The most effective explanation of this directive of the Qur’an is reported by Abu Hurayrah. He narrates from the Prophet (sws) that on the Day of Reckoning the foremost among people whose fate shall be decided would be scholars of the Qur’an or those who had been killed in jihad or those who have been blessed with wealth by the Almighty. They shall be brought over and the Almighty will remind them of His favours. They will acknowledge these favours. The Almighty will then inquire from them: ‘What did you do in benefiting from them?’ The scholar will reply: ‘I was educated and then I educated others and recited the Qur’an before other people to call them towards You.’ The soldier will say: ‘I fought in Your way and was killed.’ The rich person will say: ‘I spent on every occasion on which you are pleased on spending. The Almighty will say: ‘All of this was done by you so that people should call you a scholar, a brave person and a generous person [respectively]; so you have been called so in the world.’ It shall thus be ordered and they shall be dragged facewards into Hell.10
The third question which relates to moral philosophy is: What is the objective of this effort? People have given different answers to this question. One group of people thinks that it is happiness. Another group is of the opinion that it is perfection. A third regards it to be an obligation for the sake of it. The above quoted verses (91:7-10) clearly say that this objective is purification as a result of which man shall be bestowed with God’s eternal kingdom. A little deliberation shows that this answer of the Qur’an automatically encompasses all the viewpoints of moral scholars just referred to. This is because it is through purification of faith and deeds that a person achieves perfection; true happiness is also achieved through this and if ever an obligation is discharged without any greed, then it is through this. It is this state of the soul which the Qur’an calls the ‘satisfied soul’ and gives it glad tidings of being the recipient of the pleasure of God and vice versa:
يَاأَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي وادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي(٨٩ :٢٧-٣٠)
O you whose heart remained content [with his Lord in times of comfort and distress] return unto your Lord, such that He is pleased with you and you are pleased with Him. [Return] and enter among My servants and enter My
‘Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:
These words are a tribute from God. It shall be addressed to people who shall be congratulated for achieving great success in the sphere they had been tested by their Lord. They should return to their Lord with the achievement that they have proven in good and bad circumstances that they were content with the will of their Lord and at the same time they have been granted the coveted status of being the favoured ones of the Lord. Just as they have never complained to Him at any stage, in the same manner their Lord has not found them below His standards at any stage. They are pleased with Him and He is pleased with them.11
Fundamental Principle
إِنَّ اللّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاء ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاء وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ(٩٠:١٦)
God enjoins you to do justice, goodness and spending on the kindred, and forbids lewdness, evil and arrogance. Headmonishes you so that you may take heed. (16:90)
Outlined in these verses is the fundamental principle of the guidance provided by the Qur’an in this regard. The bases on which man’s nature requires of him to adopt good morals and leave bad ones are explained in these verses. These principles of good and evil are in conformity with human nature and hence they have been acknowledged in divine religions. The ten commandments of the Torah are based on these and the Qur’an too has actually explained them as part of its moral directives.
We shall elucidate them here.
The first thing which the verse directs is justice. This means that whatever obligation is imposed on a person viz a viz a fellow human, he discharges it the way it exactly is and in an impartial manner, whether his fellow human being is weak or powerful and whether he is liked or disliked by us. The Qur’an says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقَيرًا فَاللّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا(١٣٥:٤)
Believers, adhere to justice by bearing true witness before God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kinsfolk. If someone is rich or poor, God is worthy that His law be followed for both. So do not be led by base-desires, lest you swerve from the truth. If you distort your testimony or decline to give it, you should remember that God is well aware of all your deeds. (4:135)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ لِلّهِ شُهَدَاء بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ اعْدِلُواْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (٨:٥)
Believers, adhere to justice by bearing witness for God. Your animosity for some people should not induce you to turn away from justice. Be just; this is nearer to piety. Have fear of God; indeed, God is well aware of all your deeds. (5:8)
The second thing mentioned in the verse is goodness (ihsan). It is over and above justice and is the pinnacle of ethics and morality. It means that not only should a right be fulfilled, it should also be fulfilled in a manner that a person is generous and considerate in this regard. A person should give more than what is due on him and should be happy to take what is less than his due. It is this attitude which develops in a society the values of sympathy, compassion, sacrifice, sincerity, gratitude and magnanimity. It is a result of these values that life becomes sweet and blessed.
The third thing mentioned is spending on the near ones. It is one of the most important corollaries of goodness and determines one of its specific forms. It means that the near ones are not merely worthy of justice and goodness from a person, they also deserve to be thought of as having a share in one’s wealth. They should never be abandoned in case of need and deprivation and like a person’s own family, their needs should also, as far as possible, be generously fulfilled.
In contrast, the verse has prohibited three things also.
The first of these is lewdness. It connotes fornication, homosexuality and similar acts of lewdness.
The second thing is evil. It refers to sins which mankind has generally recognized as sins, has always called them sins and so obvious is the evil in them that no argument is needed to prove it. In every good tradition of religion and culture, they are regarded as bad. At another instance, the Qur’an, by using the word ithm for them, has clarified that they connote acts which are instrumental in usurping the rights of others.
The third thing is arrogance and rebelliousness. This of course means that a person takes undue advantage of his power and influence, exceeds his limits and tries to usurp the rights of others whether they are of his Creator or of his fellow human beings. The Qu’ran says:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَالإِثْمَ وَالْبَغْيَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ (٣٣:٧)
Tell them: ‘My Lord has forbidden all lewd acts ‘whether hidden or open ‘and evil and wrongful rebelliousness. (7:33)
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