PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Introduction and Sources

 SEQUENCE
• Definition of Ethics
• Difference in Ethics and Law
• Sources of Ethics: Possible sources and authentic sources:
• Purpose of creation of human being
• View point of non-believer scientists
• View point of philosophers and religious scholars
• View point of Allah’s Prophets
• Basic Human Ethics
• Human Ethics – Islamic concept
• Professional Ethics
 MEANING OF ETHICS
The word ‘ETHICS’ has been derived from Greek
word ‘ethikos’.

Its root word in Greek is ‘ethos’, which means

‘customs’ and ‘norms’.

It also means ‘character’.

 DEFINITION OF ETHICS
Moral principles that govern a person's behavior
or conducting of an activity

Doing right things is ethical,

while doing wrong things is non-ethical

Ethics refers to right actions that spring from

self-discipline founded upon knowledge and
wisdom
 DIFFERENCE IN ETHICS AND LAW
• If a person does not act according to law, we
can take legal action against him through
court of law

• If a person does not follow ethics, he is

considered to be un-cultured and is disliked
and hated by the people, although legal action
can not be taken against him
 RIGHT AND WRONG
How shall we know for sure what is right and what is
wrong?
In some areas of our life, it is a built-in feature of
human nature that we can clearly distinguish between
right and wrong
But in many other areas, we are not sure what is right
and what is wrong
To find out what is right and what is wrong, we have
first to look around us and answer certain questions
 SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
• How this earth and other planets were
created?
• How life started on earth?
• How and why human being was created?
• Who is running and controlling this
complicated system of day and night, rain and
storm; and life and death?
• What happens with Man when he dies?
 These issues have always been a
question mark (?) for man since
his creation
Those who tried to answer these
questions, include:-
Non-Believer Scientists
Philosophers & Religious Scholars
Allah’s Prophets (AS)
 Scientists’ View Point

•Every thing is automatic

•Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Opinions of Religious Scholars

•Hinduism, Budhism, Shintoism

 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HOLY
PROPHETS OF ALLAH
• The whole universe has been created by a
super power – Almighty Allah – who is
controlling every thing
• He created human being and sent him on
earth
• He gave human being wisdom to take
decisions
 …. PHILOSOPHY OF PROPHETS
• He gave human being power to distinguish
between good and bad; and between right
and wrong
• He sent a series of Prophets for guidance of
human beings
• He made it clear to human beings that this life
is temporary and that there will be another
life after this life
 …. PHILOSOPHY OF PROPHETS
Prophets of Allah made it clear to human
beings that:

– If they follow the right path, they will be rewarded

on the day of Judgment; and
– If they follow the wrong path, they will be
punished in the life Hereafter
 PEOPLE’S REACTION TO
PHILOSOPHY OF PROPHETS
• Initially, a large majority of the people did not
accept the message of the Prophets and
insisted on following the path of their
forefathers
• Only a few people accepted the call of the
Prophets. However, they were staunch
Muslims and extremely faithful and loyal to
the Prophets
MISSION OF THE HOLY PROPHETS
• Character building of people who accepted
their call
• Preparing a strong group of faithful and loyal
people
• Conflict with non-believers
• Establishing a welfare state
• Fights with non-believers
• Final victory of Prophets
Prophets Philosophy
Vis-à-vis
Other Philosophies
 WEAKNESSES IN OTHER PHILOSOPHIES
• Their concepts about REALITY are contradictory
• They have never agreed on any one point
• There are differences even among one school of
thought
• They all admit that they have no special source of
information which other people do not have
• They all admit that whatever they say is only
their guess. They have no proof for what they
claim
 ...Weaknesses in Other Philosophies

•They are changing their stance very frequently

•A person who was presenting a concept with

full force yesterday, today he has taken
complete U-turn and is presenting quite a new
concept
 MERITS OF PROPHETS’ PHILOSOPHY
• They all completely agree on basic points of
their concepts
• They unanimously claim that they have been
gifted with a special source of information
which common people do not have
• None of them has ever said that what they say
is a guess work. On the other hand, all of them
unanimously say that they have firm belief in
what they say and that that they have special
relations with Allah
 … MERITS OF PROPHETS’
PHILOSOPHY
• They are of excellent moral character
• They never tell a lie
• They have never deceived others
• They had no intension to gain any personal
benefit from what they preached
• On the contrary, most of them passed through
extremely difficult circumstances
 … MERITS OF PROPHETS’
PHILOSOPHY
• They were given physical punishments, were prisoned,
were forced to leave their native land and some were
even murdered, but not a single of them deviated from
his stance
• From the beginning to the end of their life, they preached
the same philosophy with firmness
• There is nothing to prove that they were mad. On the
other hand, they were extremely noble and wise people
in all matters of life
 … MERITS OF PROPHETS’
PHILOSOPHY
• The number of Allah’s Prophets is about 124,000. They were sent
in various parts of the world in different periods. This was a time
when people lived isolated in different areas as there were no
means of communication. Thus there is no possibility that these
prophets were in contact with one another
• In spite of this, we find that all prophets preached the same
message. Their teachings are so similar and identical that there is
no difference of an inch in their basic concepts. This indicates that
there is one source of LIGHT from where these rays came to us
 TRUTH AND REALITY
All this shows that Allah’s prophets are truthful
and firm in their belief. So only the message
they brought to humanity is TRUTH and
REALITY, while all other philosophies presented
by Scientists and thinkers are only guess work

Hence the only option with us is to believe in

and follow the message of Allah’s Prophets
SOURCES
OF
ETHICS
 SOURCES OF ETHICS
Possible Sources:
•Human mind
•Non-believer Scientists
•Philosophers and Thinkers
•Religious Leaders
•Allah’s Prophets (AS)
Among these, the only Authentic Source is
TEACHINGS OF ALLAH’s PROPHETS
 SOURCES OF ETHICS
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) is the last Prophet of
Allah.

Quran, the last Book of Allah was revealed on him. He

left for us his sayings and actions (AHADITH) which are
based on TRUTH and REALITY

As a Muslim, the only source of ethics for us is:-

QUR’AN AND HADITH
 BASIC
HUMAN ETHICS
 BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
• Basic Human Ethics play a vital role in
personality development and social progress
• At individual level, they make us a successful
person who is liked and respected by
everyone
• At social level, they help us in creating a
peaceful and progressive society, which is
capable of leading the whole world
 BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
Some of the Basic Human Ethics which are
universally accepted are:
•Truthfulness
•Honesty and Integrity
•Sacrifice
•Patience
•Stability
•Tolerance
•Fulfilling the promise
 … BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
• Capability to organize things
• Hard work and Labor
• Love for objectives
• Courage
• Motivating others
• Capacity to utilize the capabilities of others
• Extra care
• Understanding things and circumstances
 … BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
• Adaptability according to circumstances
• Planning and strategy
• Emotional stability
• Control over lust
• Attractive personality
• Accommodating others
• Self esteem
• Philanthropy
 … BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
• Sympathy and Mercy
• Justice
• Broadmindedness
• Determination
• Trust
• Decision power
• Boldness
• Rational attitude
 … BASIC HUMAN ETHICS
• Moderation
• Decency and courtesy
• Purity
• Involvement in work
• Proper advice and guidance to others
• Facilitating others
• Intellectual honesty
• Maximum use of knowledge
 BASIC HUMAN ETHICS – ISLAMIC CONCEPT

• Islam covers all basic human ethics

• However, it adds certain elements to these
ethics which give right direction to the
capabilities of human beings
• The followers of Islamic Ethics – when they
become true Muslims – they become the
Leaders of the whole world
 BASIC HUMAN ETHICS – ISLAMIC CONCEPT

Islam adds the following elements to Basic

Human Ethics:
– Eiman (Faith) in:
• Allah
• His Prophets
• His Holy Books
• Life after death – Reward and Punishment
– Seeking the will of Allah in every matter
– Fear from Allah in all activities
 ISLAMIC ETHICS
– Selflessness
– Respect for human beings
– High moral character
– Discipline
– Protecting life of human beings
– Polite conversation
– Financial assistance to the poor
– Devotion
 ISLAMIC ETHICS
– Emotional stability
– Control over anger
– Protecting others’ secrets
– Positive and optimistic attitude
– Helping attitude
– True evidence
– Disseminating moral characteristics among others
– Realize importance and value of TIME
– Avoid overcharging money
– Avoid malpractices
 ISLAMIC ETHICS
– Caring for money of others
– Respect for elders, seniors and ladies
– Good relations with:
• Seniors
• Colleagues
• Subordinates
– Following basic principles of Islam: Prayer, Fasting,
Zakat, Hajj, Reciting Holy Quran

Become a role model for others

PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS
 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
• In addition to general Ethics, there are some
Professional Ethics which are meant
specifically for a particular profession
• Initially, Professional Ethics started with
‘Medical Ethics’ in 2004
• Now we have specific ethics for many other
professions like:
Education, Engineering, Army, Civil Service etc.
THANK YOU