my faith
...
ISLAM
56
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Good character is the sum of personal virtues
which guarantees correct and agreeable
behaviour in daily social interaction. A person of good
character will invariably conform in his behaviour to a
strict code of ethics.
What should be the underlying principle of this code of
ethics? According to a hadith it is simply this - “
You
should like for others what you like for yourself
,” that is,
you should treat others just as you want to be treated
by others.
Everyone likes to be addressed with good manners and
pleasing words. So everyone should speak gently to
others. Everyone wants his existence to be problem-
free, so he should avoid creating problems for others.
Everyone wants others to deal with him in a sympa-
thetic and cooperative manner. So what everyone
ought to do while dealing with others is to give them his
full sympathy and cooperation.
This standard of ethics is very simple and natural. It is
also simple that anyone may easily learn it, be he liter-
ate or illiterate, able bodied or disabled, and regardless
of his likes and dislikes. This
Hadith
has given such a
criterion for human ethics that no one can find difficult
to understand. In this way Islam has set forth, in the
light of everyone’s personal experience, what behav-
iour may be indulged in and what behaviour has to be
refrained from.
According to another
Hadith
, “
The best of you is one
who is best in moral character
.” Accordingly, becoming
a good human being has nothing ambiguous about it.
Its simple formula is that of avoidance of double stan-
dards. One who lives his life by this formula is undoubt-
edly a person of the highest moral character.
