ISLAM FOR BEGINNERS BRS 107.pdf - CUEA

LESSON 10NOTES ON ISLAMIC ETHICS(Salama, Salam, Islam, Muslims)The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek word ethos (character), and from the Latinword mores (customs). Together, they combine to define how individuals choose tointeract with one another. In philosophy, ethics defines what is good for the individual andfor society and establishes the nature of duties that people owe themselves and oneanother. 14 We know that Muslims are believers of a religion called “Islam”. They form anorganized community which is guided by a law. It is this law that governs their personaland public behaviors, acts and actions. We should, therefore, learn how they respond tothis law and how they form their characters and customs, how they interact with otherMuslims and with non-Muslims as they look for what is good for their community and forthe entire society.Islam begins in and with the Qur’an. Thus the whole Islamic education –theology,philosophy, business, medicine, and ethics- begins in the Qur’an which is, according to theMuslims, a revealed book, a book that came from God. As the book of Islam, the Qur’angives the basis of whatever we want to know of Islam. Throughout the whole world,Muslims consider the Qur'an as the book of Allah or the very Word of Allah. The wholeIslam turns around three essential concepts: Allah, the Revealer; the Qur’an, the revealedand Muhammad, the Messenger.This consideration about the importance of the Qur’an is rooted in the book itself becausemany verses state that the Qur’an was revealed by Allah; Allah sent it for the guidance ofmankind (6:92;17:105). Such statements abound and are found implicitly in every sura. Insura Al-Ahqaf, for instance, we read the explicit statement: "The revelation of the book isfrom Allâh the Exalted in power, full of Wisdom" (46:2). Moreover in sura An-Nisa,especially in verses 77-82, the Qur'an invites people to believe in its message because itoriginated from Allah; therefore it is a message of truth. In verse 82 of the same sura, theQur'an justifies that invitation by saying: "Do they not ponder on the Qur'an? Had it beenfrom other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy." It would14 http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/EthicsFrederic N. Mvumbi,OP Page 55 of 85