Morality Is Universal Empathy

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 11 January 2025 Recently, Yuval Noah Harari was in India. During a literary meet in Bombay, he reiterated his famous quote, "Morality Doesn’t Mean ‘Following Divine Commands’. It means ‘reducing suffering’. Hence in order to act morally, you don’t need to believe in any myth or story. You just need to develop a deep appreciation of suffering." It was from his book, "Twenty One Lessons for the 21st Century." His quote emphasizes that morality is not a matter of following specific religious customs or commandments, but rather understanding the suffering of others and doing our best to reduce it. We do not need to believe in any kind of mythology or faith in order to act morally; rather, we must aim to truly understand how our decisions and actions affect the world around us and strive to reduce suffering wherever we can. Morality is not about a certain set of beliefs; it is about recognizing the importance of reducing pain and anguish whenever we can. Morality is universal empathy. It's the sublimated synchronised conscience that we all have. Whether or not we apply it to the last syllable is inconsequential. Morality is the assertion of individual accountability because in the end, we are all responsible for our own actions and must face the consequences of our choices. Each individual is accountable for their own actions and must bear the repercussions of the choices they make. It highlights the importance of personal responsibility and the moral imperative of accepting the outcomes of our decisions. By emphasizing the concept of individual agency, this statement underscores the idea that one's actions have far-reaching effects and that we must take ownership of both the positive and negative consequences of our behaviours. Ultimately, it serves as a reminder that we cannot escape the repercussions of our choices, and must take responsibility for them in order to grow and learn from our mistakes. Morality evolves with human evolution. Had it been god-gifted, it'd have been static and unchanged. That moral behaviour changes and gets sublimated is proof that it (morality) is a distillation of human behaviour which is subject to further refinement. We're all flawed creatures, but it's in our imperfections that our humanity and morality shine through. Despite our flaws and imperfections, it is these very qualities that make us human, authentic and morally 'sound.' We all make mistakes and have weaknesses, but it is how we navigate and learn from these shortcomings that allows us to demonstrate our true humanity and a glimpse of morality. Our flaws give us the opportunity to grow, to understand ourselves and others better, and to show empathy and compassion towards one another. It's through our imperfections that we can connect with each other on a deeper level, and ultimately, it's what makes us uniquely human. This is the quiddity of our collective moralistic behaviour that remains eternally unaffected by any esoteric agency or ' Truth.' The moral compass has been in the hands of humans right from the very first dawn of human civilization. No god or faith ever taught us to be moral. Dr Ghulam Saheb will concur with me, maybe Rasheed Saheb as well. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/morality-universal-empathy/d/134299 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism