Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

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Islamic Morals

Author: Gulam Reza Sultani

www.alhassanain.org/english

Notice:

This version is published on behalf of www.alhassanain.org/english

The composing errors are not corrected.

Table of Contents

Introduction- 2nd Edition 10

Introduction- 1st Edition 12

Part I- Development in the light of morality 13

Lesson: 1- Knowledge and Wisdom: Islamic Viewpoint 14

Encouragement for the learned 16

Lesson: 2- Rebuke for those who know, but do not act accordingly 17

Inactive scholars from the viewpoint of Quran 17

Balam Baoor: A materialist and a deviated scholar 18

Non-practising scholars: Viewpoint of traditions 19

Lesson: 3- Duty of people regarding deviated Scholars 21

The serious danger of issuing Fatwa without knowledge 21

Lesson: 4- Sincerity of Intention in Teaching and Learning 23

Sincerity and wisdom 24

The reality of sincerity 24

Lesson: 5- Hypocrisy 25

Prohibition of making a show in Quranic verses 25

Some noteworthy points in this verse 25

Prohibition of Riyaa in Traditions 26

Advice and warning 27

Lesson: 6- Self - deception and Egotism 30

The Otherworldly Harm of Egotism 32

Sign of Ujb 32

Lesson: 7- Remedy for Egotism 33

Detailed Remedy 33

Lesson: 8- Pride and Its Kinds 37

Lesson: 9- Pride (continued) 39

1- Causes and Reasons of Pride 39

2 - Kinds of Pride 40

3 - Grades of Pride 40

4 - Signs of Pride 40

5 - Harm of Pride 41

6 - The Way of Remedying Pride 41

7 - What Should Society Do While Confronting the Arrogant? 41

8 - Who shows pride? 42

Lesson: 10- Love of Status and Fame 43

Condemnation of the over ambitious in the Quran 43

Lesson: 11- Love for the world 45

Verses condemning materialism 45

Ayats and Traditions Praising the World 46

Praise for benefiting from the permissible things in the world 47

The world which is beneficial for the Hereafter 47

Lesson: 12- Jealousy and its harmfulness 48

Meaning for jealousy and its difference from envy 48

Kinds of Jealousy 48

Condemnation and Prohibition of Jealousy 48

Signs of Jealousy 49

Harms of Jealousy 49

Causes of Jealousy 50

Remedy for this Dangerous disease 51

Lesson: 13- Greed and its harms 52

1 – Greed 52

2 - Signs of Greed 52

3 - Harms of Greed 52

Lesson: 14- Covetousness and its harms 54

The way of remedying this dangerous disease 54

Lesson: 15- One of the branches of worldly love is a lengthy ambition 56

Result of high ambitions 56

Remedy for This illness 56

Lesson: 16- One of the branches of worldly love is stinginess 57

Harms of Niggardliness 58

Remedy for this mental Illness 58

Lesson: 17- Oppression 60

Meaning and Kinds of Zulm 60

Causes of Zulm 60

Verses and Narrations Indicating Ugliness of Zulm 60

Vicious effects of injustice 61

Harms of oppression 61

The Worst Oppressions 64

Lesson: 18- Help in oppression 65

The Oppressed is also Oppressor if He Becomes Excessive 66

Remedy 66

Tawbah of the Oppressor 66

Lesson: 19- Tyrants should not be relied upon or supported 68

Fabricated narrations 69

Lesson: 20- Hypocrisy 73

Lesson: 21- Discussion of hypocrisy & hypocrites continued 78

Some Important Points 78

A Warning to Hypocrites 80

The Ominous Signs of Hypocrisy 80

Lesson: 22- One of the Signs of Hypocrisy is Lying 81

1 - Hypocrites 82

2 - Those who give false witness 82

3 - Those who swear falsely 82

4 - Those who break Promises 82

Lesson: 23- Self-acquaintance or self-awareness 85

A - Necessity of Self-awareness 85

B - Vies of World-famous Philosophers 86

Lesson: 24- Reality of Faith 87

Lesson: 25- Recognition of faith 90

Faith is of two types: Mustaqarr and Mustavda 92

Lesson: 26- Justice and equity 94

Justice is one of the important foundations of Islam 96

Sign of Adalat 96

With two mentioning we end the discussion of Adl 96

Lesson: 27- Fear and Hope 99

The best fear 100

A faithful person is both fearful and hopeful 102

Lesson: 28- Courtesy and Humility 104

Reality and the meaning of courtesy and humility 104

Signs of Humility 104

Whose Humility is Better? 104

Verses and traditions Praising Courtesy 105

Lesson: 29- Forbearance and firmness 106

Traditions 106

Kinds of patience 107

Lesson: 30- Reliance and Trust in Allah 110

Verses and Narrations about Reliance 110

Traditions 110

Reliance and its meaning 111

Philosophy of Reliance 112

Grades of the Confidents (Mutawakkileen) 113

The Way to Gain Reliance needs two things 114

Peace of Mind in the shade of Reliance on and Trust in Allah 114

Hearts Get rest by Remembrance of Allah 114

How to Remove the Causes of Restlessness and Worry? 114

Be Fearful of this State 115

Lesson: 31- Contentment, submission and Authorisation 116

What is Razaa (concurrence)? 117

The Philosophy of Rezaa and Tasleem 118

Lesson: 32- Thankfulness and Praise 120

Quranic verses 120

Traditions 120

Stages of Gratitude Thankfulness- Shukr 121

Lesson: 33- Fulfilment of promise from the view point of Islam 123

Man’s Covenant with Allah 123

Promise Keeping between Man and Man 124

Hypocrisy and Breach of a Vow 125

Lesson: 34- Honesty 126

Some Traditions Relating to Trust 126

Lesson: 35- Modesty and Chastity 129

Some Important points 130

First point 130

Second point 130

Third point 130

Part II- Perfection in the light of Morals 132

Preface 132

Lesson: 36- Self respect 133

Words of Religious Leaders about Ghairat 133

Some Rules for preventing Corruption 134

Lesson: 37- Favourable Opinion 136

The third problem - Misgiving about men 136

Traditions regarding Conjecture 137

Evil Consequences of Conjecture 137

Ways of Curing This Dangerous Disease 137

Some Essential Advice 138

Lesson: 38- Pardon and Tolerance 139

Some Questions 140

On whose part pardon and Connivance Is More Beneficent? 141

Lesson: 39- Good manners and the Islamic behaviour 142

Verses 142

Traditions 142

Verses 142

Traditions 143

Lesson: 40- Self-restraint and Piety 144

Definition of Taqwa 144

Verses 144

Narrations 145

Difference between Taqwa and Wara 145

Lesson: 41- Taqwa Continued 146

Traditions 146

Consequences of Taqwa 146

Clear-sightedness as a result of Piety 146

Lesson: 42- Taqwa Contd 148

Admonition and Counsel Proves Effective for the Pious 148

Islam Has Removed All Fanciful Prejudices 148

Signs of Piety 149

Ranks of Piety 150

Lesson: 43- Piety and the Pious 151

Section Two: Censure of the World 152

Attributes or virtues of a Zahid 152

Degrees of Piety 153

The Philosophy of Piety 153

Lesson: 44- Relation between worship and perfection 156

Verses 156

Narrations 157

Peace and tranquillity under the shade of worship 157

Some Points Regarding Worship 158

Lesson: 45- The Importance of Thinking 161

Verses 161

Traditions 161

Some points regarding reason 161

The Lord of the Universe has, in this verse, invited attention to some issues 161

Lesson: 46- Love and eagerness for Allah 163

Signs of love of Allah 163

How To earn love of Allah 164

Lesson: 47- Anger 167

Remedy 168

Lesson: 48- The hardening of heart 170

Signs of Hard-heartedness 170

Lesson: 49- The Ugliness of Ignorance, Doubt and Confusion 172

Doubt and confusion 172

Verses 172

Traditions 173

Lesson: 50- Remedy for removing doubtfulness and ignorance 174

Traditions 174

Signs of certainty 174

Stages or certainty 175

Kinds of makaashifaat 176

Lesson: 51- Hatred and animosity 178

Narrations in Connection with Hiqd and Keenah 178

A warning to the faithful 179

Lesson: 52- Undue prejudice 180

The meaning of prejudice 180

Verses 180

Traditions 181

Sinister results of prejudice 181

Lesson: 53- Weakness of Ambition and its Harms 183

Traditions 183

Lesson: 54- Extravagance and squandering 186

Verses 187

Traditions 187

Lesson: 55- Advantage of consultation and condemnation of despotism 188

Verses 188

Traditions 188

Results of consultation 189

The duty of a consultant 190

Traditions censuring despotic thinking 190

Lesson: 56- Man’s duty with regard to his parents 191

After God worship, respect for Parents 191

Verses 191

Extremely extraordinary points about parents 191

Thought provoking point 192

Traditions 192

Lesson: 57- Duties of parents toward children 194

Traditions 194

Warning to parents 195

Lesson: 58- Family relationship Blood relations 197

Traditions 197

Lesson: 59- Behaviour with neighbours and their rights 199

Islam has made much recommendation in this matter 199

Lesson: 60- Rights of family members and Islamic Behaviour in marital life 201

Grave responsibility of women 202

Lesson: 61- Rights and collusion between government and the people 204

Lesson: 62- Islamic brotherhood: The basis and foundation of human unity 205

Traditions 205

Explanation 206

Traditions 206

Another example of the result of Islamic unity 207

Lesson: 63- Permanent peace 208

Exploring peace 208

Lesson: 64- Islam and racial supremacy 210

Verses 210

Traditions 210

Lesson: 65- Backbiting prohibited 212

Reasons of backbiting 213

Harms of backbiting 213

Lesson: 66- The calamity called spying 215

Lesson: 67- The crime of defamation or slander 216

Verses 216

Traditions 216

Lesson: 68- What is the spreading of indecency? 217

Conclusion 218

The man in Quran 218

Notes 220

Introduction- 2nd Edition

Though man, by divine inspiration or natural instinct finds out the roots of good and bad and through natural guidance, differentiates between the desirable and the undesirable, it does not mean that people can understand all the problems facing them in the field of morality by themselves without a teacher. That they can easily distinguish virtues from vices and answer all the questions in this regard. This is so because the knowledge of morals is so difficult and complex that despite deep studies by great philosophers throughout the centuries, some parts of the problem have remained unsolved even today and they have not become as clear as they should be and scholars are not able to give a definite reply to some questions pertaining to morals. Therefore, we should try to grasp their realities and subtleties from the Holy Quran and words of the infallibles

We must understand that in the school of thought of the Holy Prophets (s.a.w.s.), man is a being having two dimensions, that is to say, human nature has both a positive and a negative dimension. Man can travel upward as well as downward. In his temperament, he has inclination both toward good and bad. Man possesses both an intelligence and heart. Intelligence guides him to the good and the graceful and he also has a lustful heart, which drives him toward the bad and the lowly.

Human heart possesses both a constructive power and a destructive one. The Holy Quran points to both of them in various verses and says. Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. Nay! I swear by the self-accusing soul.[1] Regarding the second it says: Most surely man’s self is wont to command him to do evil, except such as my Lord has had mercy on,[2]

Man, naturally has an inclination toward God due to the positive dimension. The Quran says in the same background. In the right state - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men.[3]

He has power to travel toward good and become a lofty being. He has the capacity to lift himself up to the state of Nafse Mutmainnah (Restful soul) How beautiful is the Word of Allah: O soul that art at rest! Return to your Lord, well pleased with Him, well pleasing Him. So enter among My servants. And enter into My garden.[4]

In the negative dimension, too, the human nature has been recognised as stingy, greedy, quarrelsome, hasty and thankless. Hence we find these subjects in the Holy Quran:

And man is niggardly.[5]

Surely man is created of a hasty temperament.[6]

And man is most of all given to contention.[7]

And man is ever hasty.[8]

Most surely man is ungrateful to his Lord.[9]

The negative dimension of man’s self is such that he can drag himself down unto the lowest of the low. The Holy Quran says: Then we render him the lowest of the low except those who believe and do good.[10]

These verses tell us clearly that man can become lower than all the lowly creatures. Thus from the viewpoint of Quran and Divine schools of thought, there is, in the nature of man, a fathomless expanse of difference. On the one hand it develops so much that it reaches the Aalaa illiyyeen The Highest places in the Hereafter as, the Holy Quran says about the noble Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.):

Then he drew near, then he bowed, so he was at the measure of two bows or closer still.[11]

On the other side, it is possible that he drops down so low that he reaches the Asfalus Saafileen (lowest of the low.)

Now that we have read some of the Quranic verses describing graceful morals and their importance as well as the ayats which mention how much low a man becomes by immorality, we should know that, for training and guidance of man, it is necessary for us to take maximum benefit from the teachers of morality who themselves have been the epitomes of moral virtues and who had kept themselves far away from vices so that, we too, slowly, become graceful. If we do not do so and if we leave ourselves free, then surely we may reach the place mentioned by the Holy Quran regarding such licentious people, They are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors.[12]

So, from this aspect, we must know that the importance of morality is so great that the perfection of human destiny lies in the gracefulness of his morals.

Gulam Reza Sultani

Introduction- 1st Edition

Before we discuss morality, we must understand that from the viewpoint of Islam, man has a very high status. The Lord Almighty says about his creation, So blessed be Allah, the best of the creator.[13]

Also regarding the creation of Adam, He tells the angels, I am going to place in the earth a Khalif … Surely I know what you do not know[14] He also says, And surely We have honoured the children of Adam, and We carry them in the land and the sea, and We have given them of the good things, and We have made them to excel by an appropriate excellence over most of those whom We have created.[15]

It is obvious that man by his painstaking efforts reaches such a status that his eyes, ear and heart become divine; and then whatever he desires, happens.

In some narrations we read: A man who performs deeds honestly for forty days, the Lord Almighty fills up his heart with wisdom. So also: Knowledge is the light with which God fills the heart of whomever He wills.

Now, in order to be able to gain the status of humanity and to seek this high station, it is necessary to, first, understand our selves and then only we would know our Lord, because, One who knows himself, known his Lord.

We should know that reaching this stage is not possible except under the shade of submission to the Divine laws and by removing all despicable vices from ourselves and by adorning ourselves with precious virtues like knowledge, truthfulness, Piety , moral heroism, humility, sincerity and Takhliyah and Tahliyah (consuming and expelling).

In this book, we describe some qualities which either raise man to perfection or drag him down to abyss, from the viewpoint of the Holy Quran and the Hadith so that, with the blessings of the Holy Quran and the words of the Holy Prophet and his pure progeny, both the author and the readers may be blessed with light. Then, after contemplation, examination and analysis we shall come to a conclusion that man reaches perfection only in the shade of morals and ethics and understands the aim of creation.

I hope that this book having 32 lessons of ethics shall prove effective for cleansing and purifying and will help us and the readers in our journey toward the Lord and human perfection.

Ghulam Reza Sultani

Part I- Development in the light of morality