PROFESSIONAL

ETHICS HU-
222
Lecture - 6

MILITARY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RISALPUR
 Ethics from Islamic Perspective
Ethics in Islam is nothing but the body of injunction laid down in the Quran for
the practical conduct of life and fully exemplified in the practice of the Holy
Prophet throughout his life.
Within an Islamic Context, the term most closely related to ethics is khuluq
(character/morality) in the Quran which has been guided by principles
from the Quran and the Sunnah.
Code of Ethics and Quran: - The Quran reminded man of a number of
basic moral and ethical values
“You are the best nation that has been raised up for mankind; You
enjoin right conduct, forbid evil and believe in Allah”. (3:110)
Code of Ethics of the Prophet (PBUH)
The Quran addresses the Prophet. “Thou has been created with an excellent
character”
The Prophet highlighted one of his main objective is to perfecting good
morals: “I have been sent for the purpose of perfecting good morals”.
Codes of Ethics of Prophet (PBUH)
 Islam consider the Prophet as an ideally perfect man,
par excellence, in all aspects of life.
 The Quran exhorts the believers to follow the rightly
guided particularly the Prophet.
 It is the desire of every pious Muslim to model his life in
every possible particular upon that of the Prophet.
 The Prophet (pbuh) always prayed in all humility to Allah
to
bestow on him the highest moral qualities and a
generous
character.
 He was of exceeding humility and the greatest, the bravest, the justice and
the most pious of men.
 He mentioned that he was sent by Allah to set up the
best
standards of moral conduct as he himself demonstrated in by his own
Codes of Ethics of Prophet (PBUH)
 He exhorts his followers to be just and compassionate, to fear Allah, to
be truthful, to fulfill their covenants, to avoid breach of trust, in return a
trust duly, to be merciful to orphans, to be afraid of the Day of Judgment
when everyone shall have to render full account of his actions.
 He meted out equal treatment to all, free or slave.
 He gracefully bore with anything that annoyed him.
 He had unbounded faith in Allah and never compromised with
anything which he considered to be untrue, cunning or mean.
 He visited and confronted the sick and the afflicted.
 He was dignified in manner and in speech, and always the first to
offer greeting.
 He readily forgave people and endeavored to bring
about peace between men.
Codes of Ethics of Prophet (PBUH)
 He accepted invitation from the poor and the rich alike and had always a
smiling look.
 Pride and vanity did not touch him.
 He was meek and tolerant while he was at the zenith of his power and treated
his enemies and persecutors with compassion when they were laid low at his
feet.
 Axioms-Govern Islamic Ethics
 Unity – related to the concept of tawhid or oneness of God, men are united
under this concept
 Equilibrium – related to the concept of ‘adl or justice.
 Responsibility – accountability for one’s actions,
 Free will – to a certain degree, man has been granted the free will to steer
his won life as Allah’s Vicegerent/Khalifah on earth.
 Benevolence/kindness/generosity.
Degrees of Lawful and Unlawful Behavior in
Islam
Degrees of Lawful and Unlawful Behavior in Islam: In explaining the moral code of
Islam, it is important to categorize the action according to the degree of lawfulness
and unlawfulness as classified in Fiqh to five categories; Fard, Mustahabb,
Mubah, Makruh and Haram.
 Fard - It represents the class of actions that is mandatory on every Muslim,
such as praying five times a day, fasting the month of Ramadan, paying
zakah and performing hajj.
 Mustahabb - Describes the class of actions that are not obligatory but highly
recommended to do. e.g. fasting beyond the month of Ramadan, put
perfume during Friday prayer, or praying nawafil etc.
 Mubah - meaning "permitted", which has technical uses in Islamic law.
Mubah is commonly translated as "neutral", "indifferent" or "(merely)
permitted". Actions are permissible in the sense they are specified neither as
mandatory nor as forbidden. e.g. trading during hajj. These are some acts that
are allowed and they do not affect our faith or relationship with God.
Degrees of Lawful and Unlawful Behavior in
Islam
 Makruh (meaning Disliked): Actions are not absolutely forbidden, but are detested.
Reward for abstinence, but no harm for doing. But it is better to avoid them and Abstinence is
recommended for following reasons:
• Abstinence may protect from some harmful acts.
• Abstinence trains humans in self-control making it easier to avoid haram acts.
• To place a barrier between the believer and the haram acts so that in times of weakness a
person would only fall into the disliked rather than the forbidden.
 Haram (meaning Forbidden): Actions forbidden, without any exceptions. Reward
for avoidance and punishment for doers. Committing them is a major sin. e.g. murder,
commit adultery, dealing with riba, drinking alcohol etc. Avoidance is recommended for
following reasons:
• To protect humans from things which are extremely harmful to them and society, either
physically or spiritually.
• Test faith and differentiate between true / weak believers / disbelievers.
• Help develop awareness of Allah by forcing humans to refrain from certain acts even
though they may not be able to perceive the harm in it.
The Sharia Law System
 Code of Business in Islam
DO’s DON’T’
s
 Keenness to Earn  Dealing in
Legitimate (Halal) Earnings. Items. Prohibited
(Haram)
 Trade through  Sale of
Mutual
Consent. Al-Gharar (Uncertainty,
 Truthfulness in Business
Transactions. Risks, Speculation).

 Trustworthines in Business  Arbitrarily Fixing the Prices.

s
 Hoarding of Foodstuff.
Transactions.
 Generosity and Leniency
 Exploitation of one’s Ignorance of
in Business Transactions.
Market Conditions.
 Honouring and
fulfilling Business Obligations.
 Cheating and Fraud in Business
Transactions.
 Fair Treatment of Workers.
 Swearing, Giving Short Measures and
Dealing in Stolen Goods are not
 CASE STUDY-1 FROM
SUNNAH
'Urwa related from 'A'isha that Quraysh were concerned with the case of a
Makhzumi woman who had stolen something and they said, "Who will speak to the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about her?" They
said, "Who is bold enough to do it except Usama ibn Zayd, the beloved of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?" Usama
spoke to him and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, "How can you intercede when it is a case of one of the legal
punishments of Allah Almighty?" Then he stood up and spoke and said, "Those
before you were destroyed because when a noble among them stole, they let
him be, but when the weak among them stole, they carried out the legal
punishment on them. By Allah, if Fatima the daughter of Muhammad were to
steal, Muhammad would cut off her hand."
 CASE STUDY-2 FROM
SUNNAH
One of the servants of the Prophet (pbuh) who was killed in one of the battles, the
companions said about him: Congratulations to him the certificate, O Messenger
of Allah! The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him, said: (if you can see what I
see you have seen his grave has been fueled by the fire, they said: Why, O
Messenger?! Said: because he took Shamlah from the booty without the
permission of the commander or distributor.
 Ethical Theories and Islamic Perspective
Theory Main Idea Islamic Perspective

Utilitarian “Ethically right” means the action results in a greater number of Rejected because the only basis for
utilities than could be achieved by any other actions. this theory is the greatest
consequences for greatest number.

Ethical A person must always perform in his/her own interest. An action Rejected because it is against the Islamic
Egoism is considered to be ethically right only when it promotes a person’s principles of justice, helping
self-interests. others, and altruism.
Deontology It underlines the duty as a basis of moral category which can Rejected because the theory is not
be seen as a right or wrong judgment. It does not look at the clear about the source of these
consequences of action. And, there are universal ethical actions “universal ethics” since in Islam the
that everyone must accept. only source for ethical system is the
Islamic principles.

Virtue ethics This theory focuses on what makes a good individual or person Rejected because the only basis for this
rather than what makes a good action. There are specific virtue theory is virtue ethics.
traits that every person must have such as civility,
cooperativeness, courage, fairness, friendliness, generosity,
honesty, justice, loyalty, self- confidence, self-control,
modesty, fairness, and tolerance.

Relativism Ethics are relative to a particular environment. Different societies Rejected because may be a
may have different ethical codes. There is no universal truth in particular society culture is against
ethical principles that can be held by all peoples at all times. Islamic principles.

Divine “Ethically right” means “commanded by God”, and “ethically Accepted, but this theory was
Command wrong or unethically” means “forbidden by God”. Religion is the rejected in the Western literature.
only standard to identify ethics.
Summary of Ethical Theories – Just a
Recap for Class