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The Haram and Halal of behaviour and morals – 3: In the modern world

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 26 December 2025

“And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he attains his maturity. And give full measure and weight with equity — We do not impose on any soul a duty beyond its ability. And when you speak, be just, even (against) a relative. And fulfil Allah’s covenant. This He enjoins on you that you may be mindful; and (know) that this is My path, the right one, so follow it, and do not follow (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way. This He enjoins on you that you may keep your duty.”  — ch. 6, Al-An‘ām, v. 152–153

وَ لَا تَقۡرَبُوۡا مَالَ الۡیَتِیۡمِ اِلَّا بِالَّتِیۡ ہِیَ اَحۡسَنُ حَتّٰی یَبۡلُغَ اَشُدَّہٗ ۚ وَ اَوۡفُوا الۡکَیۡلَ وَ الۡمِیۡزَانَ بِالۡقِسۡطِ ۚ لَا نُکَلِّفُ نَفۡسًا اِلَّا وُسۡعَہَا ۚ وَ اِذَا قُلۡتُمۡ فَاعۡدِلُوۡا وَ لَوۡ کَانَ ذَا قُرۡبٰی ۚ وَ بِعَہۡدِ اللّٰہِ اَوۡفُوۡا ؕ ذٰلِکُمۡ وَصّٰکُمۡ بِہٖ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَذَکَّرُوۡنَ ﴿۱۵۲﴾ۙ وَ اَنَّ ہٰذَا صِرَاطِیۡ مُسۡتَقِیۡمًا فَاتَّبِعُوۡہُ ۚ وَ لَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِکُمۡ عَنۡ سَبِیۡلِہٖ ؕ ذٰلِکُمۡ وَصّٰکُمۡ بِہٖ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَتَّقُوۡنَ ﴿۱۵۳﴾

I am continuing with the next two verses, that is verses 152 and 153 of ch. 6, which follow the verse I covered in the last two khutbas. I should point out that these three verses, 151 to 153, are presenting the fundamental teachings of Islam because verse 151 begins with the words:

“Come! I will recite what your Lord has forbidden (made ḥarām) to you: Set up no partner with Him.”

These teachings occur imme­diately after the most fundamental of all teachings of Islam, not to make anything or anyone a partner with God, what is known as committing shirk. It is very commonly said that the fundamentals of Islam are five: reciting the Kalima that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, and performing prayer, giving charity or zakāt, fasting in Ramadan, and going to the Hajj. All of these are definable acts and you can describe exactly how they can be done by our physical bodies. This might give the impression, and most people, Muslims or non-Muslims, are under that misimpression, that anyone acting on these fundamentals has done his required duty as a Muslim. But these verses set out the fundamental qualities and behaviour that must be displayed by a Muslim towards other people with whom he or she has direct dealings. If someone pays no regard to these qualities, while following the five pillars of Islam, it means his acts of worship are only a ritual. I may also add that when we act on the five pillars of Islam, we do not directly benefit any other human being. Even the obligatory zakāt given by a Muslim goes into a fund, and it benefits others, but indirectly. And, if our prayers, fasting and Hajj make us better behaved people, then this also benefits other people indirectly. But by acting on these verses here, we benefit others directly by our action.

Verse 152, which I recited, tells us:

“… do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he attains his maturity.”

Children who had no parents used to be brought up by other people who became their guardians. These children often came with property and money, inherited from their deceased parents. The Quran allows the guardians to use the property of the orphans to fund their upbring­ing. This is only fair as it doesn’t burden the guardians. But the guardians are prohibi­ted from misusing it for their own ends. This is what is meant by the instruction not to approach, or go near, the property of the orphan except in the best manner. After the orphan attains maturity, the work of the guardian comes to an end, and he must handover the remaining orphans’ property to them.

Two more points should be noted here. Firstly, this instruction should not be applied only to those who are literally orphans. It includes any children being cared for, even for a short period at a time, such as children in school. It also includes any adults who are not capable of looking after their own property and finances and these are placed in someone else’s charge. We sometimes read in the news, for example, that the person placed in charge of an elderly person’s finances was taking some money for himself. This is clearly contrary to approaching that person’s property only in the best manner. Secondly, especially in the case of children being cared for, their property is not only any money which belongs to them — in fact they may have none — but it must also include their developing body and mind. These must also be approached by the guardian only in the best manner and protected for the children’s benefit. This prohibits the abhorrent practice of the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of those who are being cared for. This is a problem often reported in the news. And given that it is forbidden for the appointed guardian to indulge in this kind of misconduct, it is a much more serious crime for anyone to deliberately entrap youngsters and bring them under his control with the sole aim of exploiting them for his own gratification.

Next is the instruction:

“And give full measure and weight, with equity”.

In all the daily commercial dealings, and buying and selling, between people, the buyers rely on getting the full amount of goods for which they have paid, and of course the sellers rely on getting the full amount of money from the buyer. Because usually the sellers are in the stronger position than the buyers, so their duty is mentioned here. Full measure and weight can only be given if there is an agreed standard for weights and measures, agreed by all, whatever their religion or race or nation might be.

For the functioning of human society anywhere, and for trust in transactions of sale, this teaching, “And give full measure and weight, with equity” is of the highest importance, and in modern society this importance is even greater than in the societies of centuries ago. It is enforced by the law of the land in every country, that the stated measure or weight on an item must be correct. For this purpose, various countries defined units of measurement and weights, by which all scales could be calibrated. In England there was the pound and the foot, and in France there was the kilogramme and the metre, and in the Indian subcontinent there were other units. Of course, there is nothing sacred or holy or from God in any of these units. But still, they became a matter of national pride, and here in England when grocers were required by law to change to selling their products by the kilo, the metric unit, one seller insisted on selling his fruit by the pound weight even if it meant being prosecuted in court and fined. He became known as the ‘Metric Martyr’.

Government and scientific bodies all over the world agree to the same standard as to what is a kilo and what is a metre. What is important is the accepted agreement on something. It makes commercial dealings run smoothly, without disputes or contro­ver­sies as to, for example, how much constitutes a kilo of weight. This reminds us of the disagreements among Muslims about which day is the first day of the month in the Muslim calendar. This chaos and confusion happens because there is no agreed standard that is followed and enforced. In case of the usual, solar calendar, everyone is agreed on, for example, whether there is a 29th February in any year.

The next statement is:

“We do not impose on any soul a duty beyond its ability.”

This indicates that all the teachings mentioned here are within human capability to act upon. It also indicates that it is acceptable to Allah if we follow His instructions to the best of our ability, and we need not strive for the utmost exactness. At the time when these verses were revealed, it may have been difficult for anyone to determine exactly what is “full measure and weight” in any situation. Even in our modern times, when items for sale are marked as having contents of a certain weight, it is impossible for each of them to be exactly that same weight. To achieve that would be burdensome and impractical. But if the items, when considered in thousands, contain that weight on average, without much variation, then the fact that some of them are underweight does not violate this teaching, especially if it is indicated on the item that the weight is only approximate.

The next teaching is as follows:

“And when you speak, be just, even (against) a relative.”

In those days, and even now to a great extent, societies were based on tribal and physical relationships. You were duty-bound to support your relative against a non-relative, even if you knew full well that your relative was in the wrong. In that environment this was a revolutionary, un-heard of teaching, that you have to place truth and justice above ties of relationship. Western analysts of human society have written that one reason for the success and dominance of the West is that they dis­carded the concept of total and blind loyalty to one’s relatives and replaced it with following the truth and justice. Sadly, they also say that Muslims are unfamiliar with this concept and are therefore lagging behind, still living in feudal societies. If Muslims are unfamiliar with it, it is because they are either ignorant of the Quran or not willing to act upon it. An example of violating this teaching of the Quran is nepotism, which means doing unjustified favours for your own relatives, who don’t deserve them, at the expense of treating other people unjustly. This malpractice has weakened and even ruined many national institutions in Muslim countries.

These verses go on to say:

“And fulfil the pact you made with Allah. This He enjoins on you that you may be mindful; and (know) that this is My path, the right one, so follow it, and do not follow (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way.”

This informs us that the guidance given in these verses is a pact or agreement we have made as Muslims with Allah, and that this is the path of Allah which we must follow, not any other path. When Muslims in Western countries call for Islamic shariah to be introduced, we never hear them mentioning these teachings. In fact, they can act on this pact of Allah in any Western country, fully and in each and every way, that is to say: not worshipping anyone except Allah, doing good to parents, not killing children for fear of poverty, not going near any indecency, open or secret, not com­mitt­ing murder, looking after orphans’ property only in their best interests, giving full measure and weight, and always bearing true testimony even if it goes against a relative. To take an example, if a Muslim shopkeeper in the UK sells something under the weight that it should be, he would be prosecuted and fined under UK law. But unfortunately, no one, Muslim or non-Muslim, is likely to point out that he has in fact committed an offence under the law of Islam.

May Allah enable Muslims to put these teachings into practice for the good of all humanity and show examples of what Islam really teaches — Ameen.

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