RKUD 3020 : ISLAMIC ETHICS KIRKHS, IIUM

1. CHARACTER & the doctrine of mean
• -character means an established state of
the soul ( hay  a rāsikha fi al- nafsi) from
which actions proceed easily, without any
need for reflection and deliberation.

2. • -If this state is such that good actions;
those which praised by reason and the
shariah proceed from it, it is called good
character.
• -if the actions which proceed from the
state are evil, the state from which they
derive, is called bad character.

3. • In short, the character must fulfill 2
requirements of stability, & easy +
spontaneous.
• Good/ bad character, refers to man’s
inward form (al-surah al batinah). An
outward act cannot be called a virtue or
vice. It is either called a virtuous/vicious
act.

4. • -In man’s inward aspect (soul) there are 4
faculties which are
• 1) reason,
• 2)anger,
• 3)desire,
• 4)justice.
• -a man is of good character if all these
faculties remain sound, moderate and
mutually harmonious

5. • -alghazali specifies the sound states of the
faculties and determines the bounds within
which they should remain by introducing
his concept of mean

6. What is the cONCEPT OF MEAN?
• the mean (wast)
• -it is a standard, a general principle, which
will be ascertained by reason (aql) and the
sharia
• -it is the straight path (al-sirat al mustaqim)
• -it is the moderate/middle aspect between
the excess and deficiency

7. • -the mean is the sound state of faculty which
determine the bound within which the state of
the faculty should remain
• -for each faculty (except for justice) has two
extremes – the excess & the deficiency – the
state between the two is the mean (wast)
• -it is the mean state is praiseworthy (virtue-
fadila), the two extremes being blameworthy
(vices- radhilatan), which generates vices.

8. • Eg: (*)
– If the faculty of knowledge is at the extreme
of excess i.e is used in ‘fulfilling the wrong
motives, the vice of wickedness (khubt) is
produced in the soul.If it is at the extreme of
deficiency, the vice of stupidity (balah) is
generated.If it is at mean, wisdom (hikma) is
achieved
– If the faculty of anger is at the extreme of
excess, the vice of rashness (tahawwur)
appears. If it is at the extreme of deficiency,
the vice of cowardice (jubn) exists in the soul.
If it is at the mean state, there appears
courage (shaja a)

9. – if the faculty of desire is at its excess, it begets
the vice of greed (sharah). If it is at the extreme
of deficiency, the vice of the annihilation of
desire is produced. If it is at the state of the
mean, temperance is achieved
– the faculty of justice however has no two
extremes, but only an opposite which is
injustice (jawr). Should this faculty fail to
control the faculties of desire and anger, the vice
of injustice exists in the soul. If it works well, the
virtue of justice is achieved.

10. • If the four faculties of the soul are sound, the four
virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance and
justice exist in the soul.
• If they are at their opposite extremes, seven
vices may appear
• Wisdom : is a state of the soul which enables a
man to distinguish right from wrong in all
voluntary actions
• Courage: is a state of the soul in which the
faculty of anger is always obedient to reason
• Temperance: is a state of the soul in which the
faculty of desire is disciplined under the
commands of reason and the Shari’a

11. • Justice : is a state of the soul in which
anger and desire are controlled under the
dictates of reason and the sharia – the
state in which reason, desire and anger
are kept in their proper place and given
their due.
• -it is the state of the mean of these three
faculties, but not the mean state of the
faculty of justice. Therefore, justice is
synonymous with the mean state of the
soul.

12. • -the question is if the mean is the virtue,
how to determine the right mean (al-wast al
haqiqi) : According to al-Ghazali, the mean
is a standard, a general principle, which will
be ascertained by reason /intellect faculty
(aql) and the sharia
• -In this regard, he differed from Aristotle
who appealed to an unaided human reason

13. • Its significant
• -to attain happiness if his soul has the
quality of the angels (free from the worldly
attachment so only the soul free from this
attachment will be saved (26:89).

14. • Eg: the miser busies himself with saving
wealth, the extravagant spending it
• In both cases, the soul is attached to
wealth, a worldly thing
• To freedom from this attachment, man
should free his soul from both qualities
which impossible
• Thus, he should achieve what is nearest
and most similar to it, and this is achieved
by preserving the mean in spending

15. Is it possible to CHANGE
CHARACTER?
• -It is possible to change character through
effort and appropriate moral training for if
not the commandment and admonition,
encouragement and threat would be
useless.
• -indeed, the main function of religion is to
guide man in the refinement of character

16. • -it does not require the uprooting or
complete suppression of man’s natural
faculties of desire and anger
• -it only requires controls of the faculties of
the soul to the state of moderation
• -however, it is the fact that man differs to
one another in term of the speed of
changing, al-Ghazali divides man into 4
levels

17. 1. Negligent people (al-insan al-ghufl)
• -who are ignorant- (jahil)
• -who do not distinguish truth from falsehood or
good from evil
• -who are lack of conviction
• -whose desire are not strengthened since they
have not indulged in them
• -whose character may become good in a short
time.
2. Those who know well enough the evil but do not
shun it because they find it enjoyable.
• -who are ignorant and astray (dall)
• -the correction of their disposition is more difficult
but it is possible through strenuous effort

18. 3. Those who believe that their evil
dispositions to be right and good and so
pursue evil ways wholeheartedly
• -who are ignorant, astray and wicked (fasiq)
• -it is almost impossible for them to be cured
of their vices
• -there is no hope for their correction except
in rare instances.

19. 4. Those who are in addition to their corrupt
beliefs and practices, see excellence in
their very excess of evil.
• -who are Ignorant, astray, wicked and
vicious (sharir)
• -who think that they gain fame by the
amount of evil they accomplish
• -it is the most recalcitrant of the 4 levels
and the most difficult to change

20. methods of change the CHARACTER
3 methods
1. By nature - Divine gift : (bi tab wa al fitra)
• -was given to man by God at the time of
his birth
• -was created in the sense that the
faculties of their souls are in equilibrium,
that they are good by nature
• Eg, prophets

21. 2. Mortification (mujahada) and self-training
(riyada) and habituation (I’tiyad)
• -it is the act of taking pains to perform
those actions which proceed from good
character until they become habitual and
pleasant.
• Eg, to acquire generosity, a man needs
to train himself with this character until it
becomes a nature to him

22. • -the act will be considered to have
become his nature and habit if he feels
pleasure in performing it (I’tiyad-
habituation)
• -this pleasure feeling, is the criterion of the
acquisition of a virtue
• -man will only be said to have acquired the
trait of generosity if he finds joy in giving
away his wealth.

23. • -so there must be constant perseverance
in voluntary acts, otherwise no quality can
be produced in the soul
• -the reason for a virtue was difficult and
burdensome at first, and become easy
after practiced for some times for the
circular relationship between soul and
body. (refer to soul interaction theory)

24. 3. By association
• by observing good people and associating
with them
• Man by nature is imitative, so if man
associates with the virtuous for some time,
he will unconsciously incorporate in
himself something of their goodness and
also consciously learn from them

25. • If association is impossible because of the
absence of virtuous men, study of their
lives will be sufficient to strengthen the
desire for goodness and to facilitate its
cultivation

26. • Therefore al-Ghazali often narrates the
stories of those who underwent moral
struggle, and recommends the study of
Kitab Hilyat al-Awliya which contains
details about companions, the followers
and those after them.
• This method of learning good traits by
observing the good and mixing with them is
regarded by al-Ghazali as the basic
principle of training children in good
character for they are more imitative that n
adults.

27. • The man who achieves good character in
all these three ways, possesses the most
excellent character.
• One who is deprived of all these,
possesses the worst type of character
• Most people lie between these two
extremes. The differences in their
characters are owing to the differences in
the methods they follow

28. Correcting evil character/
Purification of the soul
Awareness of the evil : 4 methods to that
Keep company with a spiritual guide
(shaykh) so that he might closely observe
and identify the defect
Ask a truthful, pious, friend
Gain knowledge of one’s defect from an
enemy
Mix with people and to ascribe to oneself
the defects one sees in them

29.  Hasten to remove the evil by asking help
from a spiritual guide just as he seeks
guidance of a medical man in curing bodily
disease
• A true guide is Gnostic (arif), intelligent, a seer
of the soul’s diseases, kind-hearted, admonishes
other in religion, purified his own soul from evil
traits, is eager to assist others in their efforts for
purification
• Common man do not know the diseases of the
soul, their secret causes and the specific ways
and subtle techniques for their removal, hence
they need guidance
• On finding a true guidance, cling to him as a blind
man on the sea-shore clings to his guide

30. (the principle of opposition) The restoration
of the spiritual health; the cutting off the evil
substance and removing its causes.
– A vice of the soul can be cured permanently if
its substance is destroyed. This can only be
accomplished by the removal of the causes of
vices.
– Therefore the treatment of the individual vices,
makes an exhaustive enquiry into the
causes of every vice. (via knowledge)
– The vices can be removed by their opposite ;
opposing it causes; which indeed according al-
Ghazali the general rule of spiritual treatment.
– To know; is to know the nature of a vice, its
causes, its harm in this life or in the next

31. – Knowledge of harm should be so certain that it
becomes deep-seated in the soul, attains the
status of strong faith and firm conviction. such
knowledge will arouse a strong disgust for the
vice.
– Opposing the cause of a vice by knowledge is
called by al-Ghazali is cognitive limit (ilaj ilmi)
– The next is the action to get rid of vice; in
need of perseverance, needs to be repeated for
a long time
– As a result of perseverance in the opposite
action, the vice will be effaced from the soul,
and its opposite quality; virtue will be
established (soul interaction theory of al-
Ghazali)

32. – The removal of vices through action, or
practical remedy (ilaj amali)
– Since practical remedy is contrary to one’s
desire, it demands a high degree of patience
without which no cure is possible..
– In sum, there remedy for an evil trait lies in the
combination of three elements; knowledge,
action and patience.
• The principle of opposite is mention in the
Qur'an 79:40-41

33.  In refining the character by means of the
principle of opposite
• Diagnose the diseases and determine its causes,
decide upon the form of self training one s will be
able to undergo with good intention, according to
age, bodily health and temperament
• If an evil trait is so strong, unable to be removed
by practicing its opposite, devise a technique by
which the disciples habit may be deflected to a
less evil trait, only after that to be removed by its
opposite. Eg; miserly person, to be ordered to
give away his wealth to impress others after
some time, miserliness will vanish but the evil
trait of love of influence will be powerful, to be
removed by its opposite

34. • Perseverance in opposition must be stopped
after the mean has been achieved, for now the
soul has regained it health, other wise, another
evil trait will take place. Eg. miserliness to be
trained to generosity, but if generosity goes
beyond the mean state, it leads to prodigality
• Al-Ghazali suggest the way to identify whether
the soul has achieve the mean; if an action is
easier and more pleasant than its opposite
action, it means that the soul is in a state of
deviating from the mean eg : if giving money to
the undeserving is easier than not giving to them,
it is a sign that the soul has crossed the mean to
the extreme excess in spending

35. Asking for divine grace (tawfiq)
• There is a need for a different forms of
divine help; divine leading, strengthening
and grace
• To preserve the mean also, one need to
ask for god’s guidance in ritual prayer

36. A-GHAZALI
AND THE CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS
 4 means of happiness
 ‘goods of the soul
 Bodily ‘goods’
 External goods
 Goods of divine grace
Happiness is reducible to knowledge and action
The first one is the primary means to happiness
Husn al-khuluq is under ‘goods of the soul.

37. Negative – positive theory of happiness
NEGATIVE THEORY OF HAPPINESS
Against the idea of worldly pleasure as the
goal of life on two reasons
• The pleasure of this world lasts for a
limited period of time; man’s death
• Is impure, imperfect and mixed with pain
* Except for the pleasure of knowledge, of conversation
with God and intimacy with Him. In fact this is the
highest/greatest form of pleasure

38.  Criticize man’s worldly attachment as
goal of life;
i. The laymen who work only to earn for a
living
ii. The sensualist who regards happiness
consist in the gratification of desires for
food and sex
iii. Richness and wealth as the aim of life
iv. Fame
v. Power, respect and influence

39.  Criticize those abandon the world at all
i. Act of certain devotee who kill
themselves in order to escape from
the toil of this world
ii. Those who get rid of his human
qualities – denying faculty of desire,
anger by engaging in vigorous
mortification leading to death, insane,
illness

40. Positive happiness
 Otherworldly happiness – (as saadat al
ukhrawiyya)
 is obtained if necessary preparation for
it be made in this life, by controlling the
human qualities and not by uprooting
them
 Worldly goods that serve as means to
otherworldly happiness are only
metaphorically form of happiness

41.  Man’s conduct will be considered good if
it is conducive to happiness in the
hereafter
 Other worldly happiness was the central
theme of the teachings of the prophets,
known through scriptures, sharia and
spiritual insight of the sufis
4 characteristics of otherworldly happiness
Continuity without end
Joy without sorrow
Knowledge without ignorance
Sufficiency

42. The abode of happiness is paradise,
misery of hell
Happiness and misery during the
resurrection day is both physical and
spiritual
Spiritual happiness is superior to physical
happiness

43. Happiness known through reason,
sharia and the spiritual insight
(mushahada-i-batini) of the sufis
The cause of happiness is not God’s
pleasure in the virtuous, nor is misery
caused by His anger towards the
vicious
Happiness and misery are caused by the
conditions of the soul. If unbelief/vicious
qualities are in man’s soul at time of death
this bring misery. This is the reason for al-
Ghazali’s great emphasis upon the soul