Imam Omar ibn-Sina

 

True Islamic Morality

What we see portrayed as Islam today is untrue.  When people see Muslims they see only the images put in their minds by the rating-hungry media.  Yet, what is shown on the news regarding the MAJORITY of the Muslim people is not true!  Consider that only 20% of Muslims live in the nations of the Middle East.  Consider that the MAJORITY of Muslims, 80%, live in nations outside of the Middle East.  Out of that 20% minority living in the nations of the Middle East is a small faction of those people that we are shown in the media (ie:  the terrorists, suicide bombers, ranting lunatics, etc.).  The truth is that Islam is very different from what the media shows us or would have us believe.  To illustrate this fact I wish to consider what I will call Islamic Morality.

Let me begin with stating the fact that Islam FORBIDS the killing of innocent people.  The Holy Quran is full of teachings against the killing of innocents.  In fact, just the killing of one innocent person is considered to be equivalent to killing of the whole human race according to the Quran’s teachings!  Consider this teaching of the Holy Quran:

“So We decreed for the tribe of Israel that if someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind. Our Messengers came to them with Clear Signs but even after that many of them committed outrages in the earth. (Surat al-Maida: 32)

Any true Muslim who believes in Allah (God) with a sincere heart, who scrupulously abides by His holy verses and fears suffering in the hereafter will avoid harming even one other person. That is because he or she knows that Allah is the Lord of Infinite Justice, and will suitably reward him for all his deeds. In one of the Hadiths (teachings of the Prophet Mohammed), our Prophet listed the kinds of people who are not pleasing to Allah, 'Those who act cruelly and unjustly in the sacred lands, those who yearn for the ways of the ignorant and those who wrongly shed human blood.' (Bukhari)

Islam demands that people act justly and ESPECIALLY the faithful (Muslims).  One of the s most important features of the Islamic understanding of justice is that it commands justice at ALL TIMES and EVEN if the person one is dealing with is very close to one. In Islamic justice the important thing is fairness, that NO ONE should be treated unjustly.  In the Quran’s teachings Allah orders the faithful             ALWAYS to act justly, even when it comes to their own ENEMIES.  No Muslim man or woman can make a spontaneous decision on the basis that the person he is dealing with once harmed him or left him in a difficult situation, or that he is a personal enemy. If the other side is genuinely in the wrong, the Muslim has a DUTY to respond with good and to display the morality commanded by Allah.

When we look at Islamic history we see many examples in which the faithful behaved with complete justice towards other races. Islam grew unbelievably quickly over a wide area, taking in Africa, Asia and Europe. The beauty of Islamic morality was spread by means of these conquests. Islam has spread to all races, nations, social structures and regions, and has brought millions of people together with a bond of BROTHERHOOD the like of which the world had never before seen.

Islamic morality aims at a society built on brotherhood, peace, freedom and security.

That is why all communities that have come into contact with True Islam have given up their oppressive, cruel and aggressive ways, and instead built a society built on peace.  Many Western historians have expressed that fact in their works and stated how Islam had deep and positive affects on communities that came into contact with it. In his book The Making of Humanity, Professor Robert Briffault discusses the relationship between Western society and Islam:

"The ideas that inspired the French Revolution and the Declaration of Rights, which guided the framing of the American Constitution and inflamed that struggle for independence in the Latin American countries [and elsewhere] were not inventions of the West. They find their ultimate inspiration and source in the Holy Quran."

The Muslim is to use soft speech and tongue to call people to the morality of Islam.  He/she is NOT to use violence nor kill innocents!  Yet, this seems to be ignored by the radical elements in Islam today unfortunately.

True Islam demands solidarity and cooperation between peoples even if they are of different faiths.  And it demands that when we help or assist someone that we do so WITHOUT any expectation for something in return.

Islam demands the faithful to do good and to avoid that which is evil.  Like the Christian Bible, true Islam also commands the faithful to repay evil with GOOD and NOT with more evil. 

Islam commands Muslims to ALWAYS be FORGIVING.  We are to show mercy even to those who are our enemies.  Surat al A’raf: 199 in the Quran teaches, “Make allowances for people, command what is right, and turn away from the ignorant. This is something that people may find difficult, but is an attitude that will be well rewarded in the sight of Allah. People may well be caught up in anger and refuse to forgive a mistake. But Allah has revealed to the faithful that it is better to forgive, and has recommended this morality to them:

“The repayment of a bad action is one equivalent to it. but if someone pardons and puts things right, his reward is with Allah... “(Surat ash-Shura: 40)

Islam commands that the faithful act gently.  We are not to be thugs!  “It is a mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them. If you had been rough or hard of heart, they would have scattered from around you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult with them about the matter. Then when you have reached a firm decision, put your trust in Allah. Allah loves those who put their trust in Him.” (Surah Al 'Imran: 159)

Islam supports the freedom of belief and Islam has a long history of tolerance and freedom of belief.  When it comes to matters of belief, Islam offers people complete freedom, and does so in the very clearest language. That has been the case ever since Islam was first revealed right up to today, and it forms the basis of Islamic morality. The verses on the subject are perfectly clear: “There is no compulsion where the unbeliever is concerned. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who rejects false gods and has faith in Allah has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will never give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqara: 256)

It may surprise many that Islam demands that oppression be shown no mercy.  Muslims never remain silent in the face of oppression that they witness, hear, or even learn about second hand. Their compassion, which stems from the morality of the Qur'an, directs them to oppose all tyranny, wickedness and oppression, to defend the oppressed and wage a WAR OF IDEAS on their behalf. Whether they are dealing with their closest friends or strangers with whom they have no relations and no interests in common they behave in a determined manner to prevent such oppression. They see this as an opportunity to win the good pleasure of Allah and implement the morality of the Qur'an. Since a believer's conscience is a very sensitive thing, his concept of compassion will never permit him to turn a blind eye to the slightest injustice or cruelty. To begin with, he will take his place in the vanguard of that morality by himself avoiding doing anything that might be unfair to or oppressive of anyone else. Whenever he sees anyone else doing so, his conscience will give him no peace until he has done everything possible to put matters right. That is because there is no room in true compassion for ignoring, forgetting or underestimating oppression.

Ignorant people never act until the oppression is at their own doorstep, and is reflected in the Turkish saying, 'May the snake that never bothers me live for a thousand years.'

This stems from the fact that they forget or deny that in the hereafter they will be brought face to face with all they good deeds and pleasing morality that they encountered in this world. The faithful on the other hand are well aware of this fact, which is why they will even treat someone they have never met with great compassion and try to rescue him from oppression. Even if nobody else supports them they will muster all their forces to prevent wickedness. Even though people who behave rather differently may be in the majority, their lack of conscience and care never rub off on true believers. Muslims know that in the hereafter they will be called to account for what they did to prevent evil. They never forget that they will not be able to get away by saying, 'I did not see or hear it,' or 'I never realized it was going on,' and that only those who follow the dictates of their conscience will come out of that questioning at all well. As is revealed in the Qur'an

"...he will come to Us all alone. (Surah Maryam: 80) people will be brought into the presence of Allah, put to the test and called to account for their deeds in this world all alone. Those who are found to have behaved well, opposed all forms of cruelty and have fought evil and remained on the path of Allah can expect a suitable reward from Allah for their efforts.

Today it would do people well to discover for themselves the FACTS about Islam and Islamic morality rather than depending upon the media to supply them with such information.  But sadly we live in a world that is most often lazy and in which many blindly accept something as being factual even if it truly is not. 

Islam must return to what it was intended to be (ie:  a faith of peace, understanding, justice, tolerance, and compassion).  Over and over again the Holy Quran teaches that God is both compassionate and merciful.  We who make the choice to submit ourselves to Him MUST show the same compassion and mercy not only to our loved ones but to our enemies as well.

Imam Omar ibn-Sina

A minister of the Church of Seven Planes