What makes a society truly civilised?
Is civilisation measured by wealth, military strength and global influenceโor by the moral principles that restrain power and protect human dignity?
In this extended OnGuard conversation, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis sits down with Shaykh Dr Haitham al-Haddad to explore akhlฤq: the Islamic understanding of character, morality and the way human beings relate to Allah, themselves, one another and the world around them.
They examine who has the authority to define right and wrong, why secular moral frameworks can produce radically different conclusions over time, and whether human reason and desire can ever provide a stable foundation for ethics.
The discussion then moves from the individual to the civilisational. Can a society flourish without morality? What happens when pleasure, greed, ribฤ, family breakdown and the pursuit of power become embedded within a nation? And why do powerful countries so often begin to resemble the very forces they once claimed to oppose?
Shaykh Haitham also explains why Muslims should aspire to civilisational strengthโnot for domination or oppression, but to protect justice, resist tyranny and prevent the weak from being exploited by those with greater power.
Drawing upon the Qurโan, the Prophetic mission and examples from Islamic history, this conversation presents akhlฤq not merely as good manners or private spirituality, but as the moral foundation upon which individuals, families, communities and entire civilisations must be built.
A wide-ranging discussion on morality, power, justice, trust, สฟaqฤซdah, tawakkul, barakahโand what it really means to be civilised.
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