Preamble:

Characteristic in Arabic is called Al-Khasa'is, a plural form of Khasisah, which means particular feature or special quality.  The word Al-khaassah is an antonym of Al-`A'ammh (common). (1)

Furthermore, every Arabic word composed of the Arabic Alphabet Al-Khaa' and As-Sad denotes hole or opening in some thing, as was stated by Ibn Faris. Also a crack in the cloud that shows the moon from behind is called Khasasah, as was used by the well-known Arabic poet, Dhur-Rummah. (2)  

Moreover, when something is singled out that means that a sign or a gap has been made between it and other similar things. (3)

Al-Jurjani (4) said in this regard: "Al-Khusus means particular, as everything has its own entity.

Thus, Al-Khass means something personal that is not shared by others. (5)

We will talk in this chapter –by the help of Allah (Glory be to Him)- about the most outstanding characteristics of the moral values in Islam.

It is noteworthy that some of these characteristics are not specific with the moral values, rather, they involve them and other aspects of Islamic Shari`ah. In fact, the most of the characteristics are for Islamic Shari`ah as a whole, like; the divinity, convenience, ease and the characteristic of coinciding with the human nature.

However, studying these characteristic is necessary due to the complexity of the studies and domination of the independent and separate studies in every field. We shall talk about these characteristics here in order to highlight these features to give a clear and integrated idea about this aspect of Islamic Shari`ah.

Therefore, these characteristics would be regarded as the particular features of the moral values of Islam that distinguish it from other philosophical and moral schools of thought.

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(1) See: Ibn Manzur, Lisan Al- `Arab (7 / 24-25), and Al-Ferozabadi: Al-Qamus Al-Muhit (2/300).

(2) He is Ghilan ibn `Uqbah ibn Bahis or Bahish from  Mudharah tribe. Ar-Rammah in Arabic means the cord. Abul-` Ala' Al-Ma`arri said about him:"Poetry has been begun by Imra'ul Qais and sealed by Ar-Rammah." He died in Asbahan in his middle age in 117 A.H.. See: Muhammad ibn Salam Al- Jamhi, Tabaqat Fuhool  Ash-Shu`ra' with commentary by Mahmud Shakir (2/549) and Siyar `Aalam An-Nubala' (5/267).

(3) Ibn Faris, Mu`ajam Maqayis Al-Lughah (2/152-153).

(4) He is `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali Al-Jurjani, one of the senior scholars of Arabic language who was born in 740 A.H. and died in Shiraz in the year 816 A.H.. See: Siyar `Aalam An-Nubala' (5/7).

(5) Al-Jurjani , At-Ta`arifat, p. 68, Al-Maktabah Al-Wahbiyyah, Egypt, 1283 A.H..

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