wherever there could have been a likelihood of any major difference, He delineated good and evil through His messengers. The guidance provided by these messengers is now eternally enshrined in the Qur’an. This guidance testifies to whatever a person finds within himself. Furthermore, man’s intuitive knowledge, in fact even his empirical knowledge, knowledge derived from natural and physical laws as well knowledge derived from intellect all bear witness to it. Consequently, good and bad morals, as a result of this, can be fully ascertained.

In some narratives this aspect has been explained through a parable: A straight path leads to the destination a person wants to reach. At both its sides are high walls. Both have doors in them on which curtains are hung. At the end of the path, there is a caller calling out to enter and to walk straight. In spite of this if a person wants to lift the curtains of the doors in the right and left walls, a caller from the top says: ‘Beware! Do not lift the curtains. If you lift them you will go inside.’ It was explained: This path is Islam, the walls are the limits prescribed by God, and doors are His prohibitions. The caller from the top is the counselor of God which is found in the heart of every human being, and the caller at the end of the path is the Qur’an:⁸

إِنَّ هَـذَا الْقُرْآنَ يِهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ وَيُبَشِّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا كَبِيرًا (٩:١٧)

Indeed this Qur’an gives guidance to the path which is the most upright and gives glad tidings of a great reward to those among its believers who do good deeds. (17:9)

The second question is: What is the real motive which impels a person to purify his morals? The answer which the Qur’an has given to this question in the verses (91:7-10) quoted earlier is that this motive is a person’s perception which, on the basis of this very innate cognizance of good and evil, says that the results of good and evil cannot be the same. He feels that the very existence of the perception of good being good and evil being evil entails that the result of good should be good and that of evil should be evil. It becomes evident from this that a person will not be left unaccountable for his deeds; he will definitely be rewarded or punished as a result of his deeds. The Qur’an has referred to this fate as success and failure respectively. As a result of this the feelings of fear and hope arise in a person and become a source and motivation for him to cleanse his morals even though his natural instincts oppose this. Then when a person professes faith, this feeling relates to the Almighty. It is now that the Qur’an requires of him that the real motive of adhering to good morals and refraining from evil morals should only be the love of God, His pleasure and the fear of His displeasure ‘the God who knows the unseen, Who knows the secrets and is fully aware of every movement that goes on in this world as well as the slightest of change that takes place in the minds and hearts. The Qur’an has stated this aspect at many places. At one instance after emphasizing the fulfillment of obligations, it says:

فَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَى حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (٣٨:٣٠)

So give their due to the next of kin, to the destitute, and to the traveler. That is best for those who want to please God; and it is these who shall surely prosper. (30:38)

The best examples of these morals are the prophets of God. About the Prophet Muhammad (sws), the Qur’an says:

الَّذِي يُؤْتِي مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّى وَمَا لِأَحَدٍ عِنْدَهُ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ تُجْزَى� إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ الْأَعْلَى(٩٢: ١٨ -٢٠)

Who spends his wealth to purify his soul, and does not confer favours on anyone for recompense but only to seek the countenance of his Lord, Most High. (92:18-20)

It is generally accepted that the foundation of good deeds is good intention. The Prophet (sws) has also referred to this fact in these subtle words: إنَّما الأَعْمَال باالنِّياَت (The deeds of a person are based on his intentions)⁹. This motive cleanses a person’s intentions completely. Thus none of his deeds after this is for show and pretence, and if it is then he soon or late tries to cleanse it of such filth.