Blindspot!
From Issue: 1013 [Read full issue]
Known and Unknown
At various places in the Quran and in different ways goodness is referred to as maruf (known), meaning that which is generally known. And evil has been called munkar (that which is unknown). In other words, vice is that which by instinct is unfamiliar to mankind. The innate nature (fitra) of man prompts him on what is wrong. Regardless of how many sins mankind may have committed or how many times they may have been involved in wrongdoing or in creating false philosophies, a vast majority of people never accepted established goodness to be evil, or evil to be good. The universal good has been recognized everywhere at all times. Collectively, the nations of the world have never agreed to a premise of accepting good to be evil or vice versa.
Those people who consume intoxicants day in and day out agree that drinking is injurious. Those who take riba (interest on loans) admit that riba is detrimental. Those who are involved in zina (adultery or fornication) agree that it is wrong and a source of degradation of a society. Nobody accepts or praises zina as a righteous act. Although it has been tolerated and defended by some, history of nations testifies to the fact that a greater part of mankind never accepted this wrong and perverse act to be good. There are people whose ways of life have been corrupted, but a vast majority of mankind has never insisted on declaring the known good deeds to be evil or those which are known evils to be virtuous.
Compiled From:
"A Righteous Heart: The Axis of One's Deeds" - Khurram Murad