Appendix 2: An Introduction to Akhlaq (1)

I. The Meaning, Scope, and Purpose of Akhlaq

Meaning

The Root of Akhlaq

From the root of akhlaq, like almost all words in Arabic, we can learn more about its meaning than any one word in English could tell us. The form-I verb (khalaqa) means to make, create, originate, form, shape, or mould. The verbal noun (khalq) denotes creation, creatures, people, mankind, and physical constitution. And akhlaq itself is the plural form of the singular (khulq or khuluq), which signifies innate peculiarity, natural disposition, character, temper, nature, morals, and morality. In this work, I will use mainly ‘character’ or ‘ethics’ to stand for akhlaq, but all the other connotations mentioned above continue to be relevant.

Character as Creation

GOD has the power to make man out of nothing, but instead He moulded Adam (peace be upon him) out of clay, and his descendants from a lowly liquid. In the same way, God is capable of creating our actions out of nothing, yet He prefers to use a matrix or intermediary from which our deeds emerge. This matrix is character.

Although GOD, the First and Final Cause, is the true Creator of all, we commonly speak of human ‘creators’, such as poets or painters. ‘Isa (peace be upon him) is mentioned in the Qur’an as “creating” birds out of clay. In this sense, therefore, we may say that it is character which creates conduct. A person whose behaviour is abnormal is said to be behaving ‘out of character’. By this expression we are affirming our belief in the normal relationship of cause and effect between character and deed. We make this connection between character and behaviour because no person’s actions are altogether random and unpredictable; they form a pattern. And, like snowflakes, each pattern is unique.

Character as Form

There is no mention of akhlaq in the Qur’an. Its singular form, khuluq, is found only once, in Q68:4, where AL-LAH declares,

It is well to remember, as indicated by this verse, that each person has but one character. How convenient it is, then, that both akhlaq and ‘morals’ are plural in their respective languages. This plural sense is helpful when speaking of character in general; we are bound to compare personalities one with another, and keep in mind the immense range of characters available to the descendants of Adam.

Character is the pattern by which a soul expresses itself in actions, and thus the most visible form of the soul itself. It serves as a screen or filter between the inner reality and the outside world. The heart’s contents may gush out almost entirely unchecked, or may trickle out in carefully calibrated conduct, depending on how fine, fearful, free, or frivolous is the character that regulates this flow.

One aspect of character as form or mould is that it cannot be known in its entirety at once, just as a melody cannot be identified by only one note. The way a person’s behaviour changes over time, from one moment or situation to the next, is also part of that pattern which is character. Behaviour that never changes appears coarse, maladapted, or sub-human; the Qur’an warns us against this disease of hardness and its opposite, which is excessive change or malleability. Hardness of the heart is evident when we cannot bring ourselves to concentrate on our prayers. And the other extreme, a spineless inability to hold to one’s principles, is evident in the behaviour of those who cringe, flatter, and lie to gain power or be near it. Character is a pattern of behaviour somewhere between the hardness of stones and the softness of slush. Character, in other words, has what we might call a consistency or texture.

Knowing Character

Character may be regarded as the map of a person’s soul. No map, however, is the same as the territory itself. In the same way, a person’s actions are a good gauge of character, but they are not infallible. However keenly we may observe a person’s deeds, words, or gestures, we may still misinterpret his character.

In the authentic collection of Al-Bukhari (4005, Book 64), we read a small anecdote from ‘Umar, (may AL-LAH be pleased with him), as follows:

This incident is a good example of how different meanings can be attributed to the same behaviour. There will always be an element of mystery in the characters of others, and even some of our own character is hidden from us. No one sees the back of his own head except by mirrors (such as those provided by our brothers and sisters in Islam). For this reason also, GOD declares,

Final disclosure and judgement belong to God alone.

Willing Character

Every person has a character, be it good or bad, which expresses the moulding power of the soul behind it, and behind that soul . . . the Will of GOD. Besides our original disposition, which is the mouldable qualities given us at birth, our characters are shaped by numerous external influences, such as place and time of birth, home environment, culture, friends, life experiences, and education. And there is one more influence: our own will.

Our characters are partly determined by the allotments of GOD’s decree (called ‘kismet’ in English, Turkish, and Malay, from qismah in Arabic), and partly — though these too are from GOD — by our own choices. For this latter part we are personally responsible. But we can never know exactly where this partition of accountability has been made — how much is fate, and how much choice.

Part of our character, and thus part of what we choose, is our openness to the influence of our own will. The more we exert choice with regard to our character, the more our character can become as we choose it to be. Paradoxically, however, it is those who most clearly recognize the power of GOD in their lives who have most control over their own character. This control is not separate, in fact, from the power GOD has over us. Nothing can empower the will of man like the Will of GOD.

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