The Reality of Virtue

1

• The Reality of Virtue
• in the light of
• Ayah Al-Bir

2
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• ?????????? ??????????????? ????? ??????????
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• ?????????????
• 2177? )

3
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the
Compassionate

• It is no virtue. That you turn your faces
  towards the east or the west, but virtue is that
  one should sincerely believe in Allah and the
  Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the
  Prophets and, out of His love, spend of one's
  choice wealth for relatives and orphans, for the
  needy and the wayfarer, for beggars and for the
  ransom of slaves, and establish the Salat and pay
  the Zakat. And the virtuous are those who keep
  their pledges when they make them and show
  fortitude in hardships and adversity and in the
  struggle between the Truth and falsehood such
  are the truthful people and such are the pious.
  (2177)

4
Points to be noted, regarding the division of
The Holy Quran

• This is one of the longest verse (Ayah) in The
  Holy Quran .
• There are short as well as long Surah (chapters)
  in the Holy Quran.
• There are short as well as long Ayat (verses) in
  the Holy Quran.
• There are verses that consist of only one word
  e.g.

5
For example

• ?1031? ???????????
• By the time! (1031)
• Vocables of The Holy Quran ( Huruf Muqatta'at)
• The longest Surah (chapter) is Al-Baqarah(The
  Cow)
• and it consists of 286 verses .
• All the above division of the Glorious Quran is
• termed as Tauqeefi.

6
What Tauqeefi means ?

• No grammar rule or logic is involved while
• classifying the Quran. It does not depend upon
• human thinking. All this came into our
• knowledge as the Holy Prophet told us. So it is
• called Tauqeefi

7
The relationship and resemblance between Surah
Al-Asr and Ayah Al-Bir.

• Four requirements for human salvation
• Faith
• Good deeds
• Exhortation to truth
• Exhortation to patience

8
Elaboration of Faith in Ayah Al-Bir
Al-Asr Ayah Al-Bir
Faith Allah
Faith The Last Day
Faith The Angels
Faith The Book
Faith The Prophets
9
Faith

• The Faith is like a bud (an unblown
• flower) in Surah Al-Asr whereas in
• Ayah Al-Bir it has already blown and
• have five petals.

10
Elaboration of Good Deeds inAyah Al-Bir
Al-Asr Ayah Al-Bir
Good Deeds Spending of one's choice wealth for relatives and orphans, for the needy and the wayfarer, for beggars and for the ransom of slaves
Good Deeds Establishing the Salat and pay the Zakat
Good Deeds Keeping their pledges when they make them
11
Elaboration of Good Deeds inAyah Al-Bir
Al-Asr Ayah Al-Bir
Good Deeds Service to humanity , human sympathy, charity- spend of one's choice wealth to the needy
Good Deeds Worship of God or Religious rituals-Salat and Zakat
Good Deeds Our Dealings with others- keep ones pledge
12

• The Good deeds is like a stem
• of a tree in Surah Al-Asr
• whereas in Ayah Al-Bir it has
• three branches .

13
Elaboration of Exhortation to patience inAyah
Al-Bir
Al-Asr Ayah Al-Bir
Exhortation to Patience Showing fortitude in
Exhortation to Patience Hardships
Exhortation to Patience Adversity
Exhortation to Patience The struggle between the Truth and falsehood
14
Elaboration of Exhortation to patience inAyah
Al-Bir
Al-Asr Ayah Al-Bir
Exhortation to Patience Showing fortitude in
Exhortation to Patience Hardships-poverty, live hand to mouth, make both ends meet
Exhortation to Patience Adversity-physical or mental torture, illness, perilless
Exhortation to Patience The struggle between the Truth and falsehood- battlefield, war
15
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society

• Business People
• Perform religious rituals, give charity to the
  Islamic
• centres and respect the Islamic Scholars(Imams).
• But
• at the same time are involved in smuggling,
  black-
• marketing, tax evasion, hoarding goods, lack of
  softness
• in their hearts, inconsiderate, cruel and miser
  person

16
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society

• Modern qualified people
• Performing assigned duties duty properly,
  honestly and
• professionally.
• But
• On the other hand they consider religious duties
  as a
• private matter

17
The so-called concept of virtue, piety or
righteousness in the society

• So-called Religious People
• They normally focus on the appearance of the mode
  of
• Worships
• But
• neglect the spirit and inner of these religious
  duties.
• They just pay attention on performing prayers
  but are
• unaware of its spirit and reality.

18
Outward Appearance of Moral and Religious
Observances

• In the first part of this verse a particular view
  of moral rectitude and
• righteousness has been negated, that of pure
  formalism and ritualism.
• Some devoutly religious persons exhibit this
  attitude when they assign
• utmost importance to outward appearance of moral
  and religious
• observances to the total neglect of their inner
  spirit and meaning.
• Quite understandably many people, as a reaction
  to the ritualistic
• soulless moralism of religious people, turn to
  secular ethics. Islam, on the
• other hand, always warns against superficial
  concepts and rituals, against
• lifeless formalities and non-effective beliefs.

19
Concept of Morality in Islam

• It centres around certain basic metaphysical
  beliefs and principles.
• Among these are the following
• God is the creator and Source of all goodness,
  truth and beauty.
• Man is a responsible, dignified, and honorable
  agent of his Creator.
• By His Mercy and Wisdom, God does not expect the
  impossible from man or hold him accountable for
  anything beyond his power. Nor does God forbid
  man to enjoy the good things of life.
• Moderation, practicality, and balance are the
  guarantees of high integrity and sound morality.
• Mans ultimate responsibility is to God and his
  highest goal is the pleasure of his Creator.

20
The Dimensions of Moral Righteousness

• The dimensions of moral righteousness in Islam
  are
• numerous, far reaching and comprehensive.
• The Islamic morals deal with the relationship
  between
• man and God, man and his fellow-men, man and
  other
• elements and creatures of the universe, man and
  his
• innermost self.
• A Muslim has to guard his external behaviour and
  his
• manifest deeds, his words and his thoughts, his
  feelings
• and intentions.

21
The Dimensions of Moral Righteousness

• In a general sense, his role is to champion what
  is right and
• fight what is wrong, seek what is true and
  abandon what is
• false, cherish what is beautiful and wholesome
  and avoid
• what is indecent.
• Truth and moral virtue are his goal. Humility and
  simplicity,
• courtesy and compassion, are his second nature.
• To him, arrogance and vanity, harshness and
  indifference, are
• distasteful, offensive, and displeasing to God.

22
Verses About the Change of Qiblah

• The Holy Quran Says
• Of course, the foolish people will say, "What
  has turned
• them abruptly away from the Qiblah towards which
  they
• formerly used to turn their faces in prayer?
  Tell them,
• O Messenger, 'East and West all belong to Allah
  He
• shows the Right Way to anyone He wills. Thus have
  
• We made you a Community of the "Golden Mean" so
• that you may be witnesses in regard to mankind
  and the
• Messenger may be a witness in regard to you.
  (2-142)

23

• The Holy Quran Says
• We have seen you (O Muhammad), turning your face
  over and over
• again towards Heaven. Now, therefore, We turn you
  towards the
• Qiblah that you like best
• so turn your face towards the Masjid Haram.
  Henceforth, where so
• ever you may be, turn your face at prayer towards
  it.
• The people who were given the Book know it well
  that the commandment
• (about the change of Qiblah) is in fact from
  their Lord, and is based on the
• Truth,
• but Allah is not unaware of what they are doing
  (in spite of this)
• 
  
  2-144

24
The Holy Quran Says

• Everyone has a direction towards which he turns
  in
• Prayer so try to excel one another in good
  works.
• Allah will find you where so ever you be, for
  nothing
• is out of Allah's reach.
• 
  2-148

25

• The Holy Quran Says
• At whatever place you may be, turn your face
  towards Masjid
• Haram (at Prayer time) for this is, in fact, a
  Commandment of
• your Lord, and Allah is not unaware of what you
  do. At
• whatever place you may be, you must turn your
  face towards
• the Masjid Haram, and wherever you may be, you
  must turn
• your face towards the same at prayer so that
  people might not
• find an argument against you.
• As for the unjust people, they will never stop
  talking so do
• not fear them but fear Me -- (Do this) so that I
  may complete
• My favour upon you and you may find the way to
  real success.
• 
  
  2-150

26
Story regarding the Change of Qiblah

• After the Hijrah the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
• peace) continued to turn his face in the Prayer
• towards the Temple (at Jerusalem) for about 16 or
  17
• months then he was commanded to turn his face
• towards the Ka'bah (at Makkah). This change of
  the
• Qiblah (direction of Prayer) with its
  implications has
• been described in detail in the succeeding
  verses.
• Contd

27
Story regarding the Change of Qiblah

• This is the commandment for the change of the
  Qiblah,
• which was enjoined in Rajab or Sha'ban, A.H. 2.
  When this
• was revealed, according to Ibn Sa'd, the Holy
  Prophet was
• leading the Zuhr (early afternoon) prayer in the
  house of
• Bishr bin Bara' bin Ma'rur where he had gone in
  response to
• an invitation. This verse was revealed when he
  had gone
• through half of the prayer. lie at once turned
  his face towards
• the Ka'bah during the prayer and those who were
  saying their
• Prayer following his lead did the same.

28
Objections Raised by Foolish People its
Refutation

• Those foolish people who did not have the sense
  to
• appreciate the true significance of this change
  began to
• raise different kinds of objections in order to
  create
• doubts in the minds of the Believers. Being
  narrow-
• minded, they thought that Allah was confined to a
  
• particular point or direction and the change of
  Qiblah
• meant turning away from Him. This absurd
  objection
• has been removed by the declaration that east,
  west and all
• other directions belong to Allah. The fact that
  the Qiblah lies
• in a certain direction does not mean that Allah
  is confined to
• that direction only. Those people who are blessed
  with
• guidance cannot entertain such narrow ideas.

29
The Declaration of the Leadership of the Muslim
Community

• "Thus" refers both to the Guidance of Allah which
  was sent
• through Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) and
  to the
• change of the Qiblah. It was by following the
  Guidance that
• the Muslims achieved those excellences which led
  to their
• appointment as the "Community of the Golden
  Mean," and it
• was the change of the Qiblah from the Temple to
  the Kabah
• that was an indication that the Israelites had
  been deposed
• from the leadership and the Muslims had been
  appointed to
• it.

30
Change of Qiblah - Change of Leadership

• Therefore the change of the Qiblah from the
  Temple to
• the Kabah was not merely a change of direction
  as the
• foolish people took it to be, but it was really
  the formal
• declaration of the change of leadership from the
• Israelites to the followers of Muhammad (Allah's
  peace
• be upon him).

31
Separating the Believers from the Slaves of
Prejudice and Racialism

• The change of the Qiblah also served to separate
  the
• Believers from the slaves of prejudice and
  racialism. On
• the one side, there were the Arabs who were not
  ready to
• give up their own Ka'bah and to adopt the Temple
  at
• Jerusalem as the Qiblah. They were tried first.
  It was a
• hard test but the sincere believers passed
  successfully
• through this and the worshippers of the idol of
• nationalism failed.
• Contd

32
Test of Their Belief

• Now when the Qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to
  the Ka'bah,
• those Jews and Christians who had embraced Islam
  were put to the
• test. It was very difficult for them to accept
  any other Qiblah than
• the one of their forefathers. Thus the
  worshippers of race, who
• turned back from Islam were separated from the
  worshippers of
• Allah and fatally the worshippers of Allah only
  remained with the
• Holy Prophet.

33
Importance of the Topic

• In Islam, the first and foremost goal is the
  inner, moral
• progress of man, and therefore the ethical
  considerations
• overrule the purely utilitarian. In the
  contemporary world the
• situation is unfortunately just the opposite. The
  
• consideration of material utility and physical
  comfort
• dominates all manifestations of human activity,
  and ethics
• are being relegated to an obscure background of
  life and
• condemned to merely a theoretical position
  without the
• slightest power of influencing the human
  community.

34

• Ethics constitutes an essential aspect of mans
  intrinsic nature it is part of his
• ontological substance. The sense of right and
  wrong fulfils a psychical demand
• emanating from a mans inner being, just as water
  and air fulfill our basic needs
• for physical existence. The inner non-corporeal
  component of man the spiritual
• core or soul requires nourishment through
  gratification of its moral demands. In
• this sense, some conception of moral
  righteousness or piety is inalienable from
• human life.
• On deeper analysis it would become clear that
  even socially undesirable elements
• have a sense of righteousness and observe a code
  of ethics to gratify it. Pace
• Durkheim, a minimal sense of ethics (good,
  virtue) is unavoidable, and hence his
• notion of anomie or a state of normlessness is
  a pure fiction.

35
The literal meaning of Bir(virtue)

• The Term Birr ( ??) is derived from the root (?
  ? ? ) which means Godliness, righteousness,
  probity, kindness, charitable gift.
• It is common knowledge that when a person sets
  his feet on shore after a long sailing in rough
  seas he feels a great relief. He is never sure of
  his safety in the ocean, but he feels sure-footed
  and comfortable when he has landed on the ground.
  This comfort and peace of mind is the reality of
  this word .

36
Saying of The Holy Prophet (PBUH)

• This very sense of righteousness (virtue or
  charity) has
• been beautifully conveyed thus by the Prophets
  saying
• "Give up whatever pricks your heart".
• 
  (al-Bukhari)

37
Poem-Charity

• Charities that soothe and heal and bless,
• Are scattered over the feet of men like flowers,
• No mystery is here no special boon,
• For the high and nor for the low,
• The smoke ascends as high from the hearth of a
  humble
• cottage,
• As from that of a haughty palace.

38
The Mutual Relationship between Faith and Virtue

• Why Faith comes first in the discussion of
  virtue?
• What are the moral values?
• Are these values permanent or subject to change
  with the passage of time?
• What is the motive behind virtue despite facing
  hardships and difficulties?

39
The Holy Quran Says

• ???????? ????? ????????? ?917? 
• And by the soul and by Him Who perfectly
  proportioned it.
• 
  (917)
• ????????????? ?????????? ???????????? ?918? 
• And imbued it with (the consciousness of) its
  evil and its piety
•   (918)

40
Awareness of Universally valid Norms

• In Islam, man by nature (i.e., fitrah) has an
  awareness of
• the universally valid moral norms. To every man
  this
• awareness is potentially given, even though
  actually
• distorted by culture, education, and his
  existential
• estrangement from his true being. The Divine law
  is
• creatively present both in the laws of nature and
  in the
• natural moral laws of the human mind. A man who
  performs
• morally vicious actions, feels a consciousness of
  
• estrangement from, and contradiction of, his
  essential being.
• According to the Quran, the original nature of
  man is
• essentially good.

41
According to a western philosopher Kant

• First Book - Critique of pure reason
• no need of any belief for morality
• Second Book - Critique of practical reason
• must have faith in God as base of moral values

42
Two Motives for Morality

• Faith in God is a positive motive to please
  Allah.
• Believe in the Last day is a sense of
  accountability.

43
The Base of our Deeds

• The Holy Quran Says
• It is not their meat nor their blood, that
  reaches Allah. it
• is your piety that reaches Him He has thus made
  them
• subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His
  Guidance
• to you and proclaim the good news to all who do
  right.
• (33-37)

44
The Holy Quran Says

• You can never attain piety unless you spend (in
  the way
• of Allah) of what you love surely Allah will
  have full
• knowledge of what you spend.
• 3-92

45
Saying of The Holy Prophet

• Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab
• I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The reward of
  deeds
• depends upon the intentions and every person will
  get
• the reward according to what he has intended. So
• whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a
  woman
• to marry, his emigration was for what he
  emigrated for."

46
Saying of The Holy Prophet
47
Virtue and Prophethood

• The Holy Quran Says
• Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a
  beautiful
• pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in
  Allah
• and the Final Day, and who engages much in the
  Praise
• of Allah.
• (33-21)

48
Prophethood

• Believe in angels ,books and prophets is actually
  
• Prophethood
• Virtue should remain within the limits and must
  not cross the boundary line

49
Doctrine of Pessimism

• Disgusted with the Buddhist or Tayag doctrine
  of
• pessimism that this world is full of evil and
  consequently
• no good can come out of it, some thinkers have
  taken
• refuge in the opposite extreme of optimism. The
  Quran,
• on the other hand, advocates neither the one nor
  the
• other.

50
Quranic Approach

• The teaching of the Quran, which stands for the
• possibility of improvement in the behavior of man
  and
• his control over natural forces, is neither
  pessimism nor
• optimism and is animated by the hope of mans
• eventual victory over evil.

51
Earthly Life

• Earthly life is of tremendous value but it is of
  a purely
• instrumental value. In Islam there is no room for
  the
• materialistic optimism of the modern West which
  says
• My kingdom is of this world alone

52
A Quranic Prayer for The believers

• "Our Lord! give us the good in this world and
• the good in the Hereafter".
• (2 201)

53
Saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)

• "Let the virtues of God by your virtues".
• (al-Bukhari)

54
Good Morals in Islam

• Good morals in Islam are divine attributes and it
  is
• demanded of us to recreate them in ourselves as
  far as
• our humanity allows.

55
Human Sympathy

• Human Sympathy comes first in the discussion of
• virtue

56
The Recipients of Human Sympathy
Donors Recipients
Spending of one's choice wealth Relatives
Spending of one's choice wealth Orphans
Spending of one's choice wealth The Needy
Spending of one's choice wealth the wayfarer,
Spending of one's choice wealth beggars
Spending of one's choice wealth the ransom of slaves
57
Modes of Worship

• Establishing Prayers
• Paying Zakat
• Keeping ones pledge is the key for the
  reformation of Human behavior
• The struggle between the Truth and falsehood-
  battlefield, war

58
Summum Bonum or Highest Good

• To sacrifice ones life in the way of Allah in
  the battlefield or war.

59
The standard of truthfulness or piety

• Those people whose life is the embodiment of
  those
• characteristics that has been explained in
  Ayah-e-Bir are
• the truthful and pious people according to the
  Quranic
• concept of Virtue.

60

• Thanks for your Empathetic listening.