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Majlis of Pursuit
AR
In a busy market lane, one hand openly drops a coin into a brass collection box while onlookers watch; on the right, another hand quietly slips a banknote into a stranger's bag
Illustration

Thought experimentEthics8 min

If nobody could ever know what you did, would you still do the right thing?

Consider a public gift that could help a community service and bring recognition to its donor. Explore intention, visibility, and impact without repeating the hidden-wallet premise from Experience 1 or pretending that an observer can judge someone's sincerity.

Step 01
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Step 01

The visible project

Amal helps fund a new reading room at a neighborhood center. The center plans to list donors on a public thank-you board. Amal wonders whether her name might encourage other people to contribute—and whether being named will make the gift feel less private.

The center needs funding and wants to acknowledge support. Amal's reason for giving is not something a sign or an audience can fully reveal.

Reflect

What questions might arise when a helpful action is also visible?

Sources in this experience

  • Qur'an 98:5 — Quran.com

    Saheeh International translation, Quran.com resource 20

    View source
  • Qur'an 2:264 — Quran.com

    Saheeh International translation, Quran.com resource 20

    View source
  • Qur'an 2:271 — Quran.com

    Saheeh International translation, Quran.com resource 20

    View source
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1 — Dar-us-Salam

    Arabic-English 9-volume set; translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan

    View publisher edition details View source
  • Intention, Sincerity and Truthfulness (Book 37 of the Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn) — Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī; translated by Anthony F. Shaker, 2014, Islamic Texts Society View source
  • Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’an — Toshihiko Izutsu, 2002, McGill-Queen's University Press View source
  • Mystical Dimensions of Islam — Annemarie Schimmel, 1975, University of North Carolina Press View source
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