What is the philosophy behind the importance of “Morality”?

Human has been created in a way that both good and evil are shown to him. A human by innate nature can distinguish good from evil.

When the human does not have good characteristics, while having the knowledge, he can be so much dangerous and the most dangerous of all creatures of Allah.

You have definitely heard about the nuclear weapons that for example were used in the two cities of Hiroshima and Nakazaki, that in a few seconds at least 129000 individuals were killed, and there is not any animal that can be this much dangerous.

A human without having good characteristic always looks after his/her own interests and nothing can prevent him/her or dissuade him/her from doing cruelties to the others.

Human without having moral bases can be superficially civilized and developed from scientific perspective, but in reality these developments make his/her personality fall into destruction.

So for this very reason, the moral issues are so much recommended in Islam.

The Islamic teachings can be divided into three major branches:

1) Its theological branch or everything which is related to the beliefs.

2) Its jurisprudential branch or everything which is related to the obligations and prohibitions.

3) Its moral branch.

You might know that there are a lot of books which have been written about moral issues by various Islamic scholars in the field of morality, and many useful issues are posed in them, like about different good and evil characteristics of human and the ways that each can be reduced or enhanced or removed and I suggest the respected readers to refer to these books.

It is interesting that the holy Prophet of Islam said:

“I have been chosen (as the prophet) in order to complete the virtues of morality.”

There are two kinds of illness in regard to human, the physical illnesses and the spiritual ones, and the knowledge of morality which is derived from the verses of the holy Quran and the Narrations of the infallibles prescribes for the second kind of illnesses i.e. spiritual ones.

And it is narrated from Imam Ali peace be upon him that he described the holy Prophet of Islam, as a doctor who looks for the patients.

The recommendations of Islam and let’s say all teachings of Islam revive us, Allah said in chapter Anfal, verse 24:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَجِيبُواْ لِلّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُم لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ

“Believers, respond to Allah and the messenger when he calls you to that which revives you”.

We said already that religion of Islam is a guidance for mankind toward perfection and eternal welfare, and the knowledge of morality shows us the path to reach to welfare, because there are a lot of Narrations that say: the one who has so and so spiritual illnesses, cannot enter paradise or even cannot feel the smell of paradise, so if someone wants to reach to paradise, he/she must be away from those evils and vices.

If we really apply the morality in our life, apart from its hereafter and spiritual benefits and consequences, it has its worldly effects, for example the heart which is empty from envy or hatred or suspicion etc. definitely is nearer to the healthy state.

The real tranquility can be obtained by morality, and not through other things like wealth, and the witness of that is that a lot of wealthy people are so much stuck by family problems or different kinds of emotional problems.

And we mentioned in another essay that as the holy Quran said, on the day of judgment there is not any benefit for the wealth and children except the one who brings with him/herself, the healthy heart(chapter Shoara verses 88-89) and the way to obtain this kind of pure and healthy heart is morality.

The life of infallibles as the peak, and the life of their real students and great Islamic scholars in the field of morality can be so much helpful and informative for us and you can refer to them in order to take them as symbols.

At the end, it is appropriate to mention one useful verse of the holy Quran as an example for moral issues.

Allah said in chapter Fosselat verse 34:

وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

“Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel with that which is most just, and see, the one whom there is enmity between you will be as if he were a loyal guide”.

We are advised in morality to be good to the one who has treated us badly (except few cases that being good is very harmful and dangerous to us or the society), you know one of the benefits of the moral issues is that through it the hatreds and animosities among people get removed.