Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Ethics Articles

Contemplation on Consequences of Backbiting (Gheeba)

Contemplation on Consequences of Backbiting (Gheeba)

It has a name of its own to which a particular prohibition is attached. You have already come to know that backbiting describes any statement that speaks ill of others and is hated by others, something which the speaker does not prefer, attracting attention to that statement by something which he writes or to which he points out or through other means. It also indicates the insinuation of one's own evil self, nafs, a pre-meditated intention even if it is not articulated. In this definition, other individuals enter places that are particularly prohibited.

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Inviting Rulers of Neighboring States to Islam (628 A.D.)

Inviting Rulers of Neighboring States to Islam (628 A.D.) The peace afforded by the Hudaybiya treaty gave an opportunity to the Prophet to propagate Islam throughout Arabia and enable Islam to embark upon its attempt to embrace all humanity. He sent ambassadors with his letters to Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, Khosrow Parviz II, the Kisra of Persia [1] , the kings of Egypt and Abyssinia, and to the chiefs of Yemen and Syria. These letters have been preserved and reproduced by Arab chroniclers.

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Celebration and Mourning according to the Shi`ah and the Wahhabis

Celebration and Mourning according to the Shi`ah and the Wahhabis Celebrations and festivals The Wahhabis regard any kind of gathering for the passing away or birth of the awliya' as a sort of worship of the saints of God, equating it to the worship of idols:

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Is Eternity of Man Possible?

Is Eternity of Man Possible? Those who do not support the theory of eternity of man and deny this reality - state that the occurrence of such an event is impossible. Of course, two explanations exist, for their claims of the impossibility of this reality, 1) The basis of the first objection is doubt and uncertainty in the Power of Allah. Such people state that Allah does not have the Power to make man alive again after death, or to grant him a new life, once dead.

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Freedom, Its Limits and Boundaries

Freedom, Its Limits and Boundaries Since Islamic society must be administered on the basis of Islamic laws and decrees, the law-implementers must not go beyond the bounds of Islamic decrees and orders since people are bound to act upon Islamic laws. A skeptical voice questions: Is this concordant with human freedom? In making rules and regulations for his life and the manner of implementing them, man has to be free. For us to say that he has to move within the framework and observe the rules and regulations is inconsistent with human freedom, which is one of his inalienable rights.

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The Charter of Freedom

The Charter of Freedom This is, for me, a pleasant day. Of course, I had visited your university frequently during the terms of my presidency. But the present occasion has certain aspects which will turn it into a sweet, lasting memory in my mind:

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Rules of the Lost Property When Found

Rules of the Lost Property When Found 2573. Any lost property other than an animal, which does not bear any sign by means of which it may be possible to locate its owner, irrespective of whether its value is less than a dirham (12.6 chickpeas of coined silver) or not, can be kept for himself by one who finds it, but the recommended precaution is that he gives it away as Sadaqah on behalf of the owner, whoever he may be.

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The Evils of Westernization

The Evils of Westernization Occidentosis (Gharbzadegi) is Jalal Ali Ahmad's tryst with the infinite world of ideas, for which the scene is set in twentieth-century Iran and the background is provided by the vast panorama of the East faced with the onslaughts of the Western civilization. The first draft of the book in Persian was presented at two of the many sessions of the Congress on the Aim of Iranian Education, on 29 November 1961 and 17 January 1962 in the form of a report,

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The Rights of Fellow Muslims

The Rights of Fellow Muslims The Holy Prophet [s] said: "He who grieves a true Muslim cannot then compensate for it by offering him the entire world because it is not sufficient compensation (unless he repents and appeases the said person)."

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The Need to Cultivate Ethics

The Need to Cultivate Ethics There is no confusion in this statement, for anything relevant to the Hereafter and to our sustenance cannot be in order, nor can its seeker be happy, except through good manners. Much of a good deed does not help without cultivating and correctingg one’s conduct. Actually, a bad conduct only spoils a good deed just as vinegar spoils honey (Usul Al-Kafi, Vol. 2, p. 32). What benefit is there in anything the outcome of which is spoilage?

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The Essence of Evolutionary Culture

The Essence of Evolutionary Culture The bi-polar quality of culture means it possesses both innately internal and innately external aspects, just like the bi-polar quality of beauty does. Since conceiving beauty depends on human psychological and mental characteristics (other living beings are incapable of it), comprehending culture also has an innately internal aspect resulted by “The Principle of Protecting Evolutional Essence.”

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Ethical Pillars of Islamic Politics

Ethical Pillars of Islamic Politics By giving nobility and validity to ethics and with the belief in the oneness of ethics and politics, Ima-m Khomeini- (r) endeavored in the course of various admonitions to the employees and officials of the [Islamic] system, to present a portrayal of his ideal ethical politics, or in other words, the Islamic politics.

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Factors Stabilizing Cultures throughout History

Factors Stabilizing Cultures throughout History Some cultures or cultural elements certainly seem more stable than others. Various theories have been proposed accounting for their stability, and it is quite useful to study them. First, we should keep in mind that some cultures have not at all remained firm due to their elements being general human virtual facts -in fact, they should be regarded as man's virtual elements “as they are.”

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Vastness of God’s Mercy and Pardon

Vastness of God’s Mercy and Pardon Hope is the expectation of a dear thing the arrangements of which are already done, such as hope for the yield of a land after it was seeded, watered, and superintended. In case the arrangements of a thing are not done, hope for it will be foolhardiness, just like hope for the yield of a derelict land that was not superintended properly. Hope, furthermore, is the second wing with which, along with fear, the believers fly in the horizons of the obedience of God.

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Sincerity, Certitude and Trust in God (1)

Sincerity, Certitude and Trust in God (1) For man, good morals bring grace and elegance in this world, and relief and happiness in the hereafter. They elevate a person's status in proximity to God and aid him in order that his Scales of deeds become weightier on the Day of Judgement. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) has said: The Haatim of our time is one, who possesses good morals. Bad morals cause a person to suffer the squeezing of the grave and the (punishment of) hell (in the hereafter), and a lack of friends in this world.

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The Intellectual Unity of Muslims

The Intellectual Unity of Muslims Thought has been described as intellectual contemplation for gaining knowledge. A belief, which is the product of logical deduction, has been referred to as thought.

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Knowing Scholastic Theology (Kalaam)

Knowing Scholastic Theology (Kalaam) The science of scholastic, or speculative, theology (kalaam) is an Islamic science. It is concerned with discussing Islamic beliefs, or what should be upheld of such beliefs from an Islamic perspective. Thus, kalaam seeks to explain the matters relating to these beliefs, advancing the evidence in support thereof and defending the same.

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The Selection of a Reasonable World-View

The Selection of a Reasonable World-View Every activity engaged in by man, whether on the level of individual or social life, is undoubtedly a result of particular psychological drives and inclinations, and is fashioned with the aid of sense perception and bodily skills and powers under different temporal and spatial conditions. For example, man is driven to eat and drink by his instinct to nourish himself, and is motivated to help the weak and the needy because of his emotions of sympathy for other human beings.

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The Weighing of the Human Deeds

The Weighing of the Human Deeds Every sect has interpreted the meaning of Meezan according to their own views. Some opine that the deeds shall literally be weighed. While some say that the deeds shall be given a physical form and then weighed. The good deeds shall be given a beautiful face, while the evil deeds an ugly one. Allamah Ne'matullah Jazaeri in "Anwar-i No'maniyah" says, that according to trustworthy and consecutively transmitted reports it clearly proves that the deeds shall be given a physical form and then they shall be weighed. (Ehsanul Fawaed).

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Man's Situation in the Intermediate Realm

Man's Situation in the Intermediate Realm The present existence of an intermediate realm and of separate destinations there for the virtuous and the wicked is a well-founded religious belief. There can be no doubt that after death the spirits of men the only element within them that is truly essential are transferred to the vast expanse of the non-material world.

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Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought