ETHIC - Islamic Teachings in Brief [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

ETHIC

All these innumerable means of living, that are now
available to man and that we endeavour to acquire and use them day and
night, were not available to man from the beginning of his life on the
earth. They have, gradually, been brought into existence by man's efforts
and have been utilized.

But in any case, from the primitive man to the civilized
man of today, human beings have never ceased working and striving and
through their Allah-given nature, they have tried to provide better means
of living. This is because if a man loses his energy and the internal and
external organs of h is body such as his eyes, ears, mouth, hands, feet,
and also if his brain, heart, lungs, and liver fail to function properly,
he will be nothing but a dead person.

For this reason, man works not only out of necessity, but
also because he is a human being, he displays various activities. Since by
his commonsense he realizes that he should arrange for the happiness and
prosperity of his life in any way possible, he engages in work and effort
and moves in the direction of his demands. Therefore, living in any
environment and in any manner, religious or non-religious, legal or
despotic, urban or nomadic, man feels the necessity of a series of duties
and obligations for himself (those things which are indispensable for
living). If these duties and obligations are carried out, the reasonable
desires of man will be fulfilled and he will lead a happy, comfortable,
and prosperous life.

Certainly, the value of these duties and obligations,
which are the only means of prosperity, is the humanity itself. We cannot
perceive anything more precious and valuable than the humanity and which
cannot be exchanged with any other commodity.

Therefore, 'dutifulness' and its implementation are the
most important practical matters that man confronts in his life, for its
value is exactly the same as that of man himself. Whoever refrains from
performing his indisputable duties, or sometimes neglects them, he
proportionately lapses in morality from the eminent position of humanity
and naturally accepts his humility and worthlessness. With every violation
of his human duty, such an individual inflicts blows after blows on the
body of his society and indeed on his own body as well.

The Almighty Allah states in the Holy Qur'an:

"Most surely man is in loss, except those who believe
and do good and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other
patience (103:2-3)."

The Almighty Allah also states:

"Corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on
account of what the hands of men have wrought... (30:41)."

DIFFERENCE
OF OPINION IN THE

IDENTIFICATION
AND SPECIFICATION OF DUTIES

The importance attached to the identification of
duties and their implementation are indisputable obligations in the world
of humanity. Never can a human being possessing human nature be found who
would deny this reality.

Since human duties have an absolute relationship with
man' s prosperity and life and because the religion differs with
non-religious isms and practices as far as views regarding man's life are
concerned, naturally religious duties will differ from the du ties of
other non-religious isms and practices.

Religion believes that man has an infinite and endless
life which does not terminate with death. The capital of pure and true
beliefs, praiseworthy ethics, and good deeds that man has acquired in this
world prior to his death, serves as the great investment for his infinite
life in the Hereafter.

Therefore, in obligations and duties that religion has
formulated for the individuals and the society, the life in the
everlasting Hereafter is also taken into consideration.

Religion establishes its provisions in the sphere of
theism and the worship and servitude of Allah, the obvious consequence of
which will become manifest on the Day of Resurrection.

Non-religious isms and practices (whatever these may be)
only take the short and transient life of this world into consideration
and formulate duties through which man can benefit more from his
materialistic life and material profits which are common between him and
other animals.

Indeed with a reasoning which originates from feelings
and sentiments of grazing animals and beasts, they draw up an animal life
for man. They pay no attention to man's realism and his everlasting life
full with intellectualities.

Therefore, the sublime human ethics (as definite
experience indicates) gradually disappear from non-religious communities
and the moral decadence of their members becomes clearer and more manifest
day by day.

Some people argue that the base of religion is following
and also the unquestionable acceptance of a series of duties and
regulations; whereas, social policies can be justified by the current
logic.

Those who have said so neglect the fact that the rules
and regulations which are implemented in the society must be carried out
indisputably. No one has ever heard or seen the people of a country
following the prevalent laws after argument and scientific discourse or be
exempted and free from following the laws whose philosophy they do not
understand. Th us, in this respect, the religious and non-religious
practices do not differ.

Indeed, through a study of the natural and social
conditions of a country and on inquisitiveness in its general policies,
one can find out the philosophy behind the generalities of the laws of
that country and some of their details (not all).

This also holds true in the case of religious laws. By
means of realism and inquisitiveness about creation and man's natural
requirements, one can discover the generalities of the laws of religion
which is an innate policy and some of their details.

The Holy Qur'an and many ahadith call the people
to reasoning, reflection, and pondering and in some precepts refer to the
brief expedience behind the commandments. There are many ahadith
available to us from the Holy Prophet (SA) and the Ahl al-Bayt (AS)
which state the reasons behind the precepts.

DUTIFULNESS

As mentioned in the beginning of this book, the holy
religion of Islam is a general and permanent programme that has been
descended to the last Prophet, Muhammad (SA), from the Almighty Allah for
human life in this world and the Hereafter to be carried out in the human
society so as to pull the ship of humanity out of the whirlpool of
ignorance and tribulation and carry it to the coast of salvation.

Since religion is a programme of life, it has inevitably
specified duties for man on things which are linked to his life and asks
him to carry them out.

In general, our life is connected to:

(1) The Almighty Allah Who has created us. Our moral
obligation towards His blessings is greater than any other duty and our
dutifulness towards His Holy Presence is more obligatory than any other
obligation.

(2) Ourselves.

(3) Our fellow creatures with whom we are obliged to live
and perform our duties and tasks with their cooperation and assistance.
Thus, according to the order, we have three general duties: duty towards
Allah, duty towards ourselves, and duty towards others.

(1)
THE DUTY OF MAN TOWARDS ALLAH(COGNIZANCE OF ALLAH)

Our duty towards the Almighty Allah is the most
important duty of all and we must perform it with a pure heart and a
sincere intention. It is the first and foremost duty of man to know his
Creator. Since the Almighty Allah is the source of existence of every
creature and the originator of every existing phenomenon, the cognizance
and knowledge of His pure Entity also illuminates every realistic person.
Being inattentive to this moral reality is total ignorance, lack of
insight, and irresponsibility. Whoever pays no attention to cognizance of
Allah, he consequently puts out the light of his own conscience and thus
will have no way of attaining the real human happiness.

As we see, those who refrain from cognizance of Allah and
pay no heed to this reality in their lives are completely away from the
human spiritualities and have no logic other than the logic of grazing
animals and beasts.

The Almighty Allah states in the Holy Qur'an:

"Therefore turn aside from him who turns his back upon
Our reminder and does not desire anything but this world's life. That is
their goal of knowledge... (53:29-30)."

Certainly, it should be pinpointed that the cognizance of
Allah is necessary and natural for man who is a realistic being endowed
with the instinct of reasoning, for man, with his Allah-given commonsense,
notices the signs of the Presence of Allah and His Knowledge and Might
wherever he looks in the world of creation. Thus, the cognizance of Allah
does not mean that man should bring it into existence fox himself, rather
it means that the man should not disregard this obvious reality which
cannot be covered by any curtain, giving a positive response to his
conscience which invites him to Allah and eliminating any doubt from his
mind by following this philosophy.

THE WORSHIP OF ALLAH

After cognizance of Allah, our second duty is the
worship of Allah. This is because, while recognizing the truth, this
reality becomes clear that happiness and prosperity, which are our only
objectives, will be attained by implementing and executing the programme
which the Almighty Allah has Specified for our lives and has communicated
to us through His messengers. Therefore, obeying Allah's orders and
serving him are the only duties of man compared to which other duties seem
insignificant and trivial.

The Almighty Allah states:

"And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve
(any) but Him...(17:23)."

The Almighty Allah also states:

"Did I not charge you, O children of Adam! that you
should not serve the Shaytan? Surely he is your open enemy. And that you
should serve Me; this is the right way (36:60-61)."

Thus it is our duty to recognize the status of our
servitude and needs and to keep in mind the infinite Grandeur and
Greatness of Allah. We must consider that Allah knows and sees our deeds
in every respect and we must obey His commands. It is our obligation not
to serve any but Allah and not to obey anyone else except the Holy Prophet
(SA) and the A'immat al-Huda (infallible Imams of Guidance) whom we
are commanded to obey by the order of Allah.

The Almighty Allah states:

"O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger
and those in authority from among you...(4:59)."

Surely, due to the obedience of Allah and the authorities
of religion, we should actually maintain a great respect for anything
attributed to Allah. We must respect the holy name of Allah and the names
of the leaders of religion. We must endeavour for the honour of the Divine
Book (the Holy Qur'an), the honoured Ka'bah, and the holy mosques and the
holy shrines of the leaders of religion, as the Almighty Allah states:

"...and whoever respects the signs of Allah, this
surely is (the outcome) of the piety of hearts (22:32)."