ETHICS AND RELIGION

(PART 2)
Male-Female Interaction at workplace

 And when he came to the well of

Madyan, he found there a crowd of
people watering [their flocks], and he
found aside from them two women
driving back [their flocks]. He said,
"What is your circumstance?" They said,
"We do not water until the shepherds
dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is
an old man.” (Al-Qasas-23)
Male-Female Interaction at workplace

 So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he

went back to the shade and said, "My Lord,
indeed I am, for whatever good You would send
down to me, in need.” (Al-Qasas-24)
 Then one of the two women came to him
walking with shyness. She said, "Indeed, my
father invites you that he may reward you for
having watered for us." So when he came to
him and related to him the story, he said, "Fear
not. You have escaped from the wrongdoing
people.” (Al-Qasas-25)
Male-Female Interaction at workplace

 Take-aways from previous two slides.

 Interaction is allowed but guidelines are
provided.
 Do not judge from far if you see some
woman working.
 Converse to-the-point, No small talk.
 Be confident but have shyness-haya
 Haya = (feeling that Allah is watching me
so I have to follow His guidelines)
 Understanding Common Ethics from the
perspective of psychology and religion

‫اج ُة‬ ُّ َ‫اج ٍؕ‌ة ا‬ ‌ٌؕ ‫ص َبا‬

ۡ ‫ح ۡال ِم‬ ۡ ‫ض َم َث ُل ُن ۡو ِرهٖ َك ِم ۡش ٰكو ٍة ِف ۡي َها ِم‬ ‌ؕ ِ ‫ت َوااۡل َ ۡر‬ ‫هّٰللا‬
َ ‫لز َج‬ َ ‫ص َبا ُح ِف ۡى ُز َج‬ ِ ‫ُ ُن ۡو ُر الس َّٰم ٰو‬
‫ُض ۡ ٓى ُء َولَ ۡو‬ ِ ‫ب ُدرِّ ىٌّ ي ُّۡو َق ُد ِم ۡن َش َج َر ٍة م ُّٰب َر َك ٍة َز ۡي ُت ۡو َن ٍة اَّل َش ۡر ِق َّي ٍة وَّ اَل َغ ۡر ِب َّي ۙ ٍة يَّـ َكا ُد َز ۡي ُت َها ي‬
ٌ ‫َكا َ َّن َها َك ۡو َك‬
‫اس َوهّٰللا ُ ِب ُك ِّل‬
‌ِؕ ‫ض ِربُ هّٰللا ُ ااۡل َ ۡم َثا َل لِل َّن‬ ۡ ‫َلمۡ َت ۡم َس ۡس ُه َنا ٌؕ‌ر ُّن ۡو ٌر َع ٰلى ُن ۡو ٍؕ‌ر َي ۡه ِد ۡىهّٰللا ُ لِ ُن ۡو ِرهٖ َم ۡن َّي َشٓا ُؕء‌ َو َي‬
۳۵﴿ ‫﴾ َش ۡى ٍء َعلِ ۡي ۙ ٌم‬
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The
example of His light is like a niche within which is a
lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a
pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive
tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil
would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light
upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And
Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is
Knowing of all things.
Understanding the parable
in Ayah
“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the
earth…”
 There are two basis of light in physical as well as
spiritual sense:
 In physical sense, noor means Eye, vision, light
 We can’t see anything unless we have vision in eyes
and unless there is light to see things. BOTH are crucial.
 In spiritual sense, word Noor means “Guidance”
that Allah has placed inside us.
 We cannot understand reality unless we have guidance
IN heart, and light of revelation (Quran) outside.
 Understanding the parable
in Ayah
“…the example of His light is like a niche within
which is a lamp…”
 The parable is of a room.
 Niche: An Arch indented in the wall in which
lamp is placed. It spreads the light to whole
room.
Understanding the parable
in Ayah
“…the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it
were a pearly [white] star…”
 Significance of glass for the lamp: to
protect the lamp and to reduce flickering
 The glass is also like a star (Durree). If a
glass is completely clean, it seems like it
has its own light.
 But if the glass is dirty, light cannot go
outside.
Understanding the parable
in Ayah
 “…lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree,
neither of the east nor of the west…”
 Mubarak/blessed/barkat is something that is not
limited. So the supply of oil is unlimited.
 Olive oil: most refined form of oil.
 Neither of the east nor of the west: tree is at a
place where it is continuously hit by sunlight, and
such trees give best kind of oil.
Recap
 Allah asks us to think of His light as a Lamp.
 Lamp is placed in an Arch – Our ribcage is also in the
shape of an Arch.
 Allah placed a lamp in the Nich. What would that be?
 Our Heart.
 Till now, we were IN the room, now we are outside as
trees are outside.
 Inside heart, Allah put a very pure fuel that came
from “outside the room” that was in direct contact
with the light of Allah. What would that be?
 That’s our Rooh. We were directly in the presence of
Allah when He asked us “Who is your Rab?”
 Understanding the parable
in Ayah
 “…whose oil would almost glow even if
untouched by fire…”
 Have you seen pure gasoline? Even if fire is
far from it, it runs towards the fire.
 In spiritual sense, if the rooh is pure and light
of revelation is given to it through ears and
eyes, a little spark and BOOM! This is “…
Light upon light…”
 Light of revelation also means anything that
is in accordance with islamic ethics.
 “‫”‌ َي ۡه ِد ۡىهّٰللا ُ لِ ُن ۡو ِرهٖ َم ۡن َّي َشٓا ُء‬
 It has two meanings:
 Allah guides those to His light whom He
wills.
 Allah guides those to His light whoever
wills.
Understanding the parable
in Ayah
 Allah has compared the lamp/glass
around it with a “star” that is in the sky.
 AL-Razi (R.A) commented on this ayah
that “Angels look at the earth lit up by
light (stars), and people of earth look at
the sky lit up by light (stars)”
 What is this light on earth?
 It is light of the hearts of believers
 This light is figurative, but on Judgment day,
this light will help to navigate us to Jannah in
darkness.
 “…Allah presents examples for the
people, and Allah is Knowing of all
things…”
 When we teach children, we have to give
a lot of examples. Similarly Allah teaches
us, He makes things easy for us by
Giving us examples. These examples are
not limits of Allah’s knowledge because
He is “Knowing of all things.”
 Lessons from ethical
perspective
 EVERYONE knows about common ethics i.e., basic moral issues due
to the guidance of Allah (light) that is in everyone’s heart by default no
matter if they are Muslims or Non-Muslims.
 When do we turn the light on?
 there is darAt night when kness. The darkness is surroundings full of sins and
unethical practices. In Quran misguidance is called darkness.
 How can the light actually guide us?
 If you have kept the glass around heart clean. And the heart gets dirty when
people do sins. There is a hadith that says that Every sin puts a stain on heart, and
their hearts start to become dark.
 Quran says, “ it is not the eyes that grow blind, but the hearts within the chests
that grow blind (22: 46)
 We know by default what are common ethics, and what is unethical, but we
ACTUALLY act according to this if we have kept our heart clean and we
actually feel GUILTY when doing something wrong.
 This is why doing something unethical is difficult for the first time (first dot
on heart), and it becomes easier later on because the heart is emanating
less light.
 Lessons from ethical
perspective
 Surah Noor is full of Laws that differentiate halal from haram
(ethical from unethical). In the middle, there is ayah of Noor.
 It means that without the light of faith, those laws are
meaningless. We can’t understand their significance if we don’t
that “light in heart” to see their benefit.
 It also means that all the unethical practices have to do with
the heart. Dirtier the heart, and we have more capability to be
unethical.
 Such beautiful parable for dark and unethical times, we can’t
say that I am not good enough, I can’t be ethical in these time.
We ARE INHERENTLY AND INCREDEBLY good on being ethical.
 How can we keep the light strong?
 By being in contact with the revelation and being with people who
talk about Allah’s guidance as it leads to “light upon light”, and
everything becomes crystal clear for us.