Ethical Behaviour

ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR OF MUSLIMS: loss of civic sense

Morals can either be classified as secular or religious. Secular morality tries to establish a moral system that is independent of God and religious faiths. In terms of motives for morality, various explanations have been given. One explanation is that people are ethical in pursuit of happiness or perfection. Another suggests that pressure by political power or social means forces people to follow a certain code of conduct. Yet another explanation is that a feeling of duty makes people moral.

Another problem in this classification for morals is that it lacks clarity in defining ethical knowledge. For example, is happiness mental, physical, or spiritual?

As for religious morality, it is fundamentally based on two things; first is the belief in God as the Creator of the universe, and second is the belief in the Hereafter.

“Religious morality” is not a uniformly used term because the fundamentals of religious morality are not the same for all religions.

Islamic Concept of God

A Muslim believes in the absolute perfection, sovereignty and lordship of God, that He is the sole Lord, Creator and Sustainer of this universe. Some of God's divine attributes include; absolute and perfect knowledge, absolute life, perfection, wisdom, power, mercy, and justice. In Islam, the relationship of a Muslim with God is a loving, conscious, and voluntary submission to the will of God. One verse in the Qur'an describes this relationship: [And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by our knowledge)] (Qaf 50:16).

Unlike some Hellenic philosophical ideas, advocated by thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle, propose that God is both transcendent and remote from this universe, Islam teaches both the absolute transcendence and perfection of God alongside His direct relationship with mankind.

Differences from Other Religious Communities

The Muslim belief in a supreme and universal God whose divine attributes are not shared by any of His creatures, automatically leads to the belief in one single ultimate supreme will (God's will). This leads to stability and a sense of certitude because that there is only one ultimate ideal to look up to. For example, some people refer to phenomena in nature as "laws of Mother Nature". Muslims believe that God created laws in nature, and that nature has permanent laws that are not haphazard. This leads to the conclusion that there must be one single and uniform Will behind creation.

Polytheism is the belief in more than one ultimate God, or that other creatures of God share some or all of His divine attributes, or the belief in some minor gods that intercede between man and the Ultimate God. All this leads to the belief in more than one ideal or ultimate source of guidance which would cause chaos in the universe. That is why the Qur'an is very clear when it says what means: {Had there been therein (in the heavens and earth) gods besides Allah, then verily both would have been ruined. Glorified be Allah, the lord of the throne, (High is He) above what they attribute to him!} (Al-Anbiyaa' 21:22)

Implication of Ethics

The concept of God in Islam affects its ethical system in many ways. For example, when the pure monotheism of God and the conception of the highest ideal are mixed up with imperfections, errors, or inconsistencies as it is in other religions, then how can that be an ultimate, single and absolute source of ethics? In addition, acknowledging God as the sole Bestower of all that we have in this life leads to a feeling in the heart of a loving, conscious, and voluntary submission to God, which is the meaning of the word "Islam" as a faith. This in turn leads the individual to have a sense of ultimate loyalty to God alone.

By believing in God, His Perfection and divine attributes, that He is the sole power in this universe, and believing that He is the Ultimate God Who has the full, perfect and complete knowledge, it follows that God knows what is in our hearts and minds and we can not hide anything from Him or deceive him. This results in increased