PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

AN INTRODUCTION
LINGUISTIC MEANING OF ETHICS

• The word "ethics" is derived from the Greek word ethos

(character), and from the Latin word mores (customs).
Together, they combine to define how individuals choose to
interact with one another. In philosophy, ethics defines what is
good for the individual and for society and establishes the
nature of duties that people owe themselves and one another.
WHAT ARE ETHICS?
• Ethics are moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of
an activity.

• Ethics, also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what is

morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to
any system or theory of moral values or principles. (Britannica)

•  A set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values (Merriam Webster)

• Ethics is the application of moral values or codes to complex problems using a

rational decision making process. The outcome of this process is usually a
behaviour or set of behaviours
 WHAT DOES IT STUDY? AND WHY?

•  Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making,

and its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the

standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.

• The purpose of ethics is to create a conscious effort to treat people and

companies with respect and establish a positive working environment.

ETHICS AND MORALITY
• The terms ethics and morality are closely related. It is now common to refer to ethical judgments or
to ethical principles where it once would have been more accurate to speak of moral judgments or
moral principles. These applications are an extension of the meaning of ethics. In earlier usage, the
term referred not to morality itself but to the field of study, or branch of inquiry, that has morality as
its subject matter. In this sense, ethics is equivalent to moral philosophy.

Hence

• Morality is the system through which we determine right and wrong conduct -- i.e., the guide to good
or right conduct.

• Ethics is the philosophical study of Morality

• but there is some distinction in how they are used.

• Morals often describes one's particular values concerning what is right and

what is wrong

• While ethics can refer broadly to moral principles, one often sees it applied to

questions of correct behavior within a relatively narrow area of activity

• In addition, morals usually connotes an element of subjective preference,

while ethics tends to suggest aspects of universal fairness and the question of
whether or not an action is responsible
 IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
1.Ethics is a basic requirement for human life.

2.It helps in decision-making regarding course of action.

3.It helps promote harmony and teamwork.

4.It helps enhance public image and credibility.

5.It assists in complying with laws and regulations.

6.It helps in organizing goals and actions.

7.It is the basis for long-term success

 TYPES/BRANCHES OF ETHICS

• One branch, meta-ethics, investigates big picture questions such as, “What is morality?”
“What is justice?” “Is there truth?” and “How can I justify my beliefs as better than
conflicting beliefs held by others?”
• Another branch of moral philosophy is normative ethics. It answers the question of what
we ought to do. Normative ethics focuses on providing a framework for deciding what is
right and wrong. Three common frameworks are deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.
• The last branch is applied ethics. It addresses specific, practical issues of moral
importance such as war and capital punishment. Applied ethics also tackles specific moral
challenges that people face daily, such as whether they should lie to help a friend or co-
worker.
 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
• Professional ethics is a branch of applied ethics that aims to define, clarify and
criticize professional work and its typical values. Professional ethics sets the
standards for practising one’s profession and can be learned only in a professional
school or on the job.

• It involves attributes such as commitment, competence, confidence and contract..

It comprises personal, organizational and corporate models of behaviour expected
of professionals.
• Professional ethics are professionally accepted standards of personal and
business behavior, values and guiding principles. They are codes of
professional ethics are often established by professional organizations to help
guide members in performing their job functions according to sound and
consistent ethical principles. 

• Professional Ethics is defined as the personal and corporate rules that govern
behavior within the context of a particular profession.
NEED OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

• Professional ethics provides us means to solve certain ethical problems

related to a certain profession, in this case, health care. Professional ethics
is usually presented as guidelines and rules, but it can be demanding to
apply these to complex situations, that call for sensitivity to circumstances
and the individuals in question. Thus, professional ethics cannot be only
about abiding by the rules, but constant awareness to the rights and needs
of the clients or patients, and critical thinking in the cross-fire of ethics,
rules, conventions and difficulties of social interaction.
 CODE OF ETHICS
• The norm system governing and regulating engineering professional
behavior is professional ethics. Certain common principles underlie
professional codes and bodies, e.g. Medical and Dental Council, Police
Service Code of Conduct, Estate Agents Code of Conduct. Codes may not
be exhaustive and may not include all the rules and regulations that apply
to every situation. The contents therefore have to be viewed within the
framework of company policies, procedures and the requirements of the
law.
 DESIRED AND
UNDESIRBLLE ETHICAL
VALUES
AKHLAQ HASANAH
AND
AKHLAQ SAYYIAH
 AKHLAQ
• Akhlaq is plural of Khulq which means Character behavior
and attitude which is Expressed naturally without thinking
about it.

• Behavior can be of two types:

• 1. Beautiful character (Akhlaq al Hasanah)

• 2. Awful character (Akhlaq as Sayyiah)

IMPORTANCE OF AKHLAQ IN QURAN

Allah Almighty has mentioned in the Holy Quran the tremendous and beautiful

Character of the Prophet (saw) since the Holy Prophet (saw) is the best example

For us to follow. His life is a perfect example of guidance for us.

1. And assuredly You (O Muhammad pbuh) have been placed on the most

Glorious and exalted character (Ch:*68*Verse:*4)

2. I have spent a lifetime among you with my character , so do you not

realize?(Ch:*10*Verse*17)
 IMPORTANCE OF AKHLAQ IN HADITH

• The Holy Prophet (saw) has emphasized the importance of beautiful character
by saying: • The best believer is the one who has beautiful character and who
behaves very kindly to his family(Tirmidhi:*2612) • Those who posses beautiful
character among you will be the closest to me in the Paradise (Tirmidhi*:*2018)
• Indeed a believer starts praying and fasting (becomes a worshipper) through
adopting beautiful character (Abu*Dawud:*3798) • Nothing will be more
heavier on the scale than beautiful character (Tirmidhi:*3799)
SOME GOOD BEHAVIOURS

• • Humbleness • No Proudness
• • No prejudice • Mercy and Kindness
• • Forgiving others • Always thanking Allah
• • Being generous.
• • Loving the poor and those who are socially lower
• • Helping others in need • Not backbiting
• • Being Simple • Patience
• • Respecting others
 A SOUND HEART VS AN ILL HEART

• Allah in the Qur’an says:

"‫يم‬ ٍ ‫ِإاَّل َم ْن َأتَى هللاَ بِقَ ْل‬,‫• "يَ ْو ٌم اَّل يَ ْنفَ ُع َما ٌل َواَل بَنُون‬
ٍ ِ‫ب َسل‬
• The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children. But only
one who comes to Allah with a sound heart. [Qur’an 26:88-89]

• A sound heart is that which is free from vices like disbelief, hypocrisy, and
other spiritual diseases.
 SPIRITUAL DISEASES/AN ILL HEART

• Spiritual diseases of the heart are those sins which are committed by the
heart and cannot be seen. They have an impact on our outer actions, because
they are often the cause of other sins. Imam Al-Ghazali once wrote:

• “Other sins are like the mosquitoes hatched in a swampland and the sins of
the heart are like the swampland itself. Unless the swampland (i.e. sins of the
heart) is not eradicated, it would not be possible to get rid of the mosquitoes
(i.e. other sins).”
CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL DISEASES

• Being neglectful

• Sinning in private

• Looking t impermissible things

• Becoming too occupied in the worldly life

• Neglecting zikr of Allah

 SOME COMMON HEART DISEASES
• Hypocrisy

• Following unlawful desires

• Arrogance

• Envy

• Showing off

• Having bad opinion about others

CURE FOR SPIRITUAL DISEASES OF HEART

• Taking accountability of yourself

• Seeking forgiveness and repentance

• Supplication

• Increasing in acts of obedience in private.

• Zikr of Allah and reciting the Quran

• Lowering the gaze

• Remembering the afterlife

• Sincerity in good deeds

 SIGNIFICANCE OF
HALAL AND HARAM
SHARIAH GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SPECIFIC FIELDS OF WORK
 HALAL AND HARAM IN HADITH
• “That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear, and between
the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know.
Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion
and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that
which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but
grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is
His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be
whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it is diseased, all of [the body] is
diseased. Truly, it is the heart.”
DEFINITIONS OF HALAL AND HARAM

• HALAL: This is an Arabic term which means permissible or lawful in

Islam. In reference to food, it is the Islamic dietary standard, as
prescribed in the Shari’ah (Islamic Law).

• HARAM: This is another Arabic term which means impermissible or

unlawful in Islam
IMPORTANCE OF HALAL EARNING ISLAM

• Halal income is a spirit of the body; it induces the body to

do charitable work. Haram income never lets him do

righteous work; it provokes the consumer to commit sin

and do distractive work.

WHAT IS HARAM INCOME?

• A haram income is the income that one incurs because of an activity he

engaged in, that displeases Allah or that is forbidden in Islam. If there’s

manipulation to displease Allah, by misleading others, to make that

income in return, then haram income has taken place.

COMMITTING HARAM VERSUS LIVING ON
HARAM INCOME

• Committing any sinful act is considered as falling into haram.

However, committing a sinful act does not necessarily lead to
earning haram income. At the same time, haram act may be
done from halal income. But the process of earning from
haram is automatically committing haram.
EXAMPLES

• For instance, in Islam, trading in liquor business is haram. The one who earns from
selling liquor commits double sins; the sins of selling it, and the sin of earning from it.
Unlike the one who just consumes it. If the trader consumes liquor in addition to
trading in it, then, there are three forms of haram acts involved.

• Faking certificates is haram. Securing employment using fake certificates is likewise

haram. And any income made from that employment is clearly a haram income. This
is not different from creating lies to secure a job and get paid for that job, after you've
told lies to secure the job. It is also not different from seeking intercession to secure a
job, which you know very much, that you are not capable of undertaking.
• The same thing could apply to the different means and sources where
we earn our income from. One needs not to be told that cheating or
getting paid for a job he did never do is haram, and that the income
incurred from that is also haram. One does not need to be told that
competing for a position he doesn't deserve against deserving
candidates, and getting paid for it is haram, and that the income made
from that could be haram
CAUSES OF HARAM INCOME:

• Greediness

• Absence of God’s consciousness

• Jealousy

• Impatience
SOME EFFECTS OF HARAM INCOME

• Haram income has several impacts. Multilevel and on multi-generation.

First, haram income affects the earner physically. Second, it affects all

his religious rituals and activities. Third, haram income makes injustice

to the family of the earner. Fourth, haram income does injustice to

anyone whose position has been taken, or whose money is looted.

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL AND
PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
• Human rights
• Informed consent Beneficence- Do not harm
• Respect for anonymity and confidentiality Respect for privacy
• Be just Be faithful
• Health and safety
• I value safety, work safely, prevent at-risk behavior, promote safety, and accept responsibility for
safety.
• Environmental commitment
• Environmental ethics provides moral grounds for social policies aimed at protecting the earths
environment and remedying environmental degradation.