إِنَّ اللّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاء ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاء وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ (90:16)

God enjoins you to justice, goodness and spending on the kindred, and forbids lewdness, evil and arrogance. He admonishes you so that you may take heed. (16:90)

Outlined in these verses is the fundamental principle of the guidance provided by the Quran in this regard. The bases on which man’s nature requires of him to adopt good morals and leave bad ones are explained in these verses. These principles of good and evil are in conformity with human nature and hence they have been acknowledged in divine religions. The ten commandments of the Torah are based on these and the Quran too has actually explained them as part of its moral directives.

We shall elucidate them here.

The first thing which the verse directs is justice (adl). This means that whatever obligation is imposed on a person viz-a-viz a fellow human being, he discharges it the way it exactly is and in an impartial manner, whether his fellow human being is weak or powerful and whether he is liked or disliked by us. The Quran says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقَيرًا فَاللّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا (135:4)

Believers! Adhere to justice by bearing witness for God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kinsfolk. If someone is rich or poor, God is worthy that His law be followed for both. So [by leaving aside the guidance of God] do not be led by base-desires, lest you swerve from the truth and [remember] if you distort [what is the truth and what is just] or evade [it], God is well aware of all your deeds. (4:135)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ لِلّهِ شُهَدَاء بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ اعْدِلُواْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (8:5)

Believers! Be those who adhere to justice by bearing witness for God. Your animosity for some people should not induce you to turn away from justice. Be just; this is nearer to piety. Have fear of God; indeed, God is well aware of all your deeds. (5:8)

The second thing mentioned in the verse is goodness (ihsan). It is over and above justice and is the pinnacle of ethics and morality. It means that not only should a right be fulfilled, but that it be fulfilled in a manner that a person is generous and considerate in this regard. A person should give more than what is due on him and should be happy to take what is less than his due. It is this attitude which develops in a society the values of sympathy, compassion, sacrifice, sincerity, gratitude and magnanimity. It is a result of these values that life becomes sweet and blessed.

The third thing mentioned is spending on the near ones. It is one of the most important corollaries of goodness and determines one of its specific forms. It means that the near ones are not merely worthy of justice and goodness from a person, they also deserve to be thought of as having a share in one’s wealth. They should never be abandoned in case of need and deprivation and like a person’s own family, their needs should also, as far as possible, be generously fulfilled.

In contrast, the verse has prohibited three things also.

The first of these is lewdness (fahsha). It connotes fornication, homosexuality and similar acts of lewdness.

The second thing is evil (munkar). It is the opposite of maruf and refers to evils which mankind has generally recognized as evils, has always called them evils and so obvious is their evil that no argument is needed to prove it. In every good tradition of religion and culture, they are regarded as bad. At another instance, the Quran, by using the word ithm for them, has clarified that they connote acts which are instrumental in usurping the rights of others.

The third thing is arrogance and rebelliousness (baghi). This of course means that a person takes undue advantage of his power and influence, exceeds his limits and tries to usurp the rights of others whether they are of his Creator or of his fellow human beings. The Quran says:

قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَالإِثْمَ وَالْبَغْيَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ (33:7)

Tell them: “My Lord has forbidden all lewd acts – whether hidden or open – and evil and wrongful rebelliousness.” (7:33)

(Javed Ahmed Ghamidi)

(Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem)