Clarity of Purpose & Code of Conduct
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّٰهُ
Before anything else: why Edinburgh ISoc exists, and what our committee holds itself to as an Amanah, a trust, before Allah SWT.
Clarity of Purpose
“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
This is a clear vision of the purpose of all Muslims, rooted in the Qur’an and therefore also in the Sunnah.
It is important for everyone within the ISoc community to have full clarity on their purpose as Muslims, and to be able to deliver every ISoc event with this in mind as our collective purpose. Without a purpose in mind, ISoc would be an aimless society with no direction.
It is also vital for all of us to remember that this is an Amanah, a trust. We will be questioned on the Day of Judgement for this position of leadership we were elected to hold.
“O Abdur Rahman, do not ask for authority! If it is given to you at your request, you will be held fully responsible for it. If it is given to you without your request, you will be helped by Allah in it.”
Abdur Rahman ibn Samurah (RA) · Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7146, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1652 · Muttafaqun ‘Alayhi
A purpose rooted in the Qur’an
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.”
Qur’an 51:56
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“[Remember] when your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am going to place a successive [human] authority on earth.’ They asked, ‘Will You place in it someone who will spread corruption there and shed blood, while we glorify Your praise and proclaim Your holiness?’ Allah responded, ‘I know what you do not know.’”
Qur’an 2:30
Worship directed to Allah alone
We have been created to worship Allah SWT, attaining Rabbani status (true servitude), where our worship is directed solely to the Lord. This difficult endeavour requires complete tawheed: the implemented belief in the oneness of Allah SWT, which means forgoing all distractors and false gods in the dunya.
In the Qur’an, Allah SWT mentions several false gods beyond statue idols, and these can be categorised into four: two external (people and material things) and two internal (shaytan, and the nafs/hawa, our inner self and its desires).
Refer to: 9:24, 9:31, 2:165, 89:20, 36:60, 3:14, 45:23
We have also been given clear guidance to follow upon the path of Allah SWT: the Qur’an, within which the importance of following the Sunnah is highlighted throughout.
Refer to: 4:80, 4:59, 24:63, 4:65, 8:24
Every one of us is a Khalifa
Everyone on this earth is a Khalifa (an authority), whether good or bad. A good Khalifa is one who fulfils true servitude (Qur’an 51:56). The way to fulfil this is through Lā ilāha illā Allah on an emotional, spiritual, and physical level: expelling all false gods (shaytan, nafs, people, material things), and making Allah SWT the only exception above all of this.
May Allah SWT allow us to be rightly guided upon His straight path, where we worship Him alone with full devotion and a freeing worship, away from the shackling lifestyle of worshipping false gods.
Our Code of Conduct
Alongside this Clarity of Purpose, every committee member agrees to a fuller Code of Conduct, covering how we consult, correct one another, resolve conflict, and represent ISoc publicly.
Read the full Code of Conduct
Agreed and followed by every member of the ISoc committee.