Al-Daghistani, R. (2018). "Ethics in Islam: An Overview of Theological, Philosophical and Mystical Approaches".pdf (original) (raw)
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Ethics has been a major concern of the various traditions in Islam but, while the ethical concerns of Muslim philosophers and theologians have been well covered in academic studies, Sufi ethics seems to remain relatively unexplored. This is because of a misunderstanding that developments in ethics in Islam are to be measured against those of ancient Greece, which excludes Sufi texts from the inquiry. This edited book, which emerged from a set of papers read at a conference held at the American University of Beirut in 2019, is one of the recently published works in the field that attempt to explore the relationship between ethics and Sufism and bring out ethical categories that go beyond those of the Greeks. It consists of 25 chapters, arranged in four parts: the early period, the classical period, the late pre-modern period, and the modern and contemporary periods. Since there is not enough space here to describe all the contents, selected examples will be examined to show the nature of the inquiries the book sets out.
Heritage of Islamic ethics and contemporary issues: a call for relevantization
This study addresses the subject of Islamic ethics from definitional and disciplinary perspectives. It highlights the need for relevantization of Islamic ethics to contemporary issues in a systematic manner which, in turn, calls for development of Islamic ethics as a complete discipline with ability to meet all types of challenges: conceptual, practical, normative, applicative, etc. Regarding the definitional issue, different from and more expansive than the traditional understanding of al-ākhlāq, the researcher argues that a proper definition of ethics should include ethically relevant habits, character, and behavior in its subject matter. As an academic discipline of paramount, practical significance, Islamic ethics should adequately address metaethical, normative, and applicative aspects of the subject. In terms of metaethics, Islamic ethics is derived from revealed knowledge; whereas, principles of Islamic jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fīqh) offers the best available methodology for the discipline in meeting demands of normativity and application. Regarding the nature of the subject of Islamic ethics, the researcher argues that understanding Islamic ethics as virtue ethics is unjustifiable reduction because a careful study of the subject from its sources would prove that Islamic ethics is rather an integrated field comprising of virtues ethics, divine command theory, duty-based ethics, etc. Therefore, Islamic ethics should be developed, taught, and learned as a whole composite of above-mentioned elements.
Islamic Ethics: Divine Command Theory in Arabo-Islamic Thought
Islamic Ethics: Divine Command Theory in Arabo-Islamic Thought, 2010
The book investigate the theories and ideas that are developed in Arabo-Islamic thought and underscore its ethical significance. The introduction sketches the development of Islamic ethical though, reviews previous literature on Islamic ethics, explains the framework and the methodology and explains concepts and theories used in the rest of the chapter such as normative ethic, metaethics and ethical voluntarism. First chapter: "Theoretical and historical backgrounds" analyses Euthyphro's dialogue and underscores its relevance to Islamic ethics and sheds light on some historical developments relevant to Euthyphro's dilemma. Second chapter: "Ethical Presuppositions of the Qur'an and the Hadith" focuses on Divine justice and human free will in the Qur'an, the ontological status of ethical values concepts and the source of ethical knowledge according to Islamic scripture. Third chapter: "Pre-Mu'tazilite Ethical Doctrines" focuses on the ethically significant doctrines of the Kharijites and the Murji'ites. The fourth chapter: "Mu'tazilites ethics" provides a moral interpretation of their five principles. The fifth chapter: "Ethics of 'Abd al-Jabbar" studies the presuppositions of ethical judgments of al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Asadabadi. The sixth chapter "Analysis of Normative ethical Judgments" analyses normative judgments developed by the Mu'tazilites and sheds some light on the post-Mu'tazilite or Ash'arite moral theory. The last two chapters are primarily concerned in interpreting Mu'tazilite ethics and reconstruct a moral theory, based on the Basrian Mu'tazilite moral thought, that can appeal to the contemporary reader interested in moral philosophy.
Ethical Principles of the Islamic Faith – Insights for the Modern World
Business and Management Research, 2018
The Islamic faith is viewed by many across the world with limited understanding and the image of Muslims has been tarnished by radical members of that religion whose actions do not reflect the religion’s core beliefs. Because Muslims represent the world’s second largest religious group with more than 1.6 billion adherents, understanding the ethical principles of the Islamic faith is in the interest of others throughout the world who live, do business, and/or associate with Muslims. In this paper we examine principles of the Islamic faith, as set forth in the Qu’ran and the Sunnah, and compare them with twelve other well-recognized ethical perspectives, comparing differences and similarities. We suggest that understanding the tenets of the Islamic faith will enable others to interact more effectively with Muslims as colleagues, business associates, and community members.
Ethics and Ethical Theories from an Islamic Perspective
International Journal of Islamic Thought
With the collapse of many organizations, many researchers are increasingly paying attention to such phenomenon. But ethical issues are not always clear cut; there are many grey areas that need to be threaded with care by organizations. To determine whether an action or decision is ethically carried out, ethical theories, developed mainly by Western scholars, are the current theoretical framework organizations have at their disposal. Theories such as relativism, utilitarianism, egoism, deontology, the divine command theory, and the virtue ethics, are all products of Western understanding of what ethics are and how they are applicable to help one's decision making process. Despite their utility, this paper intends to argue that the Western concepts and understanding of what ethics are limited and incomprehensive in explaining what is right and what is wrong. In its place, this paper argues that to understand the concepts of ethics that can extend beyond time and space. It has to be analysed from an Islamic perspective. Toward this purpose, this paper will compare and contrast between Islamic and Western perspectives of ethics, and highlight the main weaknesses and limitations of the former. Then, an argument on why Islam can provide the best understanding of ethics will be made.
The Qur'ān lies at the heart of Muslim spirituality, and provides the fount and wellspring for its doctrines and practices. To the extent that classical Islam as a whole was animated in both form and spirit by its central Scripture, all the way from law and ritual to theology and the arts, it would only be natural to find its reverberations running throughout its mysticism as well. 1 Indeed, some of the most influential literary expressions of Sufism, ranging from Ghazālī's (d. 1111) Iḥyā' 'ūlum al-dīn (Reviving the Religious Sciences) to Rūmī's (d. 1273) Mathnawī-i ma'nawī (Couplets of Inner Meaning), took on the form of commentaries of the holy text, albeit in a different key, not unlike medieval Jewish works that were often analogously rooted in the Torah. "Everything of which we speak in our meetings and in our writings," Ibn 'Arabī (d. 1240) would write, "comes from the Qur'ān and its treasures." 2 And when Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī (d. 996) declared in his Qūt al-qulūb (Nourishment of Hearts) drawing on an early saying, sometimes ascribed to the Prophet, that "the people of the Qur'ān are the people of God, and His elect," 3 he was expressing a firmly held view in the fledging tradition for which he was giving voice. The polyvocality of Muslim scripture would itself generate many of the debates that would animate the intellectual culture of Sufism, and beyond that, the various competing theologies of Islam.