Conference Article

Circulation in Computer Science

International Conference on Engineering, Computing & Information Technology (ICECIT 2017), pp:25-28

Study about Ethics of Information and Communication

Technology (ICT): Islamic Perspective
Shumyla Rasheed Mir Reem Alzu’bi
Department of Computer Science and Software Department of Computer Science and Software
Engineering University of Hail, Engineering, University of Hail,
Saudi Arabia, KSA Saudi Arabia, KSA

ABSTRACT 1.1 Principles and Guidelines for IT Based

Information Technology (IT) services provide important part on Islamic Teaching
in development of the advanced society which represents Three principals belong to guiding the principal from Islamic
moral responsibility to motivate the society for an authorized perspective and relates to Al- Quran and SUNNAH. Al-Quran
return. Ethical issues directly related to use of unauthentic use is comprehensive guidance of Muslims it covers all the area of
of IT services. This paper reflects some of the IT Ethics and human life. Our work follows the frame of work for
relates to Islamic rules. These ethics implements to protect the knowledge and information.
human rights and others privacy related issues from IT point
view. Allah, (SWT) as quote from Qur’an the standards for all 2. ETHICS
human Beings to live peacefully without harming others The word “Ethics” represents from the Greek word “ethos”
personal efforts, authority, ethics). Our study summarizes to meaning habit or custom. Ethics rep behavior based on what is
discuss about four major IT Ethics references from Quran and morally good and bad.
Sunnah.
Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. cited that ethics are
Keywords very much central for Muslims.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT), “I’ve been sent to perfect good character.” (Imam
information technology Ethics, (ITE) Islamic Ethics (IE). Malik)
These are values related to every area and IT field.
1. INTRODUCTION
In this modern growing society, many countries, have Implementation must not reflect injustice and avoid
experienced ethical issues that exploit weak, unabated all unauthorized and illegal acts [2].
materialism, Un-authentic approach and widespread
immorality. However, Islam as a complete religion and give us
2.1 Categories of Ethics from IT
a solution to all the matters for disorganized community perspective
especially for Muslims. In fact, had the Islamic work ethics IT has played an important role in the Muslim life. IT
being adhered to, the Muslims could have become the applications are used for Islamic purposes to serve community,
important part and strong power. This is because, also provide services like research collaborations through the
comprehensive religion like Islam. The Quran and Sunnah Web and broadcasting of news. All Muslim societies need to
contained much guidance which could form the Muslim‘s key know about principles and rules for applying this technology.
to success. In our study first part belongs to Principles and
Guidelines for IT Based on Islamic Teaching. Then presents 2.1.1 Framework
the Categories of Ethics in Islamic point. The Next part The framework depicts the categories of ethics in information
concerns about the different shades of Islam about IT Ethics, technology.
Attitude towards Hard work, attitudes to time and attitudes to
leisure as well as Islam and the concept of motivation. Finally,
our study summarizes the disadvantages and harm full effects
of not obeying in the light of Quran and Sunnah [1].

Figure 2. Categories of Ethics from IT perspective

Figure 1: Framework of IT Ethics from Islamic
Perspective

Copyright © 2018 Shumyla Rasheed Mir et al. This is an open-access article

distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are credited.
Circulation in Computer Science
International Conference on Engineering, Computing & Information Technology (ICECIT 2017), pp:25-28
www.ccsarchive.org

Table 1: Possible answers of IT Ethics related questions 3.3 Objectives

The user must be responsible to achieve the task which is
Question Possible Answers assigned to him, to keep safe the resources that used like pc,
What does laptop [4], and printer, shared information and so on.
Different aspects of IT related ethics in
this study Assure the knowledge and information is free from obstacles
light of Islam.
reflect? and safely conveyed. Use protected resources e.g. hardware
Information technology fields are very and software resources. The person who is responsible, Allah
sensitive standard of privacy that has will increase his good deeds otherwise he walks to fire place
previously been reported to Islam in [4]. It is mentioned in different evidence from Quran to take
Quran book for example "Do not spy on our responsibility and utilize it in optimal way and without
one another." (49:12) and depends on the waste resources.
success of the field over the privacy they The field of ‘information (knowledge) ethics was established
What are the adopted. The rights of IT people that are to limit the negative impact towards what?
rights of related to privacy ethic are [3]:
people in The field of ‘information (knowledge) ethics was established
Right of publicity
relation to IT to limit the negative impact towards what?
(Privacy and Right of security of personal
information
Islam)?
Right of sharing and movable
َ َ‫ع َّماَكانُواَي ْعملُون‬ َ‫فَوربِّكَلنسْألنَّ ُه ْمَأجْ معِّين‬
boundaries
[15:92] by thy Lord, we shall question, everyone,
Intellectual property rights [15:93] of what they used to do.
Information protection rights.
Freedom of data transfers rights. َ‫َومنَي ْعم ْلَمِّ ثْقالَذ َّرةٍَش ًّرا‬ ُ‫فمنَي ْعم ْلَمِّ ثْقالَذ َّرةٍَخي ًْراَيرَه‬
There are a lot of techniques that are
always taken to enforce the people for َ ُ‫ير َه‬
At what
applying the privacy ethic, Also the
extent can
existence of this ethics in Islam [99:7] So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it,
one to
motivates people to apply it not just for [99:8] And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
improve and
ethical but also as a way to please Allah.
achieve َ‫َع ِّنَاب ِّْن‬،‫َع ْنَناف ٍِّع‬،‫َع ْنَأَيُّوب‬،ٍ‫َحدَّثناَح َّمادَُ ْبنُ َز ْيد‬:ََ‫َقال‬،‫ار ٌم‬
equity with
All of these help to achieve and improve ِّ ‫حدَّثناَع‬
the
using IT technology. The programmers ْ ٌ ُ ُّ ُ ُ ُّ ُ
َ،ِّ‫ َوكلك ْم َمسْؤول َعن َر ِّعيَّتِّه‬،ٍ‫ َكلك ْم َراع‬:ََ‫ي َملسو هيلع هللا ىلص‬ َّ
ُّ ِّ‫ َقال َالنب‬:ََ‫عُمر َقال‬
motivate to implement various
implementati
techniques used for privacy rights in َ،ٌ‫الر ُج ُل َراعٍ َعلى َأ ْه ِّل ِّه َوهُو َم ْسؤُول‬َّ ‫ َو‬،ٌ‫ير َراعٍ َوهُو َم ْسؤُول‬ ُ ِّ‫فاألم‬
on of IT? ٌ
wide level which leads to equity in most ُ ُّ ُ
َ،ٍ‫ َأال َوكلك ْم َراع‬،‫ت َز ْو ِّجها َوهِّي َم ْس ُؤولة‬ ِّ ‫و ْالم ْرأة ُ َراعِّية َعلى َب ْي‬
ٌ
IT fields in effective and safety way [4].
‫و ُكلُّ ُك ْمَم ْسؤُولٌَع ْنَر ِّعيَّ ِّت َِّه‬
What IT attempts to ensure the security of
protection information or manipulating on it, IT has Ibn 'Umar reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
can be raised the level of data protection grant him peace, "All of you are shepherds and each of you is
possible by through various techniques which depend responsible for his flock. A man is the shepherd of the people
IT [2]? on the experience of programmer [2]. of his house and he is responsible. A woman is the shepherd of
the house of her husband and she is responsible. Each of you is
a shepherd and each is responsible for his flock”.
3. IT ETHICS IN ISLAMIC
3.4 Disadvantages
PERSPECTIVE The harmful effects that will be resulted if they do not adopt
3.1 Responsibility this ethics:
Islam has asked the people to be of high level of responsibility. The information and data that used will be lost in
Information Technology (IT) domain needs a high confidence any time.
of a user. This user will be a part of hierarchy system that
The cost of using IT in various domains will be
effects on the whole work. The user must be responsible to
increased because there are wasting resources.
achieve the tasks which assigned to him.
There are no good deeds and benefits that will be in return to
3.2 Islamic perspective for Knowledge IT worker, he will be forfeited the current and day of
(Information) Ethics judgement.
Information representation in Islam is a very valuable asset to
gain knowledge and to achieve a successful Islamic 4. NETWORK ATTACKING
environment [5]. And this is spreading with the use of IT. In TECHNIQUES
order for individual to achieve this entire Goal, Islam give Nowadays internet makes everything easy for Society. On the
attention to follow a safe and accurate way of distribution of other hand, there are some drawbacks for usage of network.
knowledge and information [4]. The exchange of information data onto the network is not
secure by unauthorized access and users at any time. There are
Allah will judge him about what they are responsible for, and
many techniques that used for stealing information such as
what they do in his work?
Eavesdropping, Data modification, identify spoof (IP address

26
Circulation in Computer Science
International Conference on Engineering, Computing & Information Technology (ICECIT 2017), pp:25-28
www.ccsarchive.org

spoofing), Password based attack and Denial – of – Service got them as Halal view. That is why people are to do their
Attack [3]. works in the best way even there is no punishment of the work
leader because the important punishment of Allah [4].
4.1 Islamic perspective for attacking Responsible to do responsible to do their works in the best way
(obtrusion) Ethics: even there is no punishment of the work leader because the
The existence of Information Technology in various huge important punishment of Allah [8].
domains leads to be computerized environments. The human
behavior to use information, steal or attacks reflect the human 5.1 Islamic perspective for hard work
Islamic ethics. Interference and espionage are described in Ethic:
Islamic law as generalized issues. They are considered as Information technology is considered as a crucial material,
unethical Islamic issues because the Islam is asked the people because it has soft detailed data related to specific domain. The
not to interfere in each other; also the Islam prevents them to work related to IT domain must be accuracy and confirmed
butt in others [1]. because it is depended on IT procedure. Any rubbish or mess
of usage information technology will conflict the data mad
4.2 Objectives: leads the data and then leads to information damage. Islam
Information Technology is an attractive environment for encourages the people in clear message to work perfection, to
attacking process because it has the confidentiality personal use information in optimal usage and do maximum effort to
information and all communication partners that help the finalize the work in efficient way [6].
attacker to read, steal or interrupt them. The important of
saving information of attackers is to work in smoothly 5.2 Objectives:
environment as the Islamic one without effect any harmful to The work hard in any tasks related to information technology
other part through acted unkindly behaviors such as changing is increased IT development and revolution. It is opened for
the stored data or exploit messaging to anyone through specific new thinking process of solving problems using information
user name and password. The evidence that describe the technology. It is affected on the quality of information that
prevention of attached issues is shown below [2]. manipulated or accessed on it. Hard work is accomplished by
person itself motivated by Islam. The Quran and Hadith is
َ‫ََ}منَ ُحسن‬:َ ‫َقالَرسولَهللا‬:‫َقال‬،‫عنَأبيَهريرةَرضيَهللاَعنه‬ guided us this ethics.
َ {‫إسالمَالمرءَتركهَماَالَيعـنيه‬ َ‫سولُهَُو ْال ُمؤْ مِّ نُونَوستُردُّونَإِّلىَعال ِِّّم‬ َّ ‫وقُ ِّلَاعْملُواَْفسير‬
ُ ‫ىََّللاَُعمل ُك ْمَور‬

[3773:‫َوابنَماجه‬1328َ:‫َرواهَالترمذي‬،‫]حديثَحسن‬ َ َ‫شهاد ِّةَفيُن ِّبئ ُ ُكمَ ِّبماَ ُكنت ُ ْمَت ْعملُون‬ ِّ ‫ْالغ ْي‬
َّ ‫بَوال‬

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said: The messenger of [9:105] And say (unto them): Act! Allah will behold your
Allah said: "Part of someone's being a good Muslim is his actions, and (so will) His messenger and the believers, and ye
leaving alone that which does not concern him." fine hadith will be brought back to the Knower of the invisible and the
narrated by Termithi and others visible, and He will tell you what ye used to do.
َ‫سوا‬
ُ ‫س‬َّ ‫َالظ ِّنَإِّثْ ٌمَوالَتج‬َّ ‫َالظ ِّنَإِّ َّنَب ْعض‬
َّ ‫اَمن‬ ً َِّ‫ياَأيُّهاَالَّذِّينَآمنُواَاجْ تنِّبُواَكث‬
ِّ ‫ير‬ َ‫َقالَرسولَهللاَملسو هيلع هللا ىلصَ“َإنَهللاَيحب‬:َ‫عنَعائشةَرضيَهللاَتعالىَعنهاَقالت‬
ْ
َُ‫ض ُكمَب ْعضًاَأيُحِّ بُّ َأحدُ ُك ْمَأنَيأ ُكلَلحْ مَأخِّ يهَِّم ْيتًاَفك ِّر ْهت ُ ُموه‬ُ ‫والَي ْغتبَبَّ ْع‬ َ ”‫إذاَعملَأحدكمَعمالًَأنَيتقنه‬

َ َ‫َرحِّ ي ٌم‬
َّ ٌ‫ََّللاَت َّواب‬ َّ ُ‫واتَّق‬
َّ ‫واََّللاَإِّ َّن‬ Hadith translation; “Allah loves someone who when he works,
he performs it in perfect manner (itqan)”
[49:12] Believers, abstain from most suspicion, some
suspicion is a sin. Neither spy nor backbite one another would 5.3 Disadvantages:
any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Surely, you The information will be messed.
would loathe it. Fear Allah, without doubt Allah turns (in Lateness in development and revolution that will be
mercy) and He is the Merciful. returned to the community.
Misrepresentation on Islamic ethics view.
4.3 Disadvantages Decrease in the quality of Information Technology
The consequences of non- adoption of this ethics:
Trouble environment can be created.
6. TIME UTILIZATION
Time has an intrinsic value in our Lives. Information
Damage in the information stored in database.
Technology is a big world that needs a lot of time to
Loss of security and privacy issues because the data accomplish some tasks. The time importance is drawn in the
is attacked. Islamic ethics through good usage of time. Time utilization
means determining specific time to accomplish specific tasks
5. HARD WORK and not wasting one’s time through the usage [1].
The effective and efficiency in the quality of work are guided
to development and evolution, information technology is a 6.1 Islamic perspective for time
critical domain, all tasks must be done in accuracy and good
manner, any careless or doubted work makes a trouble in the Utilization Ethics
work environment and effect on the success or failure of the Information Technology is a big world needs a lot of time to
companies. Islam is asked the people to execute and accomplish some tasks. Islam believes that there is a time
implement the assigned tasks in optimal way. They must do spending judgment in hereafter life. The time must not be
the works from conscience and sincerity. If the tasks are done wasted in any way; it will be spent in a good manner because
sincerity, Allah will bless people and their salaries in current the time is passed daily and Allah will judge the person on
life and will raise the good deed level in hereafter because they how he spends his time, in what you spend, and for what you

27
Circulation in Computer Science
International Conference on Engineering, Computing & Information Technology (ICECIT 2017), pp:25-28
www.ccsarchive.org

spend. If human beings do not waste or abuse time, but rather 7. CONCLUSION
think of it as a blessing from God then they have every reason Many services in current society work online with advanced
to hope for success both in this life and in the hereafter. Islam technologies; it might be a big loss in case of any exploitation
is our guidance to respect and care of time in any domain. activity. Therefore, more effort is required to make awareness
Information Technology (IT) is sensitive to time issues, of the advantages and disadvantages of using IT services,
because the process of the work depends on the information putting some guiding principles and security measures to avoid
itself, passing, exchanging or manipulating [7]. misuse of services. Islamic teaching conveys a full meaning of
information in every aspect of life.
6.2 Objectives:
The time that needs to perform task related to IT domains must This research shows that there are some issues that are
be expected to complete the task in specific time. Any lateness common to IT ethics. It is very important to develop the
or wasting time may be an effect on the system itself, like Islamic outlook to IT ethics especially since to know the most
spending salaries, reservation tickets and so on. It helps to Islamic countries place it at the center of their legal Acts for
keep the information up to data immediately. That leads to the computer crimes like Saudi Arabia.
developmental revolution. Time utilization encourages doing
the work in perfect way based on the specific time. Also, it This study will be helped non-Muslim users in knowing more
makes the environment as work optimally even through each and more about Islam how to gather all ethics that will be
IT worker spend his time in effective way that is related to treated with others in various domains.
work environment. So there is no time to make problems
between users, open unethical sites, or thinking to do any
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