Ethics

Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value, and thus comprises the branch of philosophy called axiology.Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. As a field of intellectual inquiry, moral philosophy also is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory.

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Food . Hindusim . Najasa . Ethics

I have been told that Islamic rulings dictate that we cannot eat with a Hindu or anyone that is not from Ahle Kitab and that the food that they touch becomes impure. Is this true? If so, isn't this just plain discrimination?

Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 6 months ago

There is an article entitled 'The Implications of Unbelief: Tracing the Emergence of Distinctly Shi'i Notions Regarding the Food and Impurity of Non-Muslims', by David Freidenreich, published in 'Islamic Law and Society', Vol. 18, published by Brill. This traces the development of Shi'i fiqh, and makes the point that the particular development of these rules developed in the 5th/11th century; i.e. the matter was much less clear prior to this era. It would require a study of the socio-political background to the development of this fiqh, in order to understand further what brought about this development. There are also a number of contradictory narrations in Shi'i sources regarding these rulings. Incidentally, Hindus also have rulings on purity with regard to non-Hindus.

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Future . Marriage . Ethics . Istikhara

Can we judge how someone's character will be in the future with the help of Istekhara, such as in a marriage situation?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 1 year ago

The goal of istikhara, as presented in hadith, is to seek divine wisdom for what path we should take. So, from that angle, the goal of istikhara is not to see how someone's character will be in a marriage.

However, some scholars who have a lot of experience performing istikharas might sometimes be able to offer some insights on the matter, especially if it is glaringly apparent.

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Islam . Ethics

A website gives rewards for every new user that signs up, but its terms say that a person is allowed to open only one account. Is it allowed in Islam for me to make many accounts on such a site?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 year ago

When they put a condition that a person is allowed one account only, then you can not break this condition to get reward more than what has been set by the company.

'Wassalam.

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Ethics

Is it permissible to read PDFs of books or articles that are downloaded from pirated sites?

Knowledge is for all human beings and no one has right to prevent knowledge, but we are not allowed to cause harm to others.

'Wassalam.

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Islam . Ethics

What does Islam say about faking a smile? For instance, would it be okay if someone asks you if you are sad, and you are, yet you don't want them to worry so you appear as though you are happy?

It is recommended to look like happy and smiling even if you are unhappy. The Hadeeth describes the believer as ( His sadness is inside his heart, and his face is always pleasant and smiling حزنه في قلبه وبِشره في وجهه

Wassalam.

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Pain . Animals . Ethics

Is animal drug testing permissible even though it causes pain and death to many animals? Would it be considered Makrooh or against Islamic ethics?

Torturing or harming animals is not allowed in Islam as we have Hadeeth that a Muslim woman will be punished because she tortured a cat and kept it hungry.

Drug testing can be to save life of human beings but some times it is not for saving life.

It is allowed to use animals in drug testing if it was related to saving human life, but every effort must be done to minimize the suffering of the animals.

Wassalam.

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Mankind . Ethics

Is it generally impermissible for us to judge other humans? If so, are there any circumstances when it is allowed?

It depends on what you mean by 'judge'. If it were impermissible to judge others, there would be no judiciary, and no criminals would be brought to court and justice would not be done for victims of crimes. There is a fine line between being bigoted or prejudiced, and using what insight Allah (swt) has blessed you with to assess people. There are many ahadith about the necessity for choosing your spouse carefully or choosing your friends carefully. This requires a judgement of someone's personality. If we did not judge at all, then people could have criminals for friends and non-believers for spouses. Children would be raised with no moral compass and would be allowed to do whatever they wanted because the parents would feel they were judging them if they tried to establish boundaries for them. When seeking knowledge, a person would not 'judge' between good teachers and bad teachers, and would simply go to anybody to try to study. If by 'judge' you mean 'condemn someone without evidence', then that is not permissible; or even if someone is a criminal, maybe we should not look down on them and think we are superior to them, because we don't know what their circumstances were in life that led them to commit crimes. Nevertheless, they must still pay for their crimes. However, some people are deliberately malicious and have evil intentions towards others. If others forgive their evil actions and evil intentions because they think they are 'judging' them, then this allows corruption to prevail.

Mankind . Ethics

Is it generally impermissible for us to judge other humans? If so, are there any circumstances when it is allowed?

We do not know about others but very little. We don't know their intentions and what they think. Our judgement is based on incomplete knowledge, that is why it is inaccurate.

We judge what we see obviously with out doubt, whether good or bad. We can't judge people according to what we hear about them.

Wassalam.

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Woman . Ethics

Is it considered ethical in Islam to openly criticise a Muslim woman for the immodesty of the way she may have dressed publicly?

Islam does not allow criticizing people in public but only under very limited circumstances e.g. a sinner who insists on sinning openly in a way which can misguide others. The Hadeeth says: He who advises you in secret has respected you, and he who advises you in public has disrespected you.

It is not ethical to openly criticize a Muslim woman for he un Islamic dress unless she been advised properly and insisted on doing wrong and her sinful acts can cause harm to others, then warning people from her bad deeds can be preventive.

Wassalam.