NAME: SYED ABDUL RAFAY RASHDI

ERP: 19457
TOPIC: SEPI(MIDTERM EXAM)

Q1: Why do you think the state of affairs shown in the Story of Stuff, is reflective of a general state of
forgetfulness/heedlessness (ghaflah)? How is that related to the fragmentation of knowledge? Does
Scientism take away the sacred aspect of nature and make us look at the environment and human
beings as only resources to be used for our utility?

ANS1) The story of stuff informs us about the pace at which we are consuming goods. Not only does it
inform us about our readiness in consumption, it also alarms us about the mechanism behind this cycle
of consumption. Annie Leonard tells us that corporations are drafting their policies and goods in such a
way, as to the human race can never feel satisfied with what they have: he will always be in the desire to
have something better rather than be happy with what he has.

With this aim in mind, to have everything up to date with the modern world so that he can have
his value in the modern world where a person is judged by his possessions, the modern man has forgot
his true purpose of existence which has dragged him to forgetfulness. The saddest part of this
consumption cycle is that, the consumer does not even know the harmful effects that his consumption is
having on the world. The extraction of raw materials for the production of goods has depleted the
natural resources all over the world. The labor in poor country is exploited because of working on low
wages and working in environment which is not fit for human health. The waste, which is also growing
at an ever-increasing rate, is either burned which releases toxic chemicals or is dumped into the ground
and as a result our climate also gets badly affected. Keeping all these things in mind, in can be said that
by thinking just from the perspective of the world, man has not only caused damage to his inner soul
and satisfaction, but has also been ungrateful to the best gift of god to mankind, that is nature.

Science only covers outward purpose of our existence and as a result has caused us to think
about the worldly luxurious which is known as thinking from the rim without looking at the big picture.
This is the reason science is just involved in developing new methods of production and directing human
beings into consuming those goods. But people who are in search for inner peace never gets satisfied
with what science tells them about the purpose of life, even science is not even been able to answer the
question of purpose of existence of human beings and as a result developed the theory of evolution
which soon came under scrutiny and has been rejected by many famous scientists.

The modern man has got all the information he needs to answer the question regarding his
purpose of existence and only needs to put that information in order to get close to the axis of his
creation and find the purpose of his existence which is submission to the divine soul. Only then man can
reject the theories put forward by science and realize worldly luxurious can cause more stress and only
worshipping ALLAH submitting to Him is the sole purpose of his life.
Q2) How we understand and justify Morality depends on how we understand the human nature.
Critically analyze this statement. Why does Human Rights lose its justification in an atheistic worldview
and how does Islam provide a justification for intrinsic value of human beings?

ANS 2) Morality is described as the set of principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong
and good and bad behavior. It is the distinction between what should be done and what should be left.
There is no meaningful difference between the concepts of ethics and morality. Ethics focuses on the
decision-making process for determining right and wrong, which sometimes is a matter of weighing the
pros and cons or the competing values and interest. Morals come from within. One's own internal
compass. In short, ethics provide justification for morals.

Morality can be discovered or invented. Moral values are discovered with the help of nature and
are the set of rules with which humans should try to spend their lives and unethical practices should be
avoided. There is a purpose that nature has provided us with a set of rules so that we can peacefully
spend our lives contributing our fair share of services to the world and consuming our fair share of
resources in response rather than consuming more than we deserve thus destroying the balance of
nature. The argument that nature is invented takes its roots from the argument that different cultures,
religion or countries have different rules which are classified is moral or immoral. It is true that different
cultures or countries have different and it is because that different societies were shaped in different
ways and this explains the differences between morality of different cultures. So, it can safely be said
that morals were discovered primarily, but different cultures and societies used these principles in
different ways.

Since moralities have differed with differing cultures and societies, so has the human rights and
its justifications. But one thing that should be kept in mind is that Islam was sent as a blessing for human
beings being the perfect of all religions making all religions obsolete and useless. As a result, human
rights mentioned in Islam are perfect and needs no more amendments since they are laid down by God
and his Messenger. But atheists argue that human rights are not perfect and needs to be changed with
respect to time. They try to justify human rights with the advancement of science and technology and
points out that human rights should be framed by keeping the in mind that humans should be given
complete freedom. Atheists do not realize that modern day science is the main reason of human rights
violation, spreading injustice around the world by causing destruction of natural resources in third world
countries in order to fulfill the growing demand of goods in the modern world.

This is the reason human rights laid down by Islam are eternal and in the benefit of entire
human race rather than a particular culture or religion. This is because, unlike science, Islam has drafted
human rights by looking at the spiritual world and needs of the people rather than just focusing on the
worldly needs.
Q3) Why do you think it is highly difficult to have a consistent ethical framework in a liberal market
society? What are the main problematic assumptions with respect to human identity, freedom,
rationality and ends? Why is there an absence of true motivation for moral practices in a liberal market
society?

ANS 3) A liberal market society is one where consumers and producers are free to do what they want
without and any intervention or regulation from the government. As there is no regulation from the
government, many corporations have made profit maximization their sole aim of doing business. In
order to cater the growing demand of goods, businesses have got involved in immoral practices in order
to raise production so that the ever-increasing demand for goods can be met. These immoral practices
include depletion of natural resources such as water and demolition of forests. The disposal of all these
goods by the means of burning releases toxic gases in our environment which causes an ever-lasting
negative effects on our climate. Another aspect of this liberal market society is that, in it happiness is
measured through the worldly possessions that you have. Nevertheless, the end goal of businesses in
this society is profit maximization and that of consumers is possessing up to date stuff.

In this liberal market society, every individual is identified by his worldly possessions and no
attention is paid to the social work he or she has done for the betterment of the society. This is because,
if a person is not consuming goods, he is contributing nothing to the free market driven economy and is
seen as a liability in the liberal market society. Here the concept of unilateralism comes into play which
says that a person will only do a job if it benefits him regardless of his benefits to the society. In order to
keep this cycle of consumption and disposal going on, these free market businesses draft their
marketing policies in such a way as to the human mind will never be satisfied with what they want and
the mind will lose its freedom to think beyond the worldly luxurious that are up for grabs in this free
market society. The corrupt and unethical practices of the liberal market society have become so
common, that it has corrupted our rational. The society is no longer ready to accept that wrong is
wrong, justifying this by saying that all these practices are okay as long as the demand is being catered.
Kantianism straightforwardly rejects all these approaches and points out to the society that does not
indulge in the unethical practices and does not aim for profit maximization.

In a liberal market society, following ethics means that the objective of profit maximization
cannot be achieved. This is because competition is so fierce in this free market that avoiding these
unethical practices would make this it nearly impossible to earn good profits. An idea of the competition
in this kind of market can be taken from the that firms need to reinvest most of their profits in order to
survive. But we should keep faith in Eternal Soul and follow the business practices laid by Islam and
follow the instructions of Islam that business should be conducted for the betterment of people. The
world leading Cosmetic brand “BODY SHOP” does not involve in the unethical practice of animal testing
and is still the top brand in its field. So this points out to the fact that we avoid unethical practices in our
firms and conduct business with honesty, the help of ALLAH will surely arrive at some in time.
Q4)  In what ways does the “free” market enslave human beings? Compare this with the Islamic
conception of human freedom in submission. How does genuine happiness arise out of this submission?

ANS 4) The modern society is based on the concept of consumption. Capitalist has caused the human
minds to think no beyond than they want. The modern society is framed in such a way that it has caused
the human minds to get stuck in the vicious cycle of consumption. As a result, the main aim of the
human race now is to possess luxurious items. If someone in the modern day does not have expensive
items in his possession, he or she is seen as someone who does not have any value in the society. If a
person is contributing socially to this society, his work is useless until or unless it has got financial gains
for himself and for the others. This practice of consumption has destroyed morality. In order to meet the
growing demand of goods, natural resources have been exhausted including forests and water supplies
and have also damaged our damaged our environment in the process

Not only this cycle of consumption has destroyed morality, it has caused the modern man to
forget its purpose of creation. This is because man has acquired more knowledge than he could control
and has tweaked around all the things in his favor without actually knowing its consequences as a
whole. This phenomena is known as “MAN BETWEEN THE RIM AND THE AXIS” which means that man is
just seeing the world from one perspective and is lost in the luxurious of the world and thinks that
worldly things will bring happiness and satisfaction go his life. He is far away from the axis of his creation
and cannot see the big picture(the spiritual mean of life). As a result, the modern man cannot fulfill the
true purpose of his existence and as a result lacking the will to submit to the eternal creature i.e. the
GOD.

When a man cannot attain the things, he wants in this world, he becomes depressed and losses
hope and looks out for the purpose of his creation. Once a man is closer to his axis and is exposed to the
big picture, he can then only realize the true purpose of his existence. He can then only admit that inner
peace and satisfaction can only be attained through submission to the divine GOD. Once the man
realizes this, he will no longer find worldly luxurious interesting and will look out for ways for mental
peace.