MASTER IN ISLAMIC FINANCE PRACTICE (MIFP)

RISK MANAGEMENT OF ISLAMIC FINANCE

INSTITUTION
COURSE CODE: IB5033
SEMESTER SEPTEMBER 2017

ASSIGNMENT 2 (TOPIC: AL-GHAZALI THEORY OF

ETHICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE)

NAME: NOR MOHAMED OSMAN

STUDENT ID: 1500136

LECTURER: PROF DR SAIFUL AZHAR ROSLY

DATE: 27/11/2017
Introduction

As Human being we have four dimension in our existence and those dimensions of life
are all connected, they cannot be separated from each other and they are: RUH, AQL, QALB,
SELF.

We have Ruh (Soul) which is also called spirit, it is the unseen part of human being that is from
Allah, the part that always strives, to understand and the reach out the purpose of life, it has the
need of worship.

We have AQL (Mind), it is also called intellect, it is the source of intelligence, which gives the
human being the superiority of other creatures, and it is the thinking part of our self, the part that
calculates and always seeking answers.

We have QALB (heart) one of the most important parts of the human soul, our prophet PPUH
said about the heart “Verily, there is a piece of flesh of the body, when it is sound and clean, the
whole body is sound and clean, when it is corrupted the whole body is corrupted, Verily, that
piece of flesh is the heart” it is the place where all the feelings of emotions such as passion,
anger, love emanate from.

We also have NAFS (Self) it is the ego, the realization of self, always associated with sins if it’s
not properly trained, it is the part that always want to possess everything.

And then there is the additional dimension in which all of us can see-the lowest form of human
being that is: the Jism (Body) The body that eats, drinks and sleeps, that smells and tastes, it the
part that houses the whole person, but the body can never fulfill the heart, the mind, and the soul,
it only houses them. Sometimes, scholars use those terms interchangeably, meaning, Ruh, Aql
and Qalb can be synonymous, and others attested that those terms are different from each other.

For example, Al-Ghazali puts all those terms under one roof and he calls it human soul, and
other dimensions such as Aql, Qalb, and Nafs are part of the soul. He further stated that all those
expressions have two different meanings; spiritually and physically. This small paper discusses
more of each dimension and their Dalil, or Quranic verses for each of them, then I will give an
example, of a particular ethical dilemma that I have encountered and how it relates with the
dimensions mentioned above in dealing with that dilemma and the Shaytan’s influences.
Question One

Describe the following forms of self and provide Quranic Verses for each of them

Forms of self

1. Ruh (Soul)

People say many different things about the soul but the reality, no one in this world knows about
the definition of RUH, some scholars give the analogy of electricity in wire, if there is electricity
in flowing in the wire, it is said to be a live, if not the wire is dead, whether it is alive or dead we
only know it through its manifestation such as the shock it gives, or the light.

The spirit Ruh is in direct connection with the Divine, even if one is unconscious of that
connection. The spirit has seven levels or facets of the complete spirit. These levels are:
Mineral, Vegetable, Animal, Personal, Human, secret and secret of secret souls. Each level
represents the stages of evolution, and the process that it goes through in its growth. The spirit
is holistic, and extends to all aspects of the person, i.e. the body, the mind and the soul. Each
level of the spirit has valuable gifts and strengths, as well as weaknesses. The goal is to develop
the strengths and to achieve a balance between these levels, not forgoing the lower ones to focus
only on the higher ones. In traditional psychology, Ego psychology deals with the animal
soul, Behavioral psychology focuses on the conditioned functioning of the vegetable and animal
soul, Cognitive psychology deals with the mental functions of the personal soul, Humanistic
psychology deals with the activities of the human soul and Transpersonal psychology deals with
ego-transcending consciousness of the secret soul and the secret of secret souls.

Spirit is beyond the realm of creation. It is directly connected with Alam e Lahoot (Unity of
attributes and names) which is from Amr Allah (Command of Allah), Therefore Spirit already
knows everything including its own source.

The Qur’an says; in Surat Al-Isra“They ask you, Muhammad, about the Soul (Ruh). Tell them:
‘This is confined to the knowledge of God. Whatever knowledge you have been given about
that is a very little portion”. The verse [17:85]
The Qur’an also describes it in Sura Al Mu’minūn: “Adam was created out of mud. The second
generation after Adam is the true creation as we understand it: a sperm deposited in a solid
place (the uterus). Then it changes into a germ cell; then this germ cell is transformed into a
little ball the size of a morsel. Then a skeleton is formed and then the skeleton is clothed with
flesh, then “We establish him as a new creation” – meaning that a Soul has entered that new
creation.

Allah also said in Surat Al-Hijr “Behold! The Lord said to the angels: ‘I am about to create
man, from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape (15:28);

So when I have Made him complete and Blown into him from ‘My Ruh’, fall down making
obeisance to him (15:29).

“And have breathed into him of My Spirit” means when I have cast a reflection of My divine
characteristics on him. This shows that the soul of man implies life, knowledge, power, will,
discretion and other human characteristics in the aggregate. These are in reality a slight reflection
of divine characteristics that has been cast on the human body, which was originally created from
dried clay. And it is this divine reflection on the human body which has raised him to the
position of the vicegerent of Allah and made him that worthy being before whom angels and
every earthly thing should bow down.
As a matter of fact, the source of each characteristic of everything is one divine characteristic or
the other, as is borne by a tradition: Allah divided mercy into one hundred parts: then He
reserved ninety-nine parts for Himself and sent down the remaining one part to the earth. It is
because of that one part that the creatures show mercy to one another. So much so that it is due
to this that an animal refrains from placing the hoof on its young ones.

In this connection one has to be on strict guard against the notion that the possession of a part of
any divine characteristic amounts to the possession of a part of Godhead. This is because
Godhead is absolutely beyond the reach of each and every creation.

Nafs (Self),

It is the self, or the part of self that pushes people to commit sins, the Qur’an have mentioned
Nafs many times. It’s the entity inside us that is continuously interacting with our mind, it can
affect us bot h in negative and positive way

The word ‘Nafs’ in the holy Quran refers to either as ‘Self’ or part of one’s ‘Self’ which gets
influenced by the desires to commit sins, overall, ‘Nafs’ occurs 298 times in the holy Quran..

Ibn Sina inquires about the soul (nafs) in Al-Shifa (Healing) and asserts that “existence of soul is
inferred from the fact that bodies perform certain acts with some degree of will”. These acts are
exemplified in taking nourishment, growing, reproducing, moving and perceiving. Since these
acts do not belong to the nature of bodies, for this nature is devoid of will, they must belong to a
principle they have other than bodies. This principle is what is called “soul” (Rehman,
1959). He also argued that the soul is incorporeal and cannot be destroyed. The soul is an agent
with choice in the world between good and evil, which in turn leads to reward or punishment.
For Ibn-Sina that soul is incorporeal implies that it must be immortal. The decay and destruction
of the body does not affect the soul. The rational soul is aware of its existence without any
instrument. Soul is ‘form’ of the body. Body consists of matter and form, which results in
perfection of the body. By virtue of the fact that soul is the source of ‘will’, soul is ‘form’ not
‘matter’. It is the degree of perfection of soul which makes it plant, animal or rational being.
Scholars have extracted from the Qur’an that the Nafs is classified in to three (3) stages, and they
are ranked from worst to the best: Nafs al-Ammara Bissu (the self that indulges), Nafs al-
Lawwama (the self that regrets and blames) and finally, Nafs al-Mutma’inna (the peace self)

The qur’an said in Surat Yusuf, chapter (12), verse number (53) about the self that indulges

“And I do not acquit myself. Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those
upon which my Lord has mercy. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."

The qur’an said about the blaming nafs in Surat Al-qiymah, chapter (75) Verse number (2)

“And (by) no (means!) I swear by the reproaching soul “

The qur’an said about the peace self in suraq Al-fajr, chapter 89, verse 27 and 28

“O confident soul! Return to your Lord pleased (with Him), pleasing (Him). So enter among
my servants. And enter to my heaven.”

So we learn from the Qur’an that our self can work both for and against us, that means we are in
continuous struggle with our nafs. And in the end there are two kinds of people, one are those
who have overcome themselves, and trained them to always obey Allah’s command, those
people will have a happy and peaceful life in here and hereafter.
And then there are people whose Nafs have overcome them and led them to do bad things, those
people will have bad ending.

Aql (Mind)

The word Al-Aql means reasoning, rationality, intellect or intelligence. The apposite
word is foolishness, it supports the self by preventing, with-holding or restraining self from
doing that which is not suitable. As mentioned briefly above, it is an innate property of a person,
where the person is prepared to perceive, understand and synthesize information that distinguish
us from other living things.

Allah Said in Surat Al-Mulk, Chapter 67, describing Non-believers why they are in hell fire
“And they will say: Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not have been
among dwellers of the blazing fire”

That mean, anyone who is non believer, no matter how much IQ he has, or how many invention
he contributed does not have Intelligence if his intelligence could not protect him from hell fire.

Allah also said in Surat Al-Hajj chapter 22, verse number 46:

“So Have they not travelled through the land, and have the hearts wherewith, to understand
and ears wherewith to hear? Verily it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which
are in the breasts that grow blind”

Some scholars understood from verse above that the seat of the intelligence is the heart, others
said that, the brain is source of intelligence and intellect.

Ibn Taymiyyah have best illustrated by combining the two opposing views, he said “the
foundation of the will and decision making is in the heart, and the foundation of thought is the
brain. Intellection comprises knowledge and being consistent with the knowledge, which are
centrally controlled by the heart being the seat of will and desire. But the faculty by which one
makes decisions which is will, can be only actualized after cogitating upon the intelligible object,
the foundation of which starts from the brain. It therefore begins from the head as it visualizes
the intelligible, and then sends it to the heart to decide.

Qalb (heart)

The original meaning of the term Qalb means changing or turning something upside
down. The Qalb’s view in nature is that it changes emotionally from time to time, that is why our
propher PPUH always asked Allah this prayer “O you who changes the heart, firm my heart in
your religion”-Tirmidi

Al-Ghazzali prefers to use the term Qalb for the self in his work. One essentially required
knowing this Qalb in order to discover ultimate reality. Qalb is one of the most important
technical terms of Sufism. It is no other than what has been referred to as the spiritual core of the
Human of Light, as an integral whole of the subtle, esoteric organs for perceiving the esoteric
aspects of things.

The qalb is a supersensory organ of cognition through the activation of which is realized what is
usually known as mystical experience. According to the Sufi theory of the 'soul', the qalb which
is the third stratum, is the threshold of the divine dimension of Beings, it is essentially of a
luminous nature, and the world which is disclosed by the activity of the qalb constitutes
ontologically the middle domain between the world of pure light of God, and the world of
material darkness under the dominion of Satan.)

Allah also said in Quran in Surat Al-An’am chapter 6, verse number 110 “

And We shall turn (nuqallibu) away their hearts and eyes away (from guidance), as they
refused to believe therein for the first time, and we shall leave them in their trespass to wander
blindly”
Allah SWT used three words to describe our heart and they are: Qalb, Fu’aad and Sadr (the
chest), and they can be used interchangeably. But more importantly Sadr is the position where
our heart resides, this can be understood a Hadith from our Prophet PPUH the he directed his
finger towards his SADR which is the chest when he was talking about Qalb about three times.

It can be understood from Surat ar-ra’ad (Chapter 13 verse number 28)

“Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah.
Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured."
Question two

1. Describe a particular ethical dilemma that you have encountered?

Ethical Dilemma encountered

We face many ethical/ moral dilemmas every day in our life, we face it our work places, our
home, in the street and many other places.

People have different opinions in different acts, things that might seem wrong to some people,
can be a normal act for others, let me a give a particular ethical example I face every day in May
work place. I work in a company where almost everyone wants to leave early, it has become
normal and a culture for everyone to come late, leave early and conduct personal interests on
company’s time. Sometimes, I see myself doing that, for example leaving early at the work
place, and I have asked a colleague about it. He said to me “no one cares, you can leave early, as
long you don’t tell to anyone. “

This has put me on a line one to many times, and had created an ethical dilemma in me, because
of leaving it, hiding from the manager, sometimes my job does not require me to stay and sit all
day at the office.

However, some people work diligently, and worked their full hours, because of my gut feelings,
I don’t leave work early most of the time, but I see it become normal, and every day I am leaning
towards leaving early.

I know from my heart that it is wrong to leave early, but myself, the indulging self that I
mentioned above always urges me to leave early and relax, and that part of my self has a help
from the Shaytan, who always whispers in my chest and makes it seem OK to break the rules
once in a while. Sometimes I reasoned since many people leave early, and no consequences, then
why should I be afraid, that is the moral dilemma I face.

Then, there is a quiet voice that comes from my heart and my soul that reminds the purpose of
my life in general, which is to lead a live of honest, and integrity. It is not just coming from my
heart, as a Muslim, we are required to be trustworthy, and act in harmony with our religion.

And the Shytan

have main influence/role in every act of our life, if you are not aware of it, he might get you to
commit a big sin.

The Shyatan’s role is that, it does not make WASWAS (Whispers) directly in to our Heart
(Qalb), because he does not have control over of our heart, Allah only have that ability. But
rather Shaytan can whisper our Sadr/ Chests, and always tells you in a voice that you cannot hear
to do certain things in certain ways, sometimes you may think it is good think but he is trying to
hide bad things inside of good acts.

Question two

2.How do you relate the Ruh, Nafs, Aql and Qalb to satan/Shayatin forces in dealing
with your Ethical dilemma?

The ethical dilemma I mentioned above relates directly relates to the forms of self-explained in
this paper. All of the forms of self, such as Ruh, Aql, nAFS, Qalb, respond differently for that
particular ethical dilemma. For example, what the hearts feels is different from what self urges
you to do.

I know from my heart (QALB) that it is wrong to leave early, but myself (NAFS), the indulging
self that I mentioned above always urges me to leave early and relax, and that part of my self has
a help from the Shaytan, who always whispers in my chest and makes it seem OK to break the
rules once in a while.

Sometimes I reasoned (AQL)) since many people leave early, and there is no drastic
consequences for that actions, then why should I be afraid, that is the moral dilemma I face.

Then, there is a quiet voice that comes from my heart (QALB) and my soul (RUH) that always
reminds me the purpose of my life in general, which is to lead a live of honest, and integrity. It is
not just coming from my heart, and my soul, as a Muslim, we are required to be trustworthy, and
act in harmony with our religion.

And the Shytan have main influence/role in every act of our life, if you are not aware of it, he
might get you to commit a big sin.

The Shyatan’s role is that, it does not make WASWAS (Whispers) directly in to our Heart
(Qalb), because he does not have control over of our heart, Allah only have that ability. But
rather Shaytan can whisper our Sadr/ Chests, and always tells you in a voice that you cannot hear
to do certain things in certain ways, sometimes you may think it is good think but he is trying to
hide bad things inside of good acts.

The Shytan has strong influence on NAFS compared to other forms of self, because Allah has
mentioned the Quran in Surat Yusuf that “Nafs is the persistent enjoyer of eveil”, it is always
associated the desire to commit sins, enjoy, and relax.
Reference
1. http://punejournalofphilosophy.com/?p=141

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_psychology

3. https://hubeali.com/articles/The%20Ruh-Nafs-Qalb-Aql.pdf