Five dimensions of ethico-moral behaviour define the “axis” around which religious concerns revolve in Islam.
By Dr Mohd Sani Badron Senior Fellow /
Director, Centre for Economics and Social Studies (IKIM)
IN A hadith celebrated as being of immense importance by Muslim scholars, the Prophet Mohamed was reported to have said that, the major portion of Religion (al-Din) consists of “sincere conduct” (al-nasihah) towards Allah, His Book, His Messenger, leaders of Muslims, and Muslims in general (narrated by Imam Muslim from Tamim al-Dari).
Commenting on this hadith, al-Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277) came to the conclusion that those five dimensions of ethico-moral behaviour define the “axis” (madar) around which religious concerns revolve in Islam.
The principal concern, “sincere conduct towards Allah”, means having faith and belief in Him and His Unity (al-tawhid); denying any partner; understanding His Real and True Attributes (al-Haqq) as He has described Himself in genuine Revelation without any deviation; and affirming His perfect and sublime Attributes, and His Transcendence.
The aforementioned principal obligation gave rise to a special branch of knowledge in the Islamic Civilisation referred to as usuluddin, citing many authoritative references, such as Kitab al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat by al-Baghdadi and al-Ghazzali’s Maqsad al-Asna.
Faithful action towards Allah includes establishing absolute loyalty to Him and being steadfast to the Primordial Covenant (al-A’raf, 7: 172); obedient to Him and not be treacherous to Him. It is obligatory upon us to acknowledge His grace, to be grateful of His bounty, and to be sincere in all matters.
Honest behaviour towards Allah makes it incumbent for His creatures to help and befriend those who turn to Him and follow His guidance, to avoid those who turn away from Him and close their eyes to His guidance, and to strive against only “those who mock at Religion and make jest of it” (al-Ma’idah, 5: 57).
Sincere conduct towards Allah also consists of calling upon mankind in general and one’s subordinates in particular to the aforementioned characteristics, to encourage and motivate them with graciousness and tactfulness.
Honesty to Allah demands that His speech (i.e. the Quran) be preserved as the second pillar of right behaviour.
Sincere conduct towards His Book means having faith and belief that the Quran is the Word (Kalam) of Allah, His Revelation that cannot be compared with the speech of His creatures.
One ought to glorify it, study it, and follow it as it ought to be followed (haqq tilawatihi; al-Baqarah, 2:121), to apply oneself to it with true application, to make its reading beautiful; to affirm the truth of its content with humility; to stand by its principles and stick to it; to understand knowledge and the parables therein; to contemplate its exhortation and counsel; and to meditate on its remarkable, wondrous and marvellous content.
Subsequently, faithful action towards the Quran means to practice its verses which are clear and established (muhkamat), to believe in those verses which are ambiguous (mutashabihat, Ali ‘Imran, 3: 7-9); to study their statements, be they general principles or specific applications; to disseminate knowledge therein; and to call upon mankind to behave in a proper manner towards the Quran.
Faithful conduct towards His Book requires one to preserve the true interpretation of its verses against misrepresentation of its corrupters and mischievous detractors. It also requires the usage of valid, authentic and authoritative Quranic terms.
It is in order to maintain semantic permanence and to preserve purity and authoritative meaning, that the Quranic Arabic terms and their significations have been recorded and established through lexicons such as Ibn Manzur’s 15 volume Lisan al-’Arab and Murtada al-Zabidi’s 40 volume Taj al-’Arus.
The standard for right action and sincere conduct towards Allah and His Book is mirrored at its utmost clarity by the Prophet Mohamed (uswah hasanah; al-Ahzab, 33:21), the third pillar of true behaviour.
Sincere conduct towards His Prophet means to affirm his message, to have faith and belief in that which has been conveyed by him, to obey his commands and to refrain from that which he has prohibited.
By virtue of the fact that the Prophet Mohamed was raised by Allah to convey the prophetic mission, Muslims must also strive to allow that mission to triumph, even after the Prophet’s death, to oppose his opponents and to aid his helpers, to love his family (ahlul bayt) and his companions, to avoid those things abhorrent to him, to abhor deviation and to be wary of it, to avoid the people of corrupt bid’ah and those who oppose his companions.
As he is “the seal of all Prophets” (al-Ahzab, 33:40) and a “mercy for all the worlds” (al-Anbiya’, 21:107), we must honour what is rightfully his and persevere in seeking true knowledge and in applying his way of life (sunnah), spread his call and repudiate accusations made against the truth and goodness of his teachings.
All the aforementioned have given rise to many disciplines and genres, such as hadith, sirah, dala’il, shama’il, and tawarikh, in order that humanity may take heed of the wisdom exemplified by the Prophet, understand their significance, respect and be grateful of what has been taught, allow the dissemination of his teachings, revere his syariah, read his hadiths with adab (a way of living outlined in Islam), avoid from commenting anything on his hadiths without proper knowledge, and to be respectful towards those who are truly knowledgeable.
The objective of sincere conduct towards His Prophet is to cultivate one’s adab so that it approaches the adab of the Prophet, refine one’s character so that it reflects the characteristic of the Prophet.
The last two dimensions mentioned in the hadith will be discussed in another month, God willing.
By Dr Mohd Sani Badron Senior Fellow /
Director, Centre for Economics and Social Studies (IKIM)
IN A hadith celebrated as being of immense importance by Muslim scholars, the Prophet Mohamed was reported to have said that, the major portion of Religion (al-Din) consists of “sincere conduct” (al-nasihah) towards Allah, His Book, His Messenger, leaders of Muslims, and Muslims in general (narrated by Imam Muslim from Tamim al-Dari).
Commenting on this hadith, al-Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277) came to the conclusion that those five dimensions of ethico-moral behaviour define the “axis” (madar) around which religious concerns revolve in Islam.
The principal concern, “sincere conduct towards Allah”, means having faith and belief in Him and His Unity (al-tawhid); denying any partner; understanding His Real and True Attributes (al-Haqq) as He has described Himself in genuine Revelation without any deviation; and affirming His perfect and sublime Attributes, and His Transcendence.
The aforementioned principal obligation gave rise to a special branch of knowledge in the Islamic Civilisation referred to as usuluddin, citing many authoritative references, such as Kitab al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat by al-Baghdadi and al-Ghazzali’s Maqsad al-Asna.
Faithful action towards Allah includes establishing absolute loyalty to Him and being steadfast to the Primordial Covenant (al-A’raf, 7: 172); obedient to Him and not be treacherous to Him. It is obligatory upon us to acknowledge His grace, to be grateful of His bounty, and to be sincere in all matters.
Honest behaviour towards Allah makes it incumbent for His creatures to help and befriend those who turn to Him and follow His guidance, to avoid those who turn away from Him and close their eyes to His guidance, and to strive against only “those who mock at Religion and make jest of it” (al-Ma’idah, 5: 57).
Sincere conduct towards Allah also consists of calling upon mankind in general and one’s subordinates in particular to the aforementioned characteristics, to encourage and motivate them with graciousness and tactfulness.
Honesty to Allah demands that His speech (i.e. the Quran) be preserved as the second pillar of right behaviour.
Sincere conduct towards His Book means having faith and belief that the Quran is the Word (Kalam) of Allah, His Revelation that cannot be compared with the speech of His creatures.
One ought to glorify it, study it, and follow it as it ought to be followed (haqq tilawatihi; al-Baqarah, 2:121), to apply oneself to it with true application, to make its reading beautiful; to affirm the truth of its content with humility; to stand by its principles and stick to it; to understand knowledge and the parables therein; to contemplate its exhortation and counsel; and to meditate on its remarkable, wondrous and marvellous content.
Subsequently, faithful action towards the Quran means to practice its verses which are clear and established (muhkamat), to believe in those verses which are ambiguous (mutashabihat, Ali ‘Imran, 3: 7-9); to study their statements, be they general principles or specific applications; to disseminate knowledge therein; and to call upon mankind to behave in a proper manner towards the Quran.
Faithful conduct towards His Book requires one to preserve the true interpretation of its verses against misrepresentation of its corrupters and mischievous detractors. It also requires the usage of valid, authentic and authoritative Quranic terms.
It is in order to maintain semantic permanence and to preserve purity and authoritative meaning, that the Quranic Arabic terms and their significations have been recorded and established through lexicons such as Ibn Manzur’s 15 volume Lisan al-’Arab and Murtada al-Zabidi’s 40 volume Taj al-’Arus.
The standard for right action and sincere conduct towards Allah and His Book is mirrored at its utmost clarity by the Prophet Mohamed (uswah hasanah; al-Ahzab, 33:21), the third pillar of true behaviour.
Sincere conduct towards His Prophet means to affirm his message, to have faith and belief in that which has been conveyed by him, to obey his commands and to refrain from that which he has prohibited.
By virtue of the fact that the Prophet Mohamed was raised by Allah to convey the prophetic mission, Muslims must also strive to allow that mission to triumph, even after the Prophet’s death, to oppose his opponents and to aid his helpers, to love his family (ahlul bayt) and his companions, to avoid those things abhorrent to him, to abhor deviation and to be wary of it, to avoid the people of corrupt bid’ah and those who oppose his companions.
As he is “the seal of all Prophets” (al-Ahzab, 33:40) and a “mercy for all the worlds” (al-Anbiya’, 21:107), we must honour what is rightfully his and persevere in seeking true knowledge and in applying his way of life (sunnah), spread his call and repudiate accusations made against the truth and goodness of his teachings.
All the aforementioned have given rise to many disciplines and genres, such as hadith, sirah, dala’il, shama’il, and tawarikh, in order that humanity may take heed of the wisdom exemplified by the Prophet, understand their significance, respect and be grateful of what has been taught, allow the dissemination of his teachings, revere his syariah, read his hadiths with adab (a way of living outlined in Islam), avoid from commenting anything on his hadiths without proper knowledge, and to be respectful towards those who are truly knowledgeable.
The objective of sincere conduct towards His Prophet is to cultivate one’s adab so that it approaches the adab of the Prophet, refine one’s character so that it reflects the characteristic of the Prophet.
The last two dimensions mentioned in the hadith will be discussed in another month, God willing.
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