What are some of the qualities that confucius valued

Confucianism
Introduction:

Confucianism, also known as Ruism in some geographic region, is a coin with the two sides. One of the sides is a philosophy of life and a set of core belief, values and morals, the other side o f Confucianism is a religion so it is both a philosophy and religion which governs the behaviors and attitudes of people. This philosophy and religion is adopted majorly in China and its communities and most of the Chinese communities follow the Confucianism philosophy of life.

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This is the sign which is used by the followers of this religion. Actually It is a way of living life and it was founded and taught by Confucius in 5th to 6th century BCE. According to an unofficial survey, adherent of this religion are about 5 to 6 million.

Beliefs:

As said before that it is more a philosophy of life and a set of beliefs, Confucianism is based on the two major values and those are “BENEVOLENCE” and “HUMANENESS”, these values are related to the character o a person and encompasses “LI” which means the ritual norms, “ZHONG” which means adherence to one’s original nature, “SHU” which means reciprocity and “XIAO” which means FILIAL PIETY and this last one is the most important concept practices by the Confucians and taught by the Confucianism religion.

Confucianism borrows the teaching s of some other religion in the other aspects of life and it is more focused and concentrated towards the character and ethical structure of a person’s life while following the teaching of Buddhism, Taoism and other religions in other aspects of life.

The main characteristics of this religion revolves around the optimism relating to the human nature and humanity and the basic theme behind the Confucianism teaching of the ethics were that ordinary human beings could be transformed into worthies and awe0insoiring sages if they are properly nurtured and a ethical man could not be identified and should not be identified from the outlooks and it would be notable to quote here that Confucius himself lived a very ordinary life and he was of the view that humans can be improved, taught, mentored and could reach a perfect level if passed through communal and personal endeavors. Heaven to Confucius and in his concept is regarded as the positive and personal force of a person while living in the universe and this rejects the supposition that Confucius was skeptic or agnostic.

Rectitude and Wisdom:

In Confucianism, there is term Gentleman, used for a person who is a role model and goal for every person, gentleman is a level of human ethics which is very near to the perfection and this level was defined by Confucius. He is an opposition of a small and mean or an unimportant person in Confucianism religion. This is a person who is perfect from almost all aspects of ethics and such person have high moral values such as he never gives up, a gentleman is always transparent, sincere and clear in his deeds, help others and is kind to the environment and to the community in which he lives and lastly the summary of a gentleman’s quality in Confucianism thoughts is that a gentle man is ritualistic, educated and filial.

According to Confucius, a man with low moral values (small man think of the comforts and worldly gains in his life while a gentle man of high values always thinks about the virtues in his life. Sanctions of law are the primary thoughts of a superior man (gentleman) while a small man is having thoughts of receiving favors from the law. Further Conscious stated that a superior man is concerned with the perfection of his good qualities and he is not interested in seeking to perfect the bad qualities of him but a mean man do opposite of what a superior man does.

In Confucianism, a man who is o high moral values and who seeks to attain the highest of a man’s virtues does not aims to find taste in his food nor he is interested in easiness of dwelling and comfort in rest but he gets the motivation from and is interested in doing best of the actions which benefits the others and is concerned with the care when he speaks so that his words do not hurt anyone. Such person is always eager to learn and he wants to be in the company of the people who are practicing principals and who have highest of the knowledge, so that he could learn from them and so that he do not do or repeat mistakes which were once made by him.

Money has nothing to do with such a person and is discussed earlier that Confucius practically lives such a life to show people that he is actually doing what he is preaching; he had a small house with an ordinary life in it.

Thus a person who wishes to be (although everyone should) a gentle man must equip himself with all of the virtue sand should be able to live a simple and a bit hard life in this world so that he could get a highly valued spiritual life. He must be dedicated to the self cultivation and must be able and ready to develop the qualities of good people like kindness, humanity and goodness in him. According to Confucianism, such a person should contain “REN”, which is a set of qualities such as kindness, love, charity, selflessness, perfect virtue, noble, soft heartedness, human heartedness and many other ethical qualities are gathered in “REN”

Filial Piety:

Filial Piety is a basic concept and fundamental virtue in the philosophy of Confucius. In Confucianism this denoted by XIAO and this is a concept of youngsters supporting the elder ones in the society and in almost all of the aspects of life. It also deals with the respect giving from younger ones to elders and vice versa. Basic theme of this concept is support, respects and being with someone. For example, Parents take care of the children, look after them and take care of their needs when children are young and can’t do themselves, like wise Children are supposed to respect, take care of and look after their parents when they are old and can’t do all this by themselves

In general terms, Confucianism states the filial piety as being good to one’s ancestors by doing food deeds and giving them a good name along with being good and gentle to parents both at home and outside the home and both in the life of the parents and after the death of the parents by doing sacrifice and good deeds for them. The only point where the philosophy concentrates on material means is that a person should perform his duties in a robust manner to bring enough resources to support his family and parent in a very good manner and a person should engage in such a behavior that brings good name to the upbringing of one’s parents.

In a summary filial piety in Confucianism is the corner stone of all of the rituals and rites and it is about the relationship of the elders and the younger ones which focuses on nurturing the younger ones in such a way that they behave either their elders in such a way which they like their younger ones to behave with them when they grow old.

ISLAM, Its Wisdom and Rectitude:

Islam is the religion sent by God (Allah) through his last messenger Hazrat Mohammad (Peace be Upon him), Allah is the only eternal and everlasting Power in Islam and Messenger Mohammad (Peace be Upon him) is the perfect and the best personality of all of the world who has no match in history, nor presently and will not have any match in the future ever, are the basics of Islam. Hazrat Mohammad (Peace be upon him) came with the best teaching or living life and taught the best of the ethics to lead a peaceful life). In Islam, good ethics are denoted by “Akhlaaq”. This is a set of ethical behaviors which covers the each and every aspect of life from relation with parents to relation with slaves and including ethics of all of the businesses of life which a person can engage in. This is a massive code of conduct which has guidance for each and every person of society. In Islam, there are clear rules regarding the upbringing of children by parents and the rights and responsibilities of both the children and parents. In general parents have to nurture their children in a highly ethical environment and tech them the rules and regulations of Islam along with a healthy upbringing and in turn children are required to give their parents with the ultimate respect and honor which they deserve as being parents. Islam asks the children to pray for their parent in every condition, whether they are alive or dead and this will benefit both the parents and the children. Being a religion of nature Islam teachings are up to date and are never changes till today and still could be applied to every aspect of life. The teachings of Islam regarding the relationship of Children and Parents could be culminated by this saying of Quran: “Your Lord has commanded that you must not worship none but Him alone and do well to your (both) parents. If either of both of them reach old age in your life time say not even UFF (Fie) to them say not to them a word of disrespect nor shout at them but address them in terms of honor” (Holly Quran, 15:23)

Family in the Islam

Islam focus strongly on the family as it is the first stone in the society and if the family members are good then the society become welfare. The regulations of Islam are very comprehensive and it care even for small details that it mentioned by Quran and shariah. From the beginning of building any family Islam’s require the husband to give a dowry for his wife. On the other hand, Islam encourage people to make the dowry not very expensive in order to encourage youth to marriage and not very hard thing to do. Not only that, but if the husband is poor and he doesn’t have money, he can give his wife the dowry as teaching her the Holy Quran. (( …………..))(4:3). Most of Islam regulation are easy to practice and they have many exception as the human has different situations. Sharing and respecting are the most significant part in the family. First of all, the husband should take care of his wife and kids and respect them. Prophet Muhammad says(rayhanah). And he says(khairukum for his family)

It is narrated from the Prophet (S): “The doors of Heaven to mercy will be opened in four situations: when it rains; when a child looks kindly at his parent’s face; when the door of the Ka°bah is opened; and when marriage (occurs).”1 As indicated by the above tradition, the concept of marriage in Islam is so sacred and valued, that the doors of Allāh (SwT)’s mercy are open on this occasion. Indeed, this is not surprising when one considers that marriage secures a large portion of one’s faith and protects it from the evil of Satan, as narrated from the Prophet (S): “There is not a single young person that gets married during his youth, except that his Satan cries out that ‘Woe onto him, woe onto him, he has protected two thirds of his faith from me’; therefore, mankind must have taqwā (God-Conciousness) in Allāh (SwT) to protect the remaining one third of his faith.”

Importance of motherhood

The Prophet Muĥammad (S) has said that: “Paradise is under the feet of the mother.”7 Allāh (SwT) states in the Noble Qur`an “And no female conceives or delivers except with His knowledge.”

It is also narrated from the Prophet (S): “If it is decided that Allāh (SwT) will make a child be born, He will make him in whatever shape he likes.”8 This shows us that child-bearing is a direct blessing from Allāh (SwT) and one that must be shown continuous gratitude for. Indeed, the presence of a child has been likened to the fruit of a tree, which brings a man and woman closer to each other. As for mothers, Islam has made for them a beautiful world, in which everyone must respect and revere them. Allāh (SwT) recognizes and mentions the difficulties borne by mothers: In Surat Luqmān, Verse 14, He states:

“His mother carried him through weakness upon weakness.”

A man came to the Prophet (S) and said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, to whom should I do good?” The Prophet (S) said, “Your mother.” (So) the man said, “And then to whom should I do good?” The Prophet (S) said, “Your mother.” (Then) the man said, “And then to whom should I do good?” The Prophet (S) said, “Your mother.” (Then) the man asked, “After that, to whom should I do good?” The Prophet (S) said, “To your father.”9 It is also narrated that the Prophet (S) was asked, “Which of the parents have a higher status?” The Prophet (S) replied, “The one who for nine months kept you between her two sides (stomach), and then brought you into this world and gave you milk from her breasts.”

There are many customs about the signifance of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, It is narrated from the Prophet (S): “The reward of a woman, from the time of pregnancy until birth and breastfeeding, is the same as the reward of one on the path of Allāh (SwT), and if a woman leaves this world during that time because of the hardship and pains of birth, she has the reward of a martyr (shahid)

In the culture of Islam in comparison to many other old and new cultures, men cannot rule over women. And man’s supervision and guardianship doesn’t show his superiority and authority. A woman is a companion in times of his loneliness and she gives him comfort. A Muslim woman who is familiar with Islam and is of a pure nature tries to obey her husband who is of her own choice. She tries to satisfy her own mental-spiritual needs as well as her husband’s. In this way, they can create a pleasant family environment. Thus, the contract of marriage is not only a legal way for satisfaction of the sexual instinct, but also is a contract that covers all aspects between the couples which gives beauty and harmony to their lives, and saves them from solitude.

The Holy Quran says: “And of His sign is this: He created for you helpmates from yourselves that you might find rest in them and created between your love and mercy”. (Holy Qur’an 30:21) The above verse gives orientation to the life of married couples that must always give comfort to each other and their relations should not be summed up only in sexual pleasure. But should bring an abiding love, sympathy so that they may live in marital bliss. Because the family is the foundation for forming individuals and social personalities and the very morality of parents is a very influential factor which begins way before marriage. The level of development and spirituality of a nation is directly related to its morality and culture, and the roots for the formation of culture and morality can be found in the family (Mutuku).

Raising children in Islam

Parents can play important role as a guidance, Children, whose parents respect the elders, have a natural trend to follow the example of their parents and respect their elders in every way. Parents have the power to teach their children through their own behavior and manner. On the other hand, parents should be aware in terms of variable generations, some customs may be accepted in the current time but may be not in the previous. Thus, parents may not force their kids to do some kind of choices such as education level but let them chose based on their desire.

Imam Ali (AS) counsels: “Do not force your own customs upon your children for they are in other times than yours.”

Parents have been given the noble duty of guiding the future generation. It is their task to ensure that their children get a sound religious education. In this way they are carrying on the work of the Prophets, who guided the people. The Holy Qur’an says: “O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is man and stones.”(Holy Qur’an 66:6). In today’s society, a lot of emphasis is placed on secular education. A child is pushed to strive for excellence in academics. A college or university education is a necessity, both for boys and girls. Education is indeed very important, but the significance of religious education for a balanced personality must not be over-looked. The world is producing a generation that knows a lot, but is greatly deficient in moral and spiritual values. The Prophet (SAW) was once talking to his companions about the importance of religious education. He told them he was “baree” (far) from the parents of the last times. They asked him the reason and he explained those parents would give a lot of importance to secular education, but neglect the religious education. May the Almighty protect us from being amongst them.

References:

Confucianism - ReligionFacts. (2016). Religionfacts.com. Retrieved 1 May 2016, from http://www.religionfacts.com/confucianism

Jie, Yaung, Between Confucianism and Islam the comparison

Syed, A. (2016). Akhlaq, Islamic Behavior, Good Conduct, Morality, Good Manners, Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw), Islamic Etiquette. Ezsoftech.com. Retrieved 1 May 2016, from http://www.ezsoftech.com/stories/mis55.asp

Naeem, Muhammad, Filial piety in Confucianism and Islam comparative