A Letter to a Dear One — Page 83
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 83 made morals achievable by explaining the ways and means to attain them. This factor has been thoroughly elucidated in the Promised Messiah’s (‘alaihi ”” al ā tu wassal ā m) book, “The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam. ” Hadrat Khalifatul-Masih II’s book, “Ahmadiyyat, the true Islam,” also explains this aspect. Both these books are worth an in-depth study and you should make a point of reading them. The Philosophy of Morals What is the definition of good and bad morals? It should be noted that regarding this Islam includes thoughts along with ‘deeds’ and has, therefore, taught reformation of both deeds and thoughts. Thoughts are the font of deeds. Whilst keeping deeds and actions in mind, it should be noted that no action is good or bad as a mere action. It becomes either good or bad depending on the intention of the one who acts upon it. It is obvious that all deeds arise of man through a few intended actions. These actions, in themselves are neither good nor bad, but they rather depend on the person who makes the actions and the occasion they are carried-out in. It is the ‘intention’ and the ‘occasion’ that make each human deed either virtuous or wrong. There is indeed a famous Tradition of the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) when he said, “Verily deeds are judged by the intentions. ” Similarly the definition of piety and evil is that each deed that is performed with good intention within its scope is pious and each action that is done out of occasion and with a wicked intention is wrong. If someone commits a murder, the murder in itself is neither good nor bad. The intention and the occasion make it good or bad. If someone sees a man violating a woman and the woman is in a weak position and there is no other way to help her other than by attacking the perpetrator and if during the ensuing struggle the perpetrator loses his life, then although the act was of taking someone’s life, but the intention behind it was good, therefore the deed becomes good. A soldier defending his country in a war kills the enemy. His act is laudable. A doctor operates on a patient with the best of intentions and tries his very best to heal and save him, but the patient dies. The doctor’s action remains commendable. However, if the doctor based on his knowledge and experience and the patient’s case history and condition had known that the operation was not suitable for the patient, but had still gone ahead with the operation, whether the patient had died