Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 219
219 14 Moral and Spiritual Values ISLAM BASES ITSELF ON ACCEPTANCE OF life, not on rejection or withdrawal. Monasticism and asceticism are not permissible in Islam (57:28). Righteous living, making proper and balanced use of one’s faculties and of the bounties provided by God, is the rule of life (23:52). “Say, ‘Who has prohibited the use of the good and pure things which God has provided for His creatures?’” (7:33). Within this general concept the Quran lays down detailed instructions for the fostering of moral and spiritual values. The object is the beneficent and co-ordinated development of all faculties. Whatsoever God has bestowed upon man by way of inner faculties, and external possessions must all be put to appropriate use (2:4). That use must be adjusted and regulated, otherwise it would cease to be a moral activity. Islam teaches that natural instincts and tendencies are converted into moral qualities through their proper regulation and adjustment by the exercise of reason