Shafaqna English- A prominent Author-Researcher on the biography of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and Imam Ali (AS) stated that Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali (AS) said: “A common issue, especially in governments, is the ‘expedient lie” and what goes even further than the expedient lie is the lie made for the benefit of the government, the system, or the organization.
Some people believe they can lie in the name of serving the system and the people, but they do not realize that once they lie, they become corrupt and sinful, and it becomes impossible for them to serve honestly. Imam Ali (AS) never forced anyone to pledge allegiance by force, never promised anything to gain power, and came to leadership with a prominent ethical system.
Imam Ali’s (AS) approach was to be transparent about everything, and the ethical benefit of this transparency is that perhaps nothing contributes to social capital more than transparency in government and management. One of the main damaging factors to social capital is concealment.”
Contentment Brings Peace To Life
Mustafa Delshad Tehrani, a prominent Author-Researcher of Nahjul-Balaghah, in an interview with Shafaqna, discussed the ethics of Imam Ali (AS), his views, and the value that ethics held in his eyes. He stated: “Our behavior is strongly influenced by the place we assign to a particular matter in our worldview. In fact, until the tasks of our beliefs, tendencies, and values are clarified, our actions and behavior cannot be properly defined.”
Referring to Wisdom 229 in Nahjul-Balaghah, according to Sufi Salih version, he mentioned: “Contentment is sufficient for wealth, and good character is the best blessing for a person.” If we accept that this statement is truly from Imam Ali (AS), we realize that in this wisdom, Imam Ali (AS) is referring to both a specific and general matter.
However, among the various aspects of ethics, he emphasized contentment, stating that if a person is content, they are wealthy, and if they are not content, no matter what they possess, they are poor, needy, and unfortunate. In life, what brings peace to a person ethically is contentment, which means not engaging in negative greed, being satisfied with what one has, and striving without being covetous.”
Negative Greed Has Made People Unhappy and Unfulfilled
He continued: “One of the problems that we fail to address in the modern era is contentment. People have fallen into negative greed, meaning they are never satisfied with what they have, and this dissatisfaction prevents them from enjoying life. In other words, the lack of contentment in life has led to the creation of a world where humans no longer work to live, and they do not produce enough. Thus, production moves towards mass production. Once mass production is achieved, there is a need for a market, advertisements, and excess consumption. To create this excess consumption, people’s minds and lives need to be changed.”
He added: “A vicious cycle has emerged, resulting in exploitation, colonization, war, and violence. Wars are created to sell goods! Currently, arms warehouses are stocked, and there needs to be a war to sell these arms. New weapons are produced, and the old ones must be sold quickly. Therefore, it is concluded that they will create a war between two Muslim countries to sell weapons! In general, once contentment is removed, the world and humanity head in this direction, and unfortunately, this is what has happened in the world today.”
Five Ethical Elements: Honesty, Trustworthiness, Humility, Contentment, Piety
Delshad Tehrani outlined five ethical elements based on the teachings of Imam Ali (AS), stating: “If these five elements are adopted in one’s life, life becomes good: First, honesty, meaning truthfulness and the absence of lies and dishonesty; second, trustworthiness and adherence to covenants and promises; third, humility and modesty; fourth, contentment; and fifth, piety.”
He also pointed out the importance of humility and modesty: “In sermon 192 of Nahjul-Balaghah (according to the Sufi Salih version), Imam Ali (AS) says: ‘Between you and your enemy, Satan, there is only one military post, and that is humility and modesty. As soon as it is removed, all of you fall into the trap of Satan.’ Unfortunately, we often fail to realize how important this humility and modesty is in ethics.”
Ethics Comes Before Religion
He continued: “Imam Ali (AS) says: ‘The best blessing that suffices for life is good character.’ From this, we understand that our entire focus in religion should be on ethics. However, currently, our focus in religion is directed elsewhere, and ethics is lost.”
Delshad Tehrani also discussed the characteristics and the nature of Divine Education, emphasizing: “In Sermon 192, Imam Ali (AS) mentions that when the Prophet (PBUH) was born, God sent the best and greatest of angels to teach him and said: ‘Guide the Prophet to the ways of nobility, moral virtues, and the beauty of universal ethics.’”
Religion Strengthens and Supports the Foundation of Ethics
He concluded by elaborating on the concept of universal ethics: “Universal ethics means ethics that are pre-religious and take precedence over religion. Religion strengthens and supports the foundation of ethics. If someone does not have ethics, they will get nowhere in religion—they will neither understand religion nor benefit from guidance.
Since ethics precedes religion, religion is built on ethics and strengthens and completes the foundations of ethics. Therefore, Imam Ali (AS) says that the Prophet (PBUH) was taught the ethics of the world; then, the Prophet (PBUH) began to educate me, and every day he taught me the ethics he had learned, raising a flag (a practical example) for me.”