Morals

Allah describes the best morals ever with reference to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when He addresses him: "And you surely possess sublime morals." (Surah Al-Qalam, 68:4)

 The prophet also said, "I have been sent only for the purpose of perfecting good morals." (Al-Muwatta') This tradition makes indicates the main reason behind the Prophet's mission, which is the perfection of sublime morals. Good moral, therefore, cover everything covered by Islam. Man has an outward side and an inward side. The outward side is his physical appearance, and the inward side represented by his inner qualities, refer to the inner image of his soul. Because man naturally cares about his outward appearance, for which he is not subject to account on the Day of Judgment, he must also care about his inner qualities for which he is subject to account because it is related to the soul; whims and base desires, however, dissuade it from perfecting them.

Types of Good Morals

Islam has called to different types of good morals including the following:

a. Good Morals towards One's Lord:

A Muslim must observe the highest forms of morals towards his Lord in whatever is related to his soul. Love for Him, fear of Him, invoking Him Alone, humbling oneself before Him, relying on Him and having a high opinion of Him are some of the great obligatory morals that man must observe towards his Lord. His good morals towards his Lord also include being sincere to Him in religion and not intending any act of worship except for Him Alone.

b. Good Morals towards Oneself.

c. Good Morals towards One's Parents and Other Family Members.

d. Good Morals towards Muslims.

A Muslim must observe truthfulness and honesty when dealing with other Muslims; he should love for them what he loves for himself and avoid anything that may cause him to hold grudges against them, and vice versa.

Addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Allah the Almighty says in this regard, "And say to My servants that they should speak that which is best. Surely, Satan stirs up discord among them." (Surah Al-Isra’, 17:53)

Morals can only be improved through good words and deeds; conversely, they become worse as a result of bad words and deeds. Therefore, when a person improves his words and deeds when dealing with other people and loves for them what he actually loves for himself, his morals become better and thus commendable. Other good morals that Islam encourages are truthfulness, safeguarding trusts, fulfilling the covenants, discharging one's obligations upon others, telling the truth at all costs and avoiding lying and deception and observing uprightness under all circumstances.

e. Good Morals towards non-Muslims:

It does not befit a Muslim to be rough and hard-hearted towards non-Muslims just because they do not follow his faith; rather, he should observe good morals towards them in both words and deeds.

Concerning words, Allah says, "And speak to people kindly." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:83)

He also says with regard to deeds, "Allah does not forbid you, concerning those who have not fought against you on account of [your] religion, and who have not driven you forth from your homes, that you be kind to them and act equitably towards them; surely Allah loves those who are equitable." (Surah Al-Mumtahinah, 60:8)

Hence, Allah does not forbid us from dealing kindly and justly with those who do not fight us on account of our faith, for kindness and justice, as forms of sublime morals, are essential in all forms of dealings with non-Muslims. Nor does He forbid us from being charitable to them and speaking kindly to those who do not display hatred towards Islam and Muslims.

f. Good morals in times of war:

Islam is the first legislation that has excluded civilians from war and has only directed the attention of Muslim fighters to combatants and belligerents. The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) always commanded Muslim fighters not to kill women, minors, the elderly and monks. He also forbade them from cutting down trees or destroying homes. For, in Islam, war is to be waged only on those who fight against Muslims and not on civilians. In Islam, war with all its forms does not mean destroying everything and killing people for the sake of victory.

In summary, Islam encourages man to make his whims and desires to follow the commands of Almighty Allah in order to realize sublime morals; the person with noble morals is one who observes kindness in words and deeds. Whims, habits and one's upbringing always influence one's morals.