Being a good person is not enough: Why do ethics need Islam? (Part 5)

The first thing we discover and must discover in meditation is that only He who gave us life can give it value. If we delude ourselves with the nonsense that there is no such source and that life is just blind chance, then there can be no value: no basis for good or bad, right or wrong. In other words, if there is no God, there can be no morality, because morality is essentially an exercise in seeking God . Article by Ovamir Anjum, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Toledo (USA), editor-in-chief of the Yaqeen Institute of Islamic Studies, and founder of the Ummatics Institute.

Following the right (innate) mind

Let us once again turn to reason, but this time to the right reason that responds not against God and truth, but according to it.

The first thing we discover and must discover in meditation is that only He who gave us life can give it value. If we delude ourselves with the nonsense that there is no such source and that life is just blind chance, then there can be no value: no basis for good or bad, right or wrong. In other words, if there is no God, there can be no morality, because morality is essentially an exercise in the search for God.

Therefore, the best of goodness is God in itself. Divine revelation fills in the details of this natural line of reasoning. Since God is the Creator and Sustainer of all life, the only life worth living is a life spent seeking the Creator. The Creator is the central message of all revealed religions and is not a product of blind force. As opposed to nameless energy or inert reality, He is a willing, knowing and loving Being of His creation, a lover of good things. All good deeds must be motivated by the idea of seeking God, otherwise they lose the value of goodness.

Both value and morality are embodied in life, because God honored man and breathed His breath into man to create life (Holy Qur'an, Hijr, 29; Sad, 72; Sajda, 9). If the soul is nothing but the breath, manifestation and gift of God, then what can make it happy other than Him (the Creator)?

Is God's commandment arbitrary or rational and moral? Sharia commands goodness and justice

The Qur'anic account of the Prophet's mission emphasizes its rational nature, as God has commanded man to do what is right and beneficial as known to human nature. God has the absolute right to command what He wills, and He did indeed test some ancient peoples with commandments that were not good or acceptable, but merely a test. Such commandments were removed from the perfect Shariah given to the Messenger of Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace, and thus perfected it:

"He enjoins them on what is good, forbids them from evil, and makes the pure things lawful for them, and the unclean things forbidden to them, and removes from them their burdens and their fetters." Therefore, those who believe in him, glorify him, help him, and follow the light (i.e., the Qur'an) revealed with him (the coming) - those are the only ones who will be saved." (A'raf, 157)

This verse emphasizes that the shari'ah given to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, the criterion of what is right and what is wrong in the sight of God is open to human nature, and its standard is to remove arbitrary burdens and shackles and live a good life.

We mentioned above that the early Muslim scholars disagreed about the fact that moral truths are not clear and clear to the human mind without the help of revelation. All scholars agree on the rationality and usefulness of the divine command, but it is appropriate to repeat this theoretical disagreement here only to remember how deeply and thoroughly our scholars have discussed moral philosophy in the service of God's revelation. Three of the four religious schools - the traditionalists, the Moturidiyyah, and the Mu'tazila - asserted that moral truths are truly known to the human mind, while one, the Ash'ariyyah, disagreed.

The representatives of Ash'arism did not deny that the human mind knows what is good or what is bad, but they distinguish it from knowing good or bad in the Hereafter in the sense of receiving reward or punishment from God. In order to preserve divine power, they believe that there is no order of good or evil before and apart from the revelation of God, in which God commands what He wills and forbids what He does not want.

Others believe that Allah, the Exalted, has adapted to human nature, and that knowledge that is clear to the human mind corresponds to the standards of revelation. But all agree that clearly stated standards of revelation are unquestionably superior. Therefore, differences can be useful and effective only in cases where the revelation is silent.

Suffice it to say at this point that Ash'ariyyah, like Imam al-Ghazali, do not doubt that Islamic legal norms in the form of Sharia are actually useful and therefore reasonable. Therefore, all schools practically agree that God's law is beneficial and reasonable in this life, and the criterion of happiness or misery for the hereafter. The views of the traditional school are well described by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim below:

In fact, the Sharia is based on wisdom and the achievement of the servants in this world and in the hereafter. It is total justice, mercy, benefit and wisdom. Every matter in which justice is left for oppression, mercy for cruelty, benefit for depravity, and wisdom for insanity, even if introduced by interpretation, is not from the Shariah.

Therefore, in addition to the clear commandments and prohibitions of Allah, which covers the essence of all good things and rejects the essence of all evils, the scholars expand the intellectual meanings, taking into account the goals and tasks of qiyas and law. This is the field of law, jurisprudence.

But outside of fiqh, there is a need for inner thinking, training (spiritual training) and inner purification (tazkiya), reforming our actions, training intentions and habits through reasonable criticism, and increasing the number of good deeds that are recommended to be done in the eyes of fiqh or left in the form of mubah.

About 200 times in the Qur'an, Allah commands to "do good deeds" without referring to a specific form or group. God does not limit "good deeds" to certain commandments or acts of worship.

The examples of the Qur'an and the Prophet, as described by Allah the Exalted about the righteous, indicate that we are commanded to do good to anyone in need, to do good deeds with sincerity, without waiting for the gratitude of Allah and the reward of the world.

"Surely, we feed you only for the pleasure of Allah. We don't want a reward or thanks from you in return" (Insan, 9).

Many verses show that good deeds are not restricted to Muslims only on the condition of accepting Islam. The Holy Qur'an specifically mentions charity and charity given to non-Muslim parents, relatives, and the poor. In Islam, good deeds are not limited to benefiting others in the hereafter; we are asked to show compassion and help to people and even animals. Allah is kind, generous, and loves mercy, and He rewards us with His reward for every sincere deed in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet.

In other words, as a believer, we should strive to do all the good things that are clearly stated in the divine revelation and not mentioned in the jurisprudence, starting from the obligations, we should love it and make it a habit for ourselves.

Ovamir Anjum is the head of the department of Islamic studies in the philosophy department of the University of Toledo (USA), the editor-in-chief of the Yaqeen Institute of Islamic Studies and the founder of the Ummatics Institute.

To be continued. Read previous chapters

Being a good person is not enough: Why do ethics need Islam? (Part 1)

Being a good person is not enough: Why do ethics need Islam? (Part 2)

Being a good person is not enough: Why do ethics need Islam? (Part 3)

Being a good person is not enough: Why do ethics need Islam? ( part 4 )