In week 6, the topic of our lecture was Ethics in Islam. Two of our dear lecturers managed to explain most of the history of Islam , the origin of it and how it grew throughout the year. Also, about ethics and how in was derived from Qur’an , which is primary source of the religion Islam, and from the sayings of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). As a muslim myself, I would like to take this moment and write more about the ethics in my religion. Islam is a comprehensive way of life that encompasses a complete moral system, which is an important aspect of its world view.
We live in an age where good and evil are often looked at as relative concepts. Islam however, holds that moral positions are not relative , and instead, defines a universal standard by which actions may be deemed more or immoral . Islam’s moral system is striking in that it not only defines morality, but also guides the human race in how to achieve it, at both an individual as well as a collective level. Later on in the class, we had a heated discussion accompanied with some of misunderstandings, when one of the students asked if it is ethical for muslim women to wear Hijab (cover their hair) in a hot weather. I took some participation in answering that question.
As I just mentioned above, Islam is all about actions, and not only that, but most importantly about the individual’s deeds upon taking those actions. Even though there are many points of view/arguments between some muslim scholars about the boundaries of Hijab (should it include covering the face as well or not?) , yet Hijab is considered one of the commandments of Allah (God) upon the female gender. Therefore, in Islam, it is an obligation for women to cover themselves when they are among foreign people, and I mean by foreign people here, the people who are not related to her what so ever. This is merely to protect her from attracting temptation from the male gender and so on ( Allah knows best ). Coming back to deeds, in Islam, our actions are weighted by our deeds.
For instance, one of the pillars in Islam is Zakat ( giving some of your wealth to the poor) if you look at this from a social/governmental task, it is already have been satisfied. But looking at it from an Islamic perspective, deeds matter whether the action was taken to fulfill Allah’s commands or for other reasons apart from that. This also goes to the subject of Hijab, whether a muslim woman wear it for the fear of Allah or for other reasons. In addition, Islam is a religion of justice, even though if we are forbidden from some of the doings , for example, drinking alcohol, yet if there is a true necessity for a muslim to drink it, then in that situation is allowed. Also, coming back to my colleagues question, if the weather was hot and it might bring harm to the woman’s health by wearing Hijab, then she can take it off in that case to avoid it.
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