Ways
&
Laws

You know,

the Deen is all about finding a Way of Life that is good for ourselves

as well as good for other people,

but that can be hard,

because a Way of Life includes

everything we think and say and do,

and we're thinking, saying and doing different stuff

every moment of every day.

So every moment we're having to work out what is good or bad for our souls,

before all the actions of our hands and feet,

and especially before we open our mouths and let words trip off our tongues.

We need to decide what is good to do and what is to be avoided.

And the limits of what is allowed are set as our laws,

and as far as everything else goes

we're having to work out a way of being good for ourselves.

But over the history of the World of Islam,

the laws for those limits of behaviour have been written down

by lawyers in lots of books discussing all the possibilities.

These books fill libraries.

The system of Muslim law is thought of

as one of the great glories of the history of the World of Islam.

Now most of the things that people have to decide about

moment to moment

are not important enough to be in great books of law,

but when people judge everyday behaviour

there is a Way of Goodness that can be recognised.

This way of living the Deen,

that is not written down and has no fixed set of rules,

just rules you have to learn for yourself as you go along,

is known in the world of Islam as Ihsan,

the Arabic word that means goodness as well as beauty.

And in the Way of Ihsan we judge our actions by our intentions

Which means that

we are the only ones who can judge whether what we do is good or bad,

as no-one else can know our intentions.

Except God, of course,

who sees us all the time,

and knows the thoughts that whisper inside us.

And then,

when our bodies die,

and our souls are judged as to their Goodness,

God shows us the Truth of our worldly lives.

So we really need to try to live our lives

in a way that we are not ashamed of,

and when we make mistakes

we try to learn from them

and not make them again,

and we are sorry for any hurt we cause,

and all the time we try to follow

the Way that is Goodness.

Living Together,

Good Manners,

Choosing a Way to Behave

Different kinds of Law,

Rule by Law,

Having Opinions