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Islamic Ethics

This is the English translation of the book: 'Akhlaq Islami' by Shaheed Ayatullah Sayyid 'Abd al-Hussayn Dastghayb, translated by Hamid Waqar. This book presents a discussion on the importance of Ethics in Islam covering areas like the intellect, religious laws and purifying one's self, and covering such topics as anger, lust, envy, arrogance, etc.

Author(s): Ayatullah Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Dastghayb Shirazi

Translator(s): Hamid Hussein Waqar

Table of Contents

Introduction. 6

Muhammad (S) Had The Best Ethical Traits 6

Allah Purifies (Spiritually) Whoever He Desires 6

Obtaining Correct Ethical Traits 6

Purifying Comes Before Teaching. 7

Theoretical And Practical Ethics 7

The Importance That Shahīd Dastghayb Gave To Lectures On Islamic Ethics 7

Footnotes 8

Lecture 1: Do Not Rebuild A Broken Dam. 9

Why Should We Be Separate? 9

Self-Building Along With Understanding. 9

The First Step In Purifying One’s Self Is Thought 9

Thinking About One’s Creation. 9

Standing Up Against False Ideas 10

Humility, Only For Allah. 10

Freedom Is In Piety. 10

Allah Swears 14 Times About The Importance Of Purifying One’s Self 10

Footnotes 12

Lecture 2: Human Intellect 13

Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs¹ 13

It Is Impossible For Something To Come Into Existence Without A Creator 13

The Fingernail 14

Was The Creator Unaware? 14

A Proof Of The Day Of Judgment 14

The Pious Will Benefit From Allah’s Everlasting Rewards 15

How Much Should Man Strengthen His Nature 15

Greed Compels One To Commit Any Crime 16

Bearing The Difficulties With Travelers Who Are Visiting Imām Husayn’s Grave 16

I Wish I Could Be A Flower, But If I’m Not I Do Not Want To Be A Thorn  16

Bashīr And Mubashshir Are The Same As Nakīr And Munkar 17

Footnotes 18

Lecture 3: Prophets and Religious Laws Were Sent For Mankind. 19

Knowing One’s Self Will Help In Ridding One’s Self Of Animalistic Characteristics 19

Others are for you and you are for Allah. 19

Why Doesn’t A Dead Body Have Feelings? 19

An Intellectual Proof Of The Immateriality Of The Soul 20

Ability In All Fields 20

They Have Forgotten Themselves 20

Believers Will Enter Heaven With Young Bodies 20

People Will Be Raised According To Their Nature 21

The Spirit Has Pleasure Or Pain. 21

The Punishment Of The Hereafter Is Different Than The Punishment Of This World  21

Perfection Is In The Hereafter 21

Expect Mercy If You Were Merciful 22

Imām Sajjād’s Conversation With His Servant 22

Footnotes 23

Lecture 4: Divine Wisdom is Found From One’s Head To Toe 24

Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs¹ 24

Nature’s Choice, A Clear Contradiction. 24

Millions Of Cells In Each Body Part 24

Humility In Front Of Allah’s Favors 25

Understand The Favor Before It Goes Away. 25

Footnotes 26

Lecture 5: The Means Of Understanding Man’s Beginning And End. 27

Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs¹ 27

Lifeless Objects Are Unable To Create 27

A Big Problem With Darwin’s Proposition. 27

Man’s Understanding Is Not An Offspring Of Something Material 27

Encompassing Knowledge Is A Sign Of The Immaterial Soul 28

The Body In The Hereafter is not Affected by Materialism. 28

The Rejectors Do Not Have Any Proof 29

The Differences In People’s Faces 29

Respecting Graves Is A Sign Of Accepting The Hereafter 29

The answer to this question is found in chapter Qiyāmat: 29

Hārūn And Mamūn Knew The Station Of The Imāms 30

Love Of This World Is The Root Of Sin. 30

Footnotes 31

Lecture 6: Purifying One’s Self; Knowledge and Action. 32

Habits Are Not Formed Spontaneously. 32

‛Alī (A) Also Struggled To Perfect Himself 32

Anger, An Animalistic Trait 33

What should we do when we are left without Choice? 33

Mālik Ashtar And A Young Man. 33

Showing Patience in Anger is a Human Characteristic 34

Muhaqqiq Tūsī’s Interesting Answer To An Ignorant Person. 35

How Does It Come To A Dispute? 35

I Deserve More Pain. 35

Refraining From Anger Is Refraining From Spilling Blood. 36

Footnotes 37

Lecture 7: Anger is Both Merciful and Satanic 38

The Existence of Anger In Man Is Necessary. 38

Animalistic Anger 38

Imām Sajjād (A) And The Servant That Killed His Son. 38

Do Not Get Angry From False Reports 39

Acting In Opposition To Expectations Causes Unwarranted Anger 39

Lower Your Expectations 39

Anger At Oppressors And Open Sin. 40

If One Over-Retaliates The Other Person has the Right to Counter-Retaliate 40

The Hereafter Is For One Who Does Not Seek Superiority. 41

One’s Love Of The Hereafter Becomes Clear When One Is Angry Or Lustful 41

Footnotes 43

Lecture 8: Lust Results In The Continuation Of Human Life 44

Spiritual Growth Is Also Found In Anger and Lust 44

Becoming Too Angry Or Lustful Or Not Angry Or Lustful Enough Is Dangerous 44

The Middle Course In Eating; Not Being Excessive 44

A Colorful Dinner Table And Different Diseases 45

One Must Follow The Middle Course In Sexual Desires As Well 45

The Middle Course In Marriage Is Relative 46

The Spiritual Benefits Of Making A Family. 46

Do Not Oppress Nor Be Oppressed. 46

Being Indifferent 46

The Prophet (S) Did Not Want Respect 47

Be Happy If Someone Did Not Treat You Ill 47

The Prophet (S) And Imāms (A) Did Not Have Expectations 47

We Should Not Expect Greetings And Respect 47

Footnotes 48

Lecture 9: Lust And Anger Must Be In Accordance To One’s Intellect And Divine Decree 49

Physical And Spiritual Benefits Found In Food. 49

Worshipping One’s Stomach. 49

One, While Eating, Should Remember That Allah Blessed Him With This Food  49

The Middle Course In Marriage And Anger 50

The Prophet (S) Never Had Personal Anger 50

Imām ‛Alī’ (A) And ‛Amr Bin ‛Abd Wudd. 50

Tribalism. 50

Tribalism Is Against The Divine Decree 50

Loving One’s Family And Tribalism Are Two Different Things 51

Footnotes 52

Lecture 10: Showing Anger with The Tongue, Hand or Heart 53

Answer Bad With Good. 53

The Other Person Will Be Ashamed When You Act Well With Them. 53

An Eye For An Eye Limited By The Divine Decree 53

Dignity And Comfort In Front Of Tribalism. 54

The Peace Treaty Of Hudaybīyah. 54

In Any Case, Muhammad (S) Is A Prophet 55

Do Not Lose Your Calm. 55

Stepping Over The Limits Of Anger 55

Do Not Bear Oppression At The Beginning. 55

Footnotes 57

Lecture 11: Envy Destroys One’s Health. 58

Envy Does Not Allow Faith To Remain In One’s Heart 58

Envy Kills Scholars 58

The Envious Judge Tries To Give The Imām The Death Penalty. 59

Understanding Reality Will Not Come From Reading Books Alone 60

Footnotes 61

Lecture 12: Knowledge, Like Property and Social Status, Brings About Arrogance 62

Compound Ignorance Makes One Forget That He’s A Servant 62

He Tried To Kill Himself In Two Different Ways, But Survived. 62

A Scholar Is Also In Need Of Allah Regarding His Knowledge 63

A Doctor Who Accidentally Killed His Own Son. 63

A Scholar Must Be Humble 63

Lecture 13: The Cure of Arrogance, According To Imām ‛Alī (A) 65

One Becomes The Measure Of Reality When Arrogance Grows In One’s Spirit 65

Arrogance Because Of Property Is The Result Of Being Ignorant About Reality  65

Being Arrogant Because Of Knowledge Is Dangerous 66

I Am The Lowest Of The Lowest 66

I Feel Lower Than You. 66

An Undeserving Scholar’s Fanaticism. 67

The Cure Of Arrogance 67

Practice Not Giving Orders 67

Footnotes 69

Introduction

Prophet Muhammad (S) said: “I have not been sent except to perfect the ethical system (makārim al-akhlāq).”1

One's actions, when performed out of choice, are due to knowledge, belief and habits. For example, suppose one is thirsty, knows that water is near him and knows that water will relieve his thirst. In this case he will drink water because of his knowledge.

There are also examples of habits. For example, a stingy person will not want to help a needy person, even if he realizes his need, while a generous person will help a needy person without thinking about it. His generosity pushes him towards helping the needy person.

There are rules found in Islam with the purpose of obtaining correct beliefs and habits. The blessings of good habits are found in one's actions.

There are many traditions from the infallibles (a) that claim that good ethics were the Prophets' most important trait. They said that Allah gave them these high traits and that they encouraged mankind to obtain these high traits.2

Muhammad (S) Had The Best Ethical Traits

Prophets were chosen by Allah and ordered to guide mankind and better humanity. The leader of the Prophets is the seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (S). He was raised by Allah. In the Qurān it says that Allah taught him what he did not know.3 The Qurān says that he had the best ethical traits in order for him to be able to improve his nation until the Day of Judgment.4 The Qurān says that he is high in every ethical trait.5 The Qurān also says that his mission was to teach and better humanity.6

Imām ‛Alī (a) said the following about Prophet Muhammad (S): “Allah sent his highest angel to show Muhammad (S) the right path and correct ethical traits from the time he breastfed.7

With this said he would ask Allah to give him good ethical traits and to be safe from bad ethical traits.8

Allah Purifies (Spiritually) Whoever He Desires

It is clear that 'muzakka' is Allah's purifying ability found in the verse:“..Allah purifies whomever He wishes.” 9 Nobody can purify his own self; instead he must follow the Islamic laws which would result in purification. How is one able to purify himself when it is necessary to have complete knowledge of one's self and complete knowledge of how to correct one's self?

Man only has surface knowledge of himself. The Qurān even says that man has been given only a little bit of knowledge.10

Obtaining Correct Ethical Traits

Man, from childhood, begins to be attracted to certain things, for example milk and toys. Eventually, he becomes attracted to money and he finds a sense of self-love. A child struggles to get what he wants, delicious food or interesting toys, and shows a negative reaction when denied what he wants.

Purifying Comes Before Teaching

The Qurān mentions two verses11 regarding the Prophet's duties. The word purifying has been mentioned before teaching in these two verses. The reason for this might be that one must build the foundation before he can fill the house with knowledge.

A person who has knowledge, but does not act upon it, is, as the Qurān says, like a dog.12 The Qurān also likens him to a donkey that carries books.13

Theoretical And Practical Ethics

One can obtain good ethical traits by both theory and practice. One who wants to rid himself of bad ethical traits and obtain good ethical traits must know what good and bad characteristics are. After he knows the good and bad traits he should take advice from the best ethical teachers, Prophet Muhammad (S) and the Ahl al-Bayt (a).

A point that must be mentioned is that Allah is the one who purifies people. So, one must ask Allah for help in obtaining these traits. Imām Sādiq (a) said: “Whoever has these great ethical traits should thank Allah, and whoever does not have them should ask Allah for them.”14

The Importance That Shahīd Dastghayb Gave To Lectures On Islamic Ethics

The martyr had a special desire to help the seminary students purify themselves. He would teach Islamic ethics every Thursday. He would tell them that they would have to be the role models of the Islamic ethical system in the society and that the more they worked on themselves, the more they worked on society. This is because one must guide people with their actions and manners before their words.

After Imām Khomeini (r) talked about the importance of unity between the university and the religious seminary, Shahīd Dastghayb invited university students to his Thursday lectures as well. Many young men and women accepted his invitation and took part in his lectures every week.

Thirteen lectures were given and then the class was cancelled due to summer vacation. Shahīd Dastghayb wanted to continue them, but the hypocrites took him away from us.

This book is a collection of these lectures.

Footnotes

1. Shaykh ‛Alī Namāzī, Mustadrak Safīnat al-Bihār, volume 1, page 410.

2. Shaykh Kulaynī, Usūl al-Kāfī, volume 3, page 95.

3. Refer to 4:113.

4. Refer to 93:6.

5. Refer to 68:4.

6. Refer to 3:164.

7. Shaykh ‛Alī Namāzī, Mustadrak Safīnat al-Bihār, volume 1, page 415.

8. Shaykh ‛Alī Namāzī, Mustadrak Safīnat al-Bihār, volume 1, under the word ‘khalq’.

9. 4:49.

10. Refer to 17:85.

11. Refer to 3:163 and 62:2.

12. Refer to 7:176.

13. Refer to 62:5.

14. Shaykh Kulaynī, Usūl al-Kāfī, chapter Makarim al-Akhlāq.

Lecture 1: Do Not Rebuild A Broken Dam

Imām Khomeini said that some subjects should be repeated in order to be effective. Likewise, many subjects are repeated in the Holy Qurān. This is the purpose of these lectures.

On the day of unity between university students and seminary students, Imām said: “With this revolution, you were able to break the dam that Ridā Khān and his son built between the university and the religious seminary, between the university students and the seminary students. They built this dam so that these two forces would not join hands and cause problems for their dictatorship. The revolution broke the dam; do not let this dam be built again.”

Why Should We Be Separate?

From the beginning of the revolution you have seen how some people disrespect the religious scholars in their speeches. They want to take the love that the youth have for scholars out of their hearts so that they can establish another dictatorship. University students must be one with religious students. The goal of both institutions are one; serving mankind. Both the university and the religious seminary study medicine. Those who specialize in physical medicine cure physical diseases and those who specialize in spiritual medicine cure spiritual diseases. Both have one goal; serving mankind. Why should they be separated from each other?

We will spend one day a week in this place to take care of the second goal. The second goal is what Imām said: “University and religious students must purify themselves.” They will cause harm to society if they are not purified. An unpurified doctor will cause harm to the society just like an unpurified mujtahid.1 Imām gave examples of these as well. Doctor Ahmadī, who lived in the Pahlavī period, was killed by an injection and Shaykh Nūrī was executed by the order of a Shaykh from Zanjān.

Self-Building Along With Understanding

One must both study and purify himself. The Qurān mentioned that the Prophets' duties were both purifying and teaching.2 If one refrains from purifying himself he would be like a donkey that carries books.3 An example is Pharaoh; he had so much knowledge, but still fought against Mūsa. He thought himself to be better than Mūsa.

In short, we must consider self-building more important than learning. Purifying one's self does not come with out struggle. Imām ‛Alī (a) said: “I struggle against myself so that I will be safe on the Day of Judgment.”4

The First Step In Purifying One’s Self Is Thought

Purification will not happen without struggle. The biggest part of the road to purification is thought and action. I will briefly explain this. The biggest step, as mentioned in the Holy Qurān, is thought. The Qurān has ordered us in different verses to ponder upon different subjects. One must think about where he came from, where he is and where he's going and why.

Thinking About One’s Creation

First, we were all drops of water, and then Allah ordered us to be created.5 One would understand many things if he ponders upon this. One can understand the glory of his body and the amazing relations between the different parts of the body. Allah created different parts of the body from this one drop of water. For example, one's eyes, ears, liver and heart. The liver does many things. Blood is always traveling through our veins. This is one thought where one can understand Allah as well as the fact that one is a servant of His. Allah's strength is unlimited; He is able to do all things. This thought is part of our fundamental beliefs.

Standing Up Against False Ideas

Everybody was a drop of sperm that did not have any knowledge or ability. There was no 'I'. If it was left that way, even for a hundred years, we would not have come into existence. The Question comes up, what is this 'I'? The thought that one has power which comes from seeing one's existence, one's eyes, ears, tongue and so forth, must be corrected.

One must understand that this power belongs to someone else; the one who created this body and allowed it to move. One stops saying 'I' when he understands this reality. One would no longer consider himself better than others, take pride in his self or seek popularity when he understands this reality. The beginning and end of two people are the same. Between the two ends, no one is able to help or hurt his own self.6 Who is able to stop old age?

One who sees power in himself forgets his beginning and his end. He is the one who says 'I'.

Humility, Only For Allah

One should not be humble in front of anyone except Allah. One should only prostrate in front of Allah. Everybody is a servant of Allah and needs Allah to the same degree. The Qurān says that man needs Allah but Allah does not need anyone.7 No group of people is better than another; the only thing that makes somebody better is piety. It is unreasonable for one person to follow another or to be the slave of another.

Freedom Is In Piety

Imām ‛Alī (a) said in the Nahj al-Balāghah: “Verily, piety frees one from every kind of slavery.”

Whoever walks on the road of piety is free, while those who are not pious must lower themselves to get what they want. As Shaykh Bahā'ī (r) said: “If the curtain was removed, we would see that they are dogs prostrating in front of dogs.”

One's life is his own when he does not have to perform low actions in order to breathe. This is just like the Messenger of Allah's (S) statement: “My life is yours and my death is yours.” The people who are not lowered by possessions, positions or popularity are free. Do not become the slave of anything. Only lower your head to one thing: Allah.

Allah Swears 14 Times About The Importance Of Purifying One’s Self

Purifying one's self is freeing one's self of his evil desires. No subject has been emphasized as much as this in the Holy Qurān. Allah, in Surah Shams, swears 14/ times that those who are pious will receive bliss. Allah swears by 14 grand objects that he created that only those who purify themselves will reach salvation. He would be successful in this world and the next. Woe be to the one who did not work on himself, who followed his carnal desires to such a point that it is now impossible to improve himself.

So, we must try and work on ourselves. We must give importance to becoming real human beings. We must loosen the shackles of slavery from our feet. The summary of this lecture is that we should think about the creation of our bodies so that we will become aware of Allah's knowledge and strength as well as become more humble.

Footnotes

1. A mujtahid is one who is able to derive religious rulings from their sources.

2. 62:2.

3. 62:5.

4. Imām ‛Alī, Nahj al-Balāgha, letter 45.

5. Refer to 86:5-7.

6. Refer to the supplication found in Mafātīh al-Jinān which is to be read after the afternoon prayer.

7. Refer to 35:15.