The second half of the proverb

 The revealed values are preserved in the Holy Quran, the code of life for mankind in all climes China Sintered Powder Metal Gears Factory and ages. “God has saved my honour,” means that I have not been disgraced before my friends.Let us attempt a definition on a layman’s level. In an island of the Pacific there is a tribe with whom dishonesty is the best moral conduct and among whom the cleverest cheat is held in the highest esteem. Immorality as energy is also character, but to be neither moral nor immoral is merely ambiguous”. The Jews thought it bad, even criminal, to levy interest among themselves but permitted it in the case of non-Jews. Character is that which is engraved.“Character is adopting ‘Good’ and good is the movement in the direction of home, ‘evil’ is the aimless whirl of human potentialities without which nothing can be achieved and by which, if they take no direction but remain trapped in themselves, everything goes away”. It can seek preservation of the particular self to which it belongs individually or collectively, but not that of the other selves. He who sacrifices life for safeguarding honour is universally applauded as a man of character; he who sacrifices honour to save life is unreservedly condemned.

Our people have no character” is acknowledged universally, at home and abroad, in business and government circles, and in every sphere of administrative activity. How hard does a tiny little ant struggle against obstacles endangering its life! Man is no exception.Assessment of Human Values. Preservation of human values elevates the level of life, from the animal to the human.(Martin Bubar in “Between Man and Man”, page 78).(Berdyaev in “Slavery and Freedom”, page 47).“Character in the most general sense is a man’s attitude towards his human surroundings which is expressed in his actions”. Take the word honour. Men actually think differently about moral questions, and there is no empirical reason for supposing that they will ever do otherwise”.The second half of the proverb suggests that life and honour have both a value but that if there is a tie between them and only one can be saved, then it is honour which should be preferred.The outward signs of a weak character are commonly believed to be bribery, corruption and exploitation but they do not bring out the true significance of the word. “She gave her life to save her honour”—here honour signifies chastity. It is Revelation alone which gives abiding universal values. Murray in his, “The Individual and the State”, page 216)Universal Standard of Character.The proverb says “Sacrifice wealth to save life and sacrifice life to save honour”.Character Defined.(Soren Kierkegarard in “The Present Age”, page 15). The first half of the proverb is clear. Honour is a specific human value. Harming oneself is lunacy. A miser once fell ill and his son called in an eminent doctor, not for helping the patient, but for saving his face against the charge of indifference towards his ailing father. Quranic values are Permanent Values of life and provide a universal standard of character or, to use Quranic terminology, Taqwa. One who sacrifices wealth for life or vice versa is, however, neither credited with character nor condemned. Doing the opposite would be devoid of sense.An Illustrative Proverb.“Each person should in his acts, and behind them in his thoughts and his emotions, exercise that control which is necessary in order to assure not only harmony in his own personality but also social harmony”. The concept of honour is unknown to the animal world.

 The advice will excite laughter, not because it exhibits lack of character but on account of its absurdity.(Alexander Loveday in “The Only Way”).Rational thought fully endorses Quranic concept of character.People inhabiting different countries might follow different ways of life but, according to the Holy Quran, human values are the same anywhere and unchangeable too.In the words of Rumelin. Is there then no universal standard of character?Quranic Concept of Character. Thugs felt proud of killing poor wayfarers. Lack of character produces social imbalance and leads ultimately to national decline and disintegration.“Self regard is its (State’s) appointed duty; the maintenance and development of its own power and well-being is the supreme principle of all politics.Preservation of life is an animal instinct; not so is the preservation of honour.“Morality is character. The maintenance of the State justified every sacrifice and is superior to every moral rule”(Quoted by Robert H. For the well-being and preservation of mankind as a whole,however, what is needed is not an individualistic intellect, which cannot see beyond its nose, but a comprehensive and all pervading intellect, namely God and Revelation. As the son was leaving for buying the medicines, the father told him to do so only after first ascertaining from the undertaker the cost of his funeral, that is, he should adopt the less costly course. In the West, however, if a girl flirts publicly,her father or brother, instead of having any qualms, would feel proud of her as a popular society girl! Again one society might attach the greatest importance to a particular value which in the estimation of another society might not be a value at all.  

But the meaning of chastity itself might differ from people to people. II, page 286)On page 211 of the book he agrees that these values cannot be devised by human intellect but have been revealed to man and says:“Certainly it (moral law) is to be found, wholly and completely, in no individual human consciousness.In days gone by Spartans viewed theft a virtue and held the smartest thief in the high-test esteem; today theft is a crime and a thief a criminal. With us conception of a virgin is a disgrace for the family, in the West sexual intercourse between a willing couple is neither an evil nor a criminal offense: even homosexuality betweenwilling parties is condoned there. Wealth and life have their respective values and if only one of them can be saved then wealth should be sacrificed to save life. Here are a few definitions given by Western writers on ethics.Meaning of Character.(Professor Whitehead in “Adventures of Ideas”, page 309). If he sacrifices wealth for life, he follows a natural instinct and not any moral value. The State can only have regard to the interest of any other State so far as this can be identified with its own interest.”(The Theory of Good and Evil, Vol. The doctor examined the patient, diagnosed the disease and wrote out a prescription.“Character is the manifestation of Truth, and Truth is the conformation of Appearance to Reality”.Human values might have different meanings. We respect and honour our parents, but there have been tribes with whom eating them up constituted a sacred duty. Character may, therefore, be defined as who so preserves human values against animal instincts is a man of character. Character is really inwardness