Islam Fundamental Principles and Teachings

Marital Issues

• For a husband not to have sex with his wife for more than four months.

• Masturbation, which is to cause ejaculation by hand or any other means – it is allowed if it is done by the spouse, for example in foreplay.

• For a husband to have sex with his wife when she is going through her monthly menstruation period.

• For a woman to go out of the house without the knowledge or permission of her husband. (This excludes cases that are considered necessary.)

• For spouses to publicise each other’s secrets.

**Children ** • Not disciplining one’s children such that it would lead them astray.

• For children to disobey their parents.

• Relating a child to someone other than his natural father.

Personal Conducts

• Lying.

• Fraud.

• Cheating.

• Cheating in weighing and measuring.

• Deception.

• Treachery.

• Hypocrisy.

• Forging a will.

• Stealing and robbery.

and a woman must wear h}ijab from her non-mah}ram relatives. Marriage is allowed between cousins. – Editor’s note.

• Going against one’s vow.

• Breaking one’s covenant.

• Backbiting or listening to it.

• Slander and defamation or listening to it.

• To be jealous and to act up on it.

• To be haughty.

• To be extravagant.

• To wear gold or silk (applicable to men only).

• To use gold and silver utensils even for decorating reasons.

• Not keeping oneself clean from urine and other unclean substances.

• Endangering one’s own life.

Food & Drink

• Drinking intoxicating liquors.

• Eating animal flesh not slaughtered according to Islamic law, also consuming forbidden animals’ flesh such as pork, etc.

• Eating forbidden parts of the animals such as testicles.

• Eating and drinking of the unclean or that which has become unclean.

• Eating mud or other prohibited things. **Social issues ** • To hurt neighbours.

• Looking into the houses of neighbours without permission.

• Sitting at a table where alcohol is served.

• Prevention of good deeds and charitable works.

• Sitting with people who make innovations in religion.

• Justifying or excusing the oppressor and the people who make innovations and supporting them.

• Reaching power by unlawful means (in accordance to Islamic law).

• Extracting confessions through torture.

• Playing chess, backgammon, card games, even if no gambling is involved.

• To work as a pimp.

• Spreading corruption on earth.

• To create commotion by setting individuals against one another.

• To praise one in his presence and abuse him in his absence.

• Exhumation of graves.

• Sitting with those who indulge in meaningless talks about the signs of Allah.

• Frolic and frivolity - to engage in useless activities, which are wasteful and distract from the remembrance and the path of Allah.

• To practice astrology or seek the help of astrologers. (to believe in and take action accordingly.)

• To subdue ghosts, Jinns and angles, etc. or seek the help of those who practice them (to harm others).

• Practicing black magic, witchcraft, or seek the help of those who practice them.

• Using magic to cause separation between husband and wife, or to cause one love the other without their control.

• Hypnotism (except for necessary medical requirements)

• Altering the will of the deceased.

• Issuing decree (fatwa>) without being qualified to do so.

• Acquiring people’s money through falsehood.

• Going to a country where one’s religion may be harmed.

• Staying in a country where one cannot protect and keep one’s religion, and practice the Islamic rites.

• To be haughty and arrogant.

Sin

• To consent in sin.

• To publicise one’s sins.

• To publicise indecency.

• To help others commit sin.

• To persist in committing minor sins.

• To order or encourage others to commit evil or sin.

• Considering one’s sins not serious such that this would lead to disregard repentance.

• Promoting indecent acts.

Oppression

• Oppression and transgression.

• Helping an oppressor and condoning his actions.

• To become employees of the oppressors.

• Asking for judgment from an oppressor unnecessarily.

Gambling

• Betting or any form of gambling.

• Manufacturing tools of gambling instruments.

• Betting in ways other then those mentioned in the section of Islamic laws about archery and horseracing.

• Participating in horseracing competitions. Music, etc.

• Dancing.

• Singing and listening to it.

• Visiting nightclubs, discos, etc.

• Manufacturing, buying, selling, possession, or playing musical or instruments.

• Playing drums, flutes and suchlike.

Truth

• To accept or give bribe to hide a truth or make something false prevail.

• Presenting false testimony.

• Destruction of the truth.

• Swearing a false oath.

• Hiding a testimony.

• Hiding the truth.

Falsehood

• Accepting false religions, like Sufism, Baha’i, etc. • To become a member of parties of falsehood like communism etc.

• Keeping, buying, selling, teaching and publicising false and misleading literature.

• The learning of corrupting subjects, or teaching them to other than those who want to refute them.

Miscellaneous

• Making statues, as well as buying, selling, and promoting them for the purpose of worship.

• Buying and selling swine and fighting dogs.

• Taking and giving usury, managing or dealing with any aspect of preparing or finalising the process of a contract involving usury, and the brokerage about it.

• Shaving one’s or others’ beards.

• To be self-praising about one’s own worships.

• A fury that leads to Haram.

• To break one’s bond with relatives.

• Earning by unlawful things and means.

• To write erotic poetry about a chaste woman or a boy, etc. • The use of intoxicants, whether drinking, serving, selling, buying, farming the plants [of their fruits] for this purpose, making, using their proceeds, taking them to others, renting a property, a vehicle, or anything else for their purpose, and also all uses of them such as treating injuries unnecessarily, and suchlike.

Needless to say, some of the conducts above may be related to others in the list, but they have been included for the seriousness of the conduct, as this has been indicated by various Qur’anic verses or Prophetic H{adith or traditions.

Furthermore, it should be noted that some of the conducts mentioned above constitute kufr (disbelief), some are shirk (polytheism or association), some are kaba>’er (major sins), and some are subject to kaffa>rah (payment of fine or compensation), or subject to h}add (punishment predefined in the Qur’an or the hadith) or ta’zeer (punishment as prescribed by the Islamic judge), all of which are detailed in relevant jurisprudence texts.

The Unethical Conducts

There the habits and traits that are morally abominable and therefore it is imperative for the Muslim individual to avoid them and refrain from them, and they are many. The scholars of ethics have mentioned them in their books and here we shall mention most of them, some of which, according to shari’ah, are even prohibited.

• To seek revenge.

• To boast about oneself.

• To be very optimistic or overconfident about oneself264.

• To consider one’s own good deeds as great.

• To belittle other’s good deeds.

• To consider other’s bad deeds as great.

• To belittle one’s own bad deeds.

• Not to care about one’s own bad conduct and ignore other’s protests against it.

• To look down on people.

• To cause inconvenience to others.

• To transgress, even by sitting comfortably265 in a packed place.

• Hurting others even though an act causing it may not be unlawful, such as building one’s house such that it blocks sunlight or air from reaching the neighbour’s.

• Insulting others even if not up to the unlawful limits.

• Frightening people even if not to the unlawful degrees.

• Hostility even if less than the unlawful limits.

• The use of swear words even if not unlawful.

• Jealousy that is less than the prohibited.

• Wanting.

• To be rancorous and vindictive.

• To be stingy.

• To be malevolent.

• To be greedy.

• To be hasty.

264 Such that one would forget or abandon the need to refrain from evil and repent.

265 i.e. having no consideration for others.

• To cause commotion.

• To be hardhearted.

• To be awkward and not to get on with others.

• To be bad mannered.

• To be proud

• To be haughty.

• To show off even in non-worship matters.

• To suspect people.

• To be afraid of people.

• Going back on one’s promise.

• To be excessive in sexual lust.

• To have no self-respect.

• To have a low self-esteem and enthusiasm.

• To have no sense of honour.

• To have eager and fervour unnecessarily.

• To publicise matters that are best kept private.

• To cover up the truth, even if it were not mandatory to reveal it, even by keeping quiet.

• To say lies when joking.

• To accuse someone of something in a joke, like “he eats too much”.

• To make fun of others.

• To joke a lot.

• To laugh too much.

• To rely on [or take advantage of] others.

• To burden others.

• To do useless things.

• To talk about things that are not one’s concern.

• To spy on things that is not one’s business.

• Taking good deeds lightly.

• Not caring about desirable acts.

• Persisting on detestable matters.

• To get involved with indecent things.

• Involving one self in undesirable matters, even if they are not unlawful.

• To be materialistic; caring too much for material issues, e.g. clothing and housing, etc. in a similar way to those who lead an extravagant life.

• To express grief in hardship.

• To complain about life.

• To grief about worldly things.

• To have long worldly hopes.

• Not to be content about one’s sustenance in life.

• To be unconcerned about issues of the hereafter.

• Love of being praised.

• Love of leadership or high position.

• Love of this world.

• Love of wealth.

• To be too busy with earning.

• To be too wealthy that would lead to arrogance.

• To be pessimist about Allah.

• Not to have trust in Allah.

• To ignore Allah’s guidance, and warnings, etc.

• Not to care about the rules of shari’ah.

• Discrimination, fanaticism, and racism.

• To get angry without justifiable reasons.

• Not to be respectful to the elders.

• To be unkind to children.

• To be unfair.

• To be ungrateful.

• To be unthankful.

• For one’s outer and inner [approach] to be contradictory even in worldly matters.

• To be insolent.

• To neglect the believers.

• To sleep a lot.

• To have no work or skills.

• Not to observe cleanliness.

• Scrupulosity and obsession (waswasah), even in worldly matters.

• To be either extremist in one’s affairs or indifferent.

• To frown one’s face for no reason.

• To associating with sinners.

• Keeping company of contemptible individuals.

The Ethical Conducts

There are virtuous ethics and praiseworthy traits that Islam encourages to them and has commanded the Muslims to be described by them. It is imperative that a Muslim individual adorns oneself by them and seek decoration by them. They are many, some of which are as follows:

• To have confidence in the promises of Allah. • To belittle oneself before Allah.

• To spend for the cause of Allah.

• To take comfort with Allah.

• To repent from unlawful things that Allah dislikes.

• To submit oneself to the orders of Allah in all matters.

• To have trust in Allah.

• To love Allah and those whom He has ordered to love.

• To love because of Allah.

• To dislike because of Allah.

• To have fear of Allah.

• To have hope in Allah.

• To be deliberate in one’s affairs.

• To have fairness.

• To be independent of people.

• Altruism or selflessness.

• To help people.

• To train oneself in good matters.

• To encourage others to do good deeds.

• To stop others from doing abominable things.

• To bring reform among people.

• To be sincere in one’s deeds.

• To be good to one’s parents.

• To be humble.

• To visit friends.

• To be friendly.

• To be steadfast in good deeds.

• To be forbearing.

• To be good mannered.

• To protect the rights of the neighbours.

• To be concerned about one’s sins.

• Not to have all hopes in deeds.

• To be considerate with people.

• Not to do or practice anything (spiritually or materially) to the extent that it results in extreme pressure on oneself.

• To be nice with the family and children.

• To be content with destiny.

• To forsake worldly pleasures.

• To be respectful.

• To be protective of people.

• To correct one’s mistakes.

• To be pleasant in one’s speech with others.

• To be thankful of the bounties.

• To reform people .with wisdom and good advice.266.

• To spent much in charity and help the weak.

• To maintain good relations with one’s relatives.

• To spread peace and harmony.

• To reach-out for the weak, sick and the orphans.

• To be clean.

• To conceal people’s faults and shortcomings.

• To be the same in out side and in side in all matters.

• To be truthful and stay away from lies even when joking.

• To have patience.

• To be hospitable to guests.

• To accept invitations.

• To give and accept gifts on traditional occasions.

• To forgive people.

• To be chaste.

• To have justice in all matters.

• To have reverence for religious people.

266 The Qur’an, The Bee (16): 125

• To stay away from despicable individuals.

• To have courage.

• To love the poor.

• To strife against one’s desires.

• To give loans.

• To help the believers in need.

• To prevent any harm from reaching the believers.

• To keep a secret and not to publicises it.

• To mention people with good names.

• To hurry in doing good deeds.

• To bring one’s self into account.

• To give good advise to believers.

• To intend to do good things.

• To cleanse one’s soul and remove the abominable traits from it.

• To be pious.

• To be God fearing.

• To avoid matters that are doubtful.

• To persevere with avoiding sin.

• To persevere on worship and prayers.

• Remembrance of death and the hereafter.

• To be content.

• To be bashful.

• To have a happy face.