Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

CLASSIFICATION OF DUTIES

 

1. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

The function of the Code should be the realization of the Ideal and the actualization of the norms that it implies.

Before we proceed to the structural constituents of systematization, however, it is necessary to establish the Qur’anic point of view with respect to the concepts of ‘Duty’ and ‘Right’.

 

Duty and Right:

The Qur’anic moral code is based on the emphasis on ‘obligation’ or ‘duty’ in contrast to the emphasis on ‘right’ (5:48; etc.). Now, the implications of the emphasis respectively on duty and right are:

Right is a right against someone. Duty is a duty towards someone. Right means that someone else owes something to us. For, when we say: ‘it is our right’, it means that someone has to perform a duty to us. On the contrary when we say; ‘it is our duty’, it means that someone has a right against us.

The emphasis on duty creates harmony in social life, because if everyone were to concentrate on his or her duty, the emphasis on grumbling for rights will naturally vanish. On the contrary, the emphasis on rights creates strife, because if everyone were to think about his rights on others, he would hardly have the mind to think of his duties towards others. The immense increase in quarrels and strifes between the different classes of human beings, as for instance, between laborers & capitalists, and between races & nations, which we find in the world today, is the direct outcome of the emphasis on rights. As regards the political life in different countries, the subjects or citizens clamor for their rights more than taking pains for fulfilling their duties towards their fellow-beings, the state and the country. Everyone tries thus to transfer blame to the shoulders of others, and the confusion gets worse confounded. This state of affairs will not improve unless the world adopts the Qur’anic emphasis on duty.

Then, the emphasis on duty creates unity among human beings, because it is built up on the idea and the sentiment of sympathy,— sympathy in the sense that in fulfilling our duty we have always to do some positive good to someone in the world. On the contrary, the emphasis on rights is conducive to disintegration and disunity among human beings, because it is based on the idea of demanding some thing from others. We all know that we feel happy when anyone gives something to us, and most people feel unhappy and miserable when anyone demands anything from them.

 

The Empire of Duties:

As to the classification of Duties: Since, according to the Holy Qur’an, man is not merely a moral being but also a spiritual, physical, rational and aesthetical being, as we shall shortly see, the fulfillment of duties relating to all those aspects of the human personality is necessary for the realisation of the Qur’anic moral Ideal.

Now, since morality originates in the attitude that man takes towards personality in his own being or in the being of others, the moral duties should be classified basically as:  (1) Duties to Self, and (2) Duties to Others. And since the person who is nearest to the moral agent is his own person, Duties to Self should come first and the Duties to Others thereafter.

The question may now be raised: What is the relationship between Duties to Self and Duties to Others? 

If the problem is viewed in the light of the ideational cultural philosophy, the two duties remain unconnected; because the point of view there is individualistic. Their relationship can be affirmed only on the basis of the Qur’anic philosophy of idealistic, or integralistic, culture which is based on the synthesis of the ideational and the sensate, and which, consequently, stands for interdependent relationship between morality and social life. Thus moral perfection of the moral agent is conceived there with reference to the happiness of others, which, in its turn, is possible only in terms of social welfare.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

BASIS OF SYSTEMATISATION OF THE QUR’ANIC MORAL CODE

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

2. BASIS OF SYSTEMATISATION OF THE QUR’ANIC MORAL CODE ─ THE QUR’ANIC IDEAL:

The effort to systematize the Moral Code has passed through several stages in the history of human thought. Among the ancients, it was Aristotle who gave a classification that is based on the main psychological aspects of human nature, viz., Knowing, Feeling and Willing. The highest virtue pertaining to Knowing is Wisdom, pertaining to Feeling is Temperance, and pertaining to willing is Courage, while Justice governs them all. But the Greek mind does not seem to have developed its moral consciousness properly, and that because of the fact that, as the historical account of Greek civilization available today shows, it was pagan in character and possessed no proper conception of ‘personality’; whereas morality is inseparably related to ‘personality’ and seems to have developed under the impact of the teachings of revealed religions and not otherwise.

 Among the philosophers of the modern age, it was Kant who made an important contribution. But his emphasis on the form of the Moral Law as the standard of morality and his attitude of leaving the contents of that Law to be traced from the established morality and the moral situation did not provide much lead in respect of the Moral Code, though the importance of his contribution to Moral Philosophy cannot be denied without injustice. Kent did furnish us with a classification of duties in order to complete his ethical system. But, the Code prescribed by him is through & through ideational and individualistic in character, because it does not attach importance to the duties of the moral agent towards the societal whole, nor is there any reference to the duties of the societal whole to its parts. This appears to be due to his limitation that he was born and lived in Christian environment,—the Christian point of view being that man’s socio-cultural yearnings are inherently incompatible with his spirituao-moral yearnings.

What, then, is the basis of systematization of the Qur’anic Moral Code? Answer to this question necessitates the statement of the Qur’anic Ideal, which emerges in the following terms:

 The Qur’an places equal emphasis on the sensate and the transcendental yearnings of man and harmonizes them; and thus it lays down for humanity a comprehensive Ideal, which consists in the cultivation of: 

(1) Holiness based on a dynamic, vibrant and living faith in God, an earnest and courageous pursuit of Truth, and an ever present consciousness of Final Accountability; 

(2) sound and comprehensive Morality; 

(3) social, economic and political Justice; 

(4) Knowledge in all its dimensions; and 

(5) Aesthetic Grace,

—all of these resulting in the conquest of harmful propensities within the individual, the conquest of evil within the society, and the conquest of the physical environment, or, Nature. In the pursuit of this Ideal, Holiness, Love for Humanity, Truth, Justice, Beauty, Discipline and Progress are the watchwords, while the concept of Unity permeates the entire movement towards the Ideal, and the motto of ‘simple living, hard labour and high thinking’ forms the wheel of progress.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE CODE OF LIFE

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

PREAMBLE

 Chapter 1.

THE MORAL CODE: WHY AND HOW?

 

1. NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE CODE OF LIFE:

Human life moves under the impact of different types of conflicts. To start with: there exists a conflict between the individual’s theoretical yearnings and that to an extent that the fulfillment of one implies the frustration of another. For instance, in the field of Ethics, the yearning for Knowledge implies ‘causality’ and ‘necessity’, while the yearning for Morality affirms ‘freedom’; and, in the domain of Metaphysics, the yearning for Knowledge demands the affirmation of the principles of ‘unfolding’ and ‘immanence’, while the yearning for Religion insists on accepting the validity of the principles of ‘creation’ and ‘transcendence’. 

Secondly, there is the problem of the emergence of conflicts in the life of the individual at the instinctive level. For instance, the parental instinct which forces the parents to behave tenderly and affectionately towards the offspring stands in direct conflict with the instinct of self-assertion which requires the adoption of a stern attitude when the offspring commits an act of disobedience. 

Thirdly, the instinctive nature of the individual comes into conflict with his rational nature. 

Fourthly, the ideals embedded in the individual’s rational nature may—and, its fact, do—come into conflict with one another. 

Fifthly, every individual is unique in respect of his or her past experiences and environmental factors, and this uniqueness becomes the breeding ground of conflicts between individual and individual. 

Then, beyond the individual level, existence of conflicts between the individual and the society is a fact of human life. 

Lastly, the narrow racial, territorial and ideological loyalties and economic interests of different communities and nations become sources of conflicts which threaten the very existence of humanity, as they are doing nowadays,—not to speak of the realization of the spiritual and moral ideals.

In such a situation of manifold conflicts and of the dangers involved in respect of realization of the highest human ideals, the question emerges in the mind of every thoughtful and conscientious person: “How ought I to behave to realize my ideals?” In other words: “What should be the Code for determining my conduct?”

The Holy Qur’an provides the answer to that all-important question by imparting sure (16:9) and complete (16:89) guidance in all the different problems of human life, including the metaphysical and ethical problems with which philosophy deals, and a comprehensive and genuine Moral Code.

Viewing the problem of the need for a Code from another angle: It is the Code which imparts uniform pattern of behavior and the bond of community to the group. It also creates optimistic outlook on life and forms the sure ground for progress. Because, if the individuals who constitute a group have a Code to govern their modes of behavior, they will always have a genuine and firm basis for reciprocal social responses. On the contrary, if a human group is devoid of a Code with social reference, as we find in respect of the Christian and the Greek pagan outlooks, the consequence shall be the emergence of a pessimistic view of life along with all its resultant evils.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times