Hi All,
I had to start a new phase of my online communication or – in other words – get back to the plan in which this blog and other activities started.
Getting connected to online groups for a long time or investing emotional energy within it proved to be the easiest way to waste your time, value, dignity and emotional energy.
I stood in amazement of the reactions and implications had been directed to me within an online community on Twitter after expressing who am I and even after some agrees to what I said. Giving no reactions to offenses directed to their “brother” but involving in it and making fun of him with whatever way possible; could never be an acceptable behavior – at least not for me.
While the internet provides a valuable platform to initiate valuable friendships and build interesting communities, its tools give a wide spectrum of possibilities to cover behind it and stab people from behind in an extremely unethical way and still – no one will know, we’re just having fun!
Seeing how a tiny situation can expose the substance of some people, was extremely clear to me the last few days. I must always remember the talk I had with Adel Nada about classifications of ethics: essential ethics, social ethics and religious ethics and how evaluating our relationships with people should be based on the understanding of the difference between them. Lived it and saw it in absolute details!
Religious ethics is presenting ourselves as religious individuals using some phrases, expressions and models of behavior that’s known within a community to express a religious belief/belonging/habits. Just like using “alhamdulillah”, “God bless you brother”, “Pray for me” and such.
How easily could such patterns of behavior be faked? Or not faked, but not to be a true expression of who that person truly is. While doubting people’s intentions is a red line should never be crossed at any case, we proceed in our relationships with people according to the behavior we see. Religious ethics is not the basis in which you should build your relationships offline or online.
Social ethics is adhering to the standard, acceptable behavior within a community and care about your “persona” or how you look to people, how you position yourself within a community and accordingly adhering to the community’s behavior, if people are talking about football, how much of a football fan you look, will give you more acceptance within that community.
I remember drafting some thoughts about Gomaa preachers and the idea of how hard they attack some people or pray (Make Doa’ ) against others – make them look so righteous to the audience, I remember a simple man I knew – asking me for my opinion about how great the (Khotba) had been today and how great the sheick giving it, I nodded my head and smiled, avoiding a pointless discussion about how great isn’t a matter of how hard I attack people I don’t know about or present ideas and information that I didn’t verify or even double-checked.
The social ethics that makes you acceptable within a community – isn’t what makes you a good friend or a good person. May be sometimes it’s the absolute opposite.
Looking to the life of prophets including prophet Mohamed PBUH, look how they had been regarded as socially unethical in their corrupt communities.
Even look to prophet Lot – when he expressed his refusal to people’s behavior which had been up to gay sex – they doomed him as socially unethical person! And what they said:
And the answer of his people was no other than that they said: Turn them out of your town, surely they are a people who seek to purify (themselves). [07:82 Holy Qur'an]
So, evaluating your relationships based on how socially ethical the person you’re dealing with; will put you on a great error if the acceptable behavior within that community is unacceptable itself.
But when we come down to essential ethics, it’s the true basis in which we should build our relationships, essential ethics is honesty, straightforwardness, keeping promises never to betray, back-bit, back-stab, deceive or manipulate the person you’re communicating with.
Islamically speaking, does our religion gave an extensive care to religious ethics, ignoring social and essential ethics. Absolutely the opposite.
Prophet said the best of among you in Gahiliah – before Islam – are the best among you in Islam. Why because these people do have the essential ethics very clear so as to altering their religious ethics and social ethics would be an easy process after which their goodness as human beings will keep putting them above those who just took care of their religious ethics.
The holy Qur’an put so much emphasis on the essential ethics saying in Surat Al-Hujraat:
6: O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done.
Meaning: Beautifully saying to verify, ensure and double check the information we get from others to avoid hurting some innocent people and get sorry for believing those who told us afterward.
11: O you who believe! let not (one) people laugh at (another) people perchance they may be better than they, nor let women (laugh) at (other) women, perchance they may be better than they; and do not find fault with your own people nor call one another by nicknames; evil is a bad name after faith, and whoever does not turn, these it is that are the unjust.
12: O you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, surely Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful. [49:12 Holy Qur'an]
In this single chapter of the holy Qur’an emphasis had been put of on behavior within interpersonal relationships, that makes what we labeled as essential ethics in this post.
That had been the logic behind me leaving the online community I was happily sharing with throughout the last 3 months, starting from the #MuslimUnity campaign (Link: http://abdo.me/unity ) and relying on them as a support group afterward, sharing personal information, worries and goals and supporting anyone might need help.
To be continued …
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