The house is upright because of the joints
Collapsed Joints of the House Perish
The Nation's Foundation is Character
The collapse of morality, the collapse of the nation.
(Hamka, Budi Institution, 2016)
In 1972, Prof. HM Rasjidi wrote a book entitled; Religion and EthicsThis thin book is a monograph produced by the Indonesian Philosophy Association conference held in Jakarta. In it, Prof. Rasjidi explains that a society is a culture, and that society is based on a perspective on the world, nature, and humanity.
Perspectives and ways of thinking are important systems of norms and must be embraced by every society as a goal in life. In other words, a society's perspective and thinking must be cultured and possess something that stands out. This something that stands out is called ethics.
Because what's happening in Indonesia right now is that the nation is experiencing a cultural crisis, along with a critical eroding of ethics within society. Naturally, a big question arises: why are ethics and culture being eroded from society?
The answer is because of the cultural invasion modernModern culture undermines much of society's fabric. When a society is colonized by modern culture, it inevitably destroys the fabric and its foundations, weakening both the culture and society. Integrity, ethics, and culture are lost within the community. In other words, when ethics and culture are not well integrated, the goals of societal norms become confused and easily influenced by other cultures.
In his conclusion, he stated that the Indonesian nation in the future requires ethics that are appropriate and integrated with its time. Today, the Indonesian nation already possesses ethics, but it must seek ethics that are more appropriate to the times to come.
Prof. Rasjidi's emphasis was that the Indonesian nation needs ethics appropriate to its time and times. Indonesia had ethics in the past, but they were gradually abandoned. Yet, the ethics of society in the past were deeply rooted, deeply rooted, and firmly rooted in religion (Islam).
He provided sufficient explanation, and in fact, the ethics within the hearts of the Indonesian people are currently being damaged, lost, and even ethics and integrity (national identity) have been abandoned. The nation no longer has integrity, as stated by the former 3rd President of Indonesia, BJ Habibie. "What's the point of being independent if you don't have integrity!" he said.
Then in 1992 Buya Hamka wrote a book with the theme Noble Morals. Despite the fact, Buya Hamka wrote this book around 1960. This book is closely related to several similar books, such as Modern Sufism, Philosophy of Life, Institutions of Mind and Institutions of Life
Buya Hamka started the discussion with the theme character. Hamka tries to divide morals into two; Good character And bad character. Good character is the character of the Apostles and honorable people righteous, the result of the servant's struggle within worship. Meanwhile, evil character is a poisonous poison. Evil and corruption distance a person from God.
Buya Hamka then explained the important sources of character; 1. Wisdom. 2. Syuja'ah. 3. Iffah. 4. Is (be fair). Wisdom is a state self (mind) which with wisdom can know what is right and what is wrong. Or any actions related to endeavor.
Syuja'ah is the power of ghadhab (anger) which is guided by reason. Iffah is to curb the desires of lust with reason and sharia'. Whereas 'Adl (fair) is a state of the nafs; an inner strength that can control oneself when angry or when lust rises.2
The important point that Buya Hamka wanted to convey was that as a servant and as a human being, one must know oneself, know one's morals, and have good character. If a person doesn't know one's morals, let alone good character, then wisdom (inner state) will be shaken and definitely problematic.
Inner problems (self) This arises from a lack of self-awareness. Self-awareness will eliminate all feelings of shame, gratitude, manners, and so on. If one doesn't know oneself, how will one know God? This type of ignorance is what many people call "unclear."morals and not ber-manners and unethical.
Say ethics This is what Aristotle, a Greek philosopher (384-322 BC), later used to show moral philosophy. Ethics derived from the ancient Greek singular form ethics or ethos which is meaningful; customs, habits, morals, character, attitudes, feelings and ways of thinking.3 The plural form is ta etha, which means customs. Aristo borrowed ethics to introduce what is called moral philosophy.
According to Cicero, the word ethics equivalent to the word moralist. These two words imply a practical relationship. In different languages, the etymology of the word "ethics" and the etymology of the word "moral" are the same. It's just that their origins are different; "ethics" comes from Greek, while "morals" comes from Latin; "mos" (plural: mores).4
If we examine it further, in Islam the word Noble Morals As Hamka explained, it differs from the meaning and concept of the words ethics and morals, which merely mean customs, habits, attitudes, and character. However, it is more than that. Of course, the word noble morals is a representation Kamil (perfect) than just the words ethics and morals. Because in Islam the word Noble Morals has been attached to and has been practiced by the Prophet himself.
وَاِنَّكَ لَعَلٰى خُلُقٍ عَظِيْمٍ
And indeed, you are a person who has (morals) noble character. (QS. Al-Qalam verse 4)
Therefore, whether it is ethics, morals or character, if we conclude that the roots come from Moral KarmahIf the roots are strong, the stem will grow upright and the fruit will be sweet. Many fruits rot because the roots and stems are not properly cared for, resulting in the fruit being damaged, damaging the environment, culture, customs, society, and nation.
Wallahu'alam bis showab
- Prof. M. Rasjidi, Religion & Ethics, (Jakarta: Sinar Huadaya, first edition, July 1972)
- Prof. Hamka, Noble Morals (Jakarta: Panjimas Library 1992)
- K. Bertens, Ethics, (Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1997). Page 4
- Dr. H. Mukhlisin Sa'ad, M.Ag. Sufi Ethics of Ibn Al-Arabi, (Probolinggo: CV. Mandiri, April 2019).
