Peace, one and all…
Those Prophetic Traditions (ahadith) which refer to matters of akhlaq and adab all fundamentally aim at building relationships. They all aim at developing ethical (which is to say spiritual) interaction with others - whether it be with God, with people, or with the wider natural world. That is, these traditions teach us how to be in the world, or more properly, how to become in the world. Although much ink has been spilt through the ages on the development of ethical systems, at their most basic level all such systems aim towards fair and ethical treatment. In other words, they aim towards the recognition of the other as sacred, in some sense.
Of course, ethical treatment is a worthy end in itself. We were not sent to this world merely to think fairly. We must strive to act ethically too. But, ethics perform another vital function: they bring human beings into mutually sustainable relationships. Indeed, ethical treatment is, in this sense, the very gateway to such a relationship. Adab (to use the Islamic term) generates trust and respect, which can, given the right conditions, blossom into loving friendships – and loving friendships lead towards true and profound dialogue, to an inward meeting of hearts.
Relationships teach us how to speak with compassion and truth; they teach us about the other just as they teach us about the self.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
