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MGT 6630
ETHICS AND VALUES
FOR MANAGER
 WEEK 1
 
INTRODUCTION REFERENCES
• Definition of ethics and values • Abdullah Al-Ahsan & Stephen Young
• Sources of ethics and values (2008) Qur’anic Guidance on Good
• Authority and responsibility Governance – chapter 1

• Ethics and values – relationship to • Aahad M Osman & Suhaimi Mhd Sarif
management (tadbīr) (2011) Spirituality in Management –
• Case 1 – Discussion chapter 4
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DEFINITION

Ethics
 Ethics comes from Latin word - ethicus which means
characteristic spirit of community, people or system.

 From the Greek word – ethos which means moral principle,

character or custom
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These terms, ethicus and ethos were further developed and eventually today
the term ethos is used to refer to:

 distinctive character,
 spirit,
 attitude of a group of people or era.
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Other meanings of Ethics

 A moral principle or set of moral values hold by an individual or group.

 The philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of

the rules and principles that ought to govern it.
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TERMS RELATED TO ETHICS

There are many words related to ethics. Among them are:

morality
It concerns with:
 Human behavior in moral sense
 Adhering to conventionally accepted standards of conduct.
 Based on of sense of right and wrong according to conscience : moral
courage and law.
 Principles of behavior in accordance with standards of right and
wrong.
7 Virtues
• The quality or practice of moral excellence or
righteousness
• Any of the cardinal virtues like prudence, justice,
fortitude and temperance.

Noble character / nobility

• The state or quality of being morally or spiritually good.
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Summary
1. Ethics means set of moral principles or science of moral related to
human behavior based on certain ideals and norms of certain society,
races, community or people.
2. Morality refers to human conduct and values while ethics refers to the
study of those areas.
3. Today these terms are used interchangeably to describe good people and
right action. And the terms unethical and immoral to refer to bad people
and wrong action.
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ISLAMIC ETHICS
Definition.
Ethics in Islam is known as akhlāq (plural of khuluq) which means
character.
Khuluq is an Arabic derivatives of khalaqa which refers to:
1. The act of measuring
2. Determining the measure
3. Proportioning of a thing
4. A thing by measure
5. Proportioning a thing to another – taqdir.
 Al-Qur’an
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• “…In that I make for you (akhluqu) out of clay, as if it were the figure
of a bird.” (Al-`Imran, 3:49).
• “He Who has made everything which He He has created (khalaqa)
most good, He began the creation (khalqa) of man with clay, and
made his progeny from a quintessence of a fluid despised. But He
fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him His spirit.
And He gave you the faculties of hearing, sight and feeling (and
understanding). Little thanks do you give.” (Al-Sajadah, 32:7-9).
• “…He makes (yakhluqu)you in the womb of your mother, in stages,
one after another, in three veils of darkness…” (Al-Zumar, 39:6).
 Ahadith
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1. Laysa shay ‘un fi al-mizan athqala min husni al-khuluq. (Nothing is

heavier on the scale than the good character.)
2. Min aktharu ma yudkhilu al-nasa al-jannata taqwa Allah wa husni
al-khuluq. (Among the greatest number of people who enter paradise
are of the pious and the virtuous.)
3. Inna al-`abda liyudriku bihusni khulqihi darajata al-sa’im al-qa’im.
(Verily the virtuous deserve the rank of the one who fast
continuously.)
4. Bu`ithtu liutammima makarim al-akhlaq. (I was sent to sanctify the
noble characteristic.)
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Khuluq can divided into two, namely good (husn) and bad (su’).
Husnu al-khuluq refers to good character or virtuous deed or noble
behavior.
Character refers to a stable state of man’s soul from which actions
proceed easily without thought or deliberation.
If the state is of the kind which causes good actions, i.e those praised
by `aql and shari`ah, the state is called good character. If the state is
of the kind which causes evil actions, is called bad character.
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Other definitions.
1. Al-Ghazzali (d.1111): Islamic Ethics is a science of virtues and the
way to acquire the wellbeing of the soul, and of vices and the way to
guard the soul against them.
2. Al-Farabi (d.950): Islamic Ethics is a science that studies the state of
human soul. The virtues are good and fair actions while the vices are
the wicked and ugly actions.
3. Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1263): Ethics is a science that seeks to know which
actions should be done and which should be avoided. It is a practical
science; it seeks knowledge for the purpose of practicing it.
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Islamic Ethics on the whole deals with the study of :-

 man’s soul or man’s inward dimension,
 man’s character,
 man’s action and his responsibility
 virtues and vices,
 promoting virtues,
 protecting from vices
 purification of man’s soul.
 happiness
 misery
 APPLIED ISLAMIC ETHICS
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• IIUM student ethics in general – based on Surat al-`Alaq

 Knowledge is to be disseminated in the name of Allah and not for personal
glory.
 Knowledge is to be propagated to uphold the concept of Oneness of
Allah (tawhid) leading towards the recognition of Allah as the
Absolute and the Master of the Day of Resurrection
 The apex of acquiring and understanding knowledge is to know
Allah as the Creator and the Master.
16  Acquiring knowledge is the amanah (trust) from Allah and
its development should be in conformity of the universe
according to Sunnat Allah (Allah’s way of running the
universe.)
 Knowledge is to be utilized within the spirit of ‘abd
(servant of Allah) and khalifah (vicegerent)
 Acquiring knowledge is to seen as act of servitude to
Almighty Allah