Ethical behaviour and material well-being

The chapter explores the impact of ethical behaviour on material well-being and happiness from an Islamic perspective. The Qur’an discusses material well-being under a broad concept of ‘rizq’ and asserts that it is God who distributes rizq among people. For understanding this general dictum, we speculate that three categories of factors affect the level of rizq that a person gets: common factors, such as ability, capital, labour and economic power; positive ethical factors such as gratitude, philanthropy, integrity, and trust; and negative ethical factors, such as injustice, corruption, fraud, and greed. The distribution of rizq by God manifests itself through the familiar cause-effect mechanism, while the invisible hand of God acts in an over-arching manner. Most probably, the invisible hand of God considers human ethical behaviour also while acting in a certain manner. The effect of ethical behaviour is reflected through a complex but unknown system of entitlement, which has implications for happiness. The means of achieving material well-being impact upon happiness. The chapter, despite being speculative, makes a start by exploring the relationship of ethical behaviour with material well-being and happiness.