Morals and Manners in Islam. Marwan Ibrahim Al-Kaysi

Preface

      Since the beginning of history, human societies, even primitive tribal communities, have all developed rules to regulate the conduct of personal and social relations. The oldest book on manners, The Instructions of Ptah Hotep, attributed to the ancient Egyptians, records the instructions of a father to his son about proper behaviour. Every people has observed its own rules and norms; manners have changed tremendously over the centuries, indeed, even within a single people they have varied considerably from one place to another at one and the same time. Regarding Muslims, it is true that many elements of Islamic manners still dominate different spheres of daily life in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, it is also true that alien elements have had a wide and increasing influence. This is due primarily to a weak interaction with the Islamic faith. But the fact that no standard text on the subject exists has also contributed. This work is a response to the need for such a text, making the details of Islamic manners readily accessible to the largest possible audience.

      The importation of certain elements of Western manners into the Muslim’s daily life has come out of the recent and continuing interaction with the West. But even before that interaction had been established, the Islamic way of life had been subject to non-Islamic elements, chiefly the result of innovation. To meet this challenge, a Muslim must Islamize his conception of manners by deriving them from the basic sources of Islam, the Qur’ān and the Sunnah. He must distinguish between normative Islam and historical Islam, between Islam and non-Islam; he must point to many practices which, ungrounded in normative Islam, yet prevail among Muslims. Having done this, the way ahead will be clearer for Islamic communities to rid themselves of cultural influences that have penetrated into Muslim life over the centuries.

      The importance of teaching and training Muslim children to act in accordance with Islamic manners at all times and in all places cannot be over-stated. It is hoped that this book will, insha’Allah, help to fill the gap noted above, and serve as an accessible handbook to determine what manners suit a particular occasion or circumstance. For ease of reference, each chapter is organized in point form and intended to be complete in itself. Inevitably, where themes common to different chapters are treated, some points have had to be repeated: the alternative, much tedious cross-referencing, we judged to be a greater hindrance to the objectives of the book.

      Finally, the author would be grateful to readers for any advice on errors of omission or commission. Comments should be directed to:

      Dr. Marwan I. AI-Kaysi,

      Humanities Department,

      Yarmouk University,

      Irbid, Jordan.

1

       Introduction

      Adab is an Arabic term meaning custom; it denotes a habit, an etiquette, a manner of conduct derived from people considered as models.¹

      During the first two centuries following the emergence of Islam, the term ‘ādāb’ carried ethical and social implications. , The root db means marvellous thing, or preparation, feast. ‘Ādāb in this sense was the equivalent of the Latin urbanitas, civility, courtesy, refinement of the cities in contrast to bedouin uncouthness.’² So ādāb of something means good manner of that thing. The plural is ādāb. Ādāb al-Islām, therefore, means the good manners adopted by Islam, derived from its teachings and instructions. It is in this sense that it will be used in this book.

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.’³

      Islamic manners and customs are not in this sense ‘unconscious’. They are derived from the two main sources of Islam, namely the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, the Prophet’s deeds, words and indirect commandments, and are therefore, in the strictest sense, divinely inspired.

      The Qur’ān 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.

      Ādāb al-Islām should neither be conceived nor practised 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 ādāb al-Islām 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 Qur’ān and the Sunnah, include, besides many detailed rules, general principles which ultimately govern all matters related to the various 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 ijtihād. Ijtihād 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 detail 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 Ramaḍān is

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