Ramadan Reading 2014 DAY 2 Adaab Al Islam (Morals & Manners in Islam) by Marwan Ibrahim Al Kaisi Sources Manners in many cultures other than the Islamic are determined by local conditions and are therefore subject to changes in those conditions. According to W.G. Sumner, From recurrent needs arise habits for the individual and customs for the group, but these results are consequences which were never conscious, and never foreseen or intended. Islamic manners and customs are not in this sense unconscious. They are derived from the two main sources of Islam, namely the Quran and the Sunnah, the Prophets deeds, words and indirect commandments, and are therefore, in the strictest sense, divinely inspired. The Quran and the Sunnah contain the broad principles needed to negotiate the problems that arise in human societies in different ages. As a complete way of life, Islam orders economic, political and devotional activity as well as manners relating to everyday human exchanges and routines. Islam is not confined merely to devotional and legal manners; it embraces criteria and values, attitudes, customs and manners in all reaches of human concern and relationship. As a portion of this whole, Islamic manners are derived from the broad objectives of Islam and reflect its broad ideas and values. Aadaab Al Islam should neither be conceived nor practiced in isolation from the whole. Rather their interrelation with other elements of Islam should always be kept in mind. Nor, likewise, should the different elements within Aadaab Al-Islam be treated as isolatable, for these too are closely interrelated. To give a single, conspicuous example: a Muslim is required to sleep early so that he may rise early for the Fajr (dawn) prayer. The divine inspiration of manners in Islam confers on them a religious character which motivates proper adherence. It does not follow from their religious character that every detail of these manners is obligatory. The prescribed manners of Islam vary, in fact, from the forbidden to the recommended - as we shall see in the principal rules of Islamic manners. The former are upheld and enforced by law, the latter do not expose offenders to any formal trial or punishment except in the disapproval of other members of the Muslim community. A third group of manners are those which do not even lead to disapproval if one violates them. Nor does it follow from the divine origin of Islamic manners that the system should be rigid and inflexible. Islam is not the sort of ideal that is impenetrable to human experience or inapplicable to existing world conditions. Rather, the nature of the system is such that it is flexible in many respects while stable in others, the element of flexibility being grounded in human reasoning to which Islam appeals and which may even be reckoned among its general sources. The two basic sources of Islam, the Quran and the Sunnah, include, besides many detailed rules, general principles which ultimately govern all matters related to the aspects of life, religious, social, economic, political, etc. None of these general principles are subject to historical change. But conditions do change. The means for deriving rules for new problems in new situations are provided for within Islam in Ijtihad. Ijtihad is the disciplined use of independent individual reasoning to draw the necessary conclusions in accordance with the essence and spirit of Islam and in adherence to its immutable general principles. Thus through the faith and diligence of qualified scholars, the details of Islamic teachings can respond effectively to the problem of historical change. The teachings of Islam are, in fact, fully cognizant of human nature and human needs. Islam acknowledges the realities of life and deals with them in the most practical way. There is then no impulse to abrogate or adjust the general principles of the faith in order to adapt them to particular conditions. The realism and practicability of Islamic manners is easily illustrated. For example, fasting the full lunar month of Ramadan is a primary obligation upon all Muslims, yet Islam (understanding the vicissitudes of traveling) exempts the traveller from fasting, requiring that he make up the lost days when the hardship is over. Likewise, women who have recently given birth, or are in the monthly cycle, and those seriously ill are similarly exempted. The five daily prayers are, again, a primary obligation, yet the traveller is permitted, according to some ahadith to combine certain of the five occasions of Slat and perform them together, also to shorted the four rakah prayers to two rakah prayers, known as Qasr. Islam allows that the precise, final detail of the application of the manners may differ, according to the fashions and circumstances of local groups, provided of course, that the main principles of dress, of dietary laws, etc. are adhered to. Islamic manners are meant to order daily life, to give it rhythm, dignity, and serenity; they are not a set of snobbish or legalistic rituals to complicate daily life.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 22:42:47 +0000
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