If honesty reflects internal rectitude, dishonest external conduct mirrors hypocrisy. Utterly relevant to this principle is the Prophet Muhammad’s reminder that there are three signs of a hypocrite (munafiq): when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he breaks his promise; and when he is trusted with something, he betrays that trust. The significance of…
About 1430 years ago, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), through an incident befallen on one of his companions, had taught us a supplication (Du’a) in responding to the burden of debts. The Prophet had advised his companion to utter these words: “O Allah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and…
For ages and until the present we have been subscribing to the view that doing business is to maximise profit through selfish pursuits in the businessman’s own interest. As the sole purpose of the business sector is to maximise profit, it has no regard for the welfare of the customers. Also, the immediate impression that…
Anyone seriously attending to the relation that exists between the Islamic creed (akidah) and human mind is naturally tempted to ask whether there is any positive relation between a Muslim protecting his or her Islamic creed and the enhancement of his or her mental capacity. For those who regard creed as being essentially dogmatic, the…
“Sophists” (Greek: sophistai) basically refers to experts, wise persons or learned men. Categorized into schools, their origin is traceable to the Greek civilization where they flourished in the 5th and 4th century BCE (before the birth of Christ). They were a group of itinerant intellectuals traveling from place to place giving lectures and private instruction…
When laws are drafted, law makers lay down general rules of conduct. They usually have in mind the average citizens, over 21 years old. When the judge interprets the law, he usually speaks in terms of the average, reasonable man. Hence, in a world of average, reasonable man, law making is far less complicated. But…
Tried ethical virtues are called probity, while adherence to moral principles is termed integrity. Interpreted and conceptualised according to the worldview of Islam, integrity and probity are discussed in Islamic ethics under the rubric of “sidq”. So much significant integrity and probity are in reality, that in a passage of Abu Bakr’s speech when he…
That the migration (hijrah) of the Prophet Muhammad and his early companions from a hostile Makkah to a conducive Yathrib, thereafter renamed al-Madinah (the locus where the din—the real religion—blossoms to the full), is so consequential to Muslims has been well-attested to by their unanimous affixing it to their calendar year, thus rendering such a…
This is a corollary, a continuation of my earlier article, “When haram can become halal,” published by The Star on December 7. These two pieces must be read together before one can make any appropriate conclusion on the subject matter discussed. The entire issue is extremely sensitive to Muslims and technical in nature. Thus readers…
In Islam, a highly authentic prophetic tradition (hadith) prescribes that generally things are divisible into three categories: the lawful (halal), the unlawful (haram) and the doubtful (mushtabihat). While the first two are evident, i.e. clearly spelled out by the sources of syariah, the third is not. Under normal circumstances, Muslims are obliged to lead a…
