The Approaches and specialized Text of Islamic Ethics

The term ethology comes from a Greek background, which means moral
duty and the science of moral duty or values or principles.
Ethics which examines the analysis of employment of concepts such as
good, evil, right, wrong duties and responsibilities, as a major branch of
philosophy is divided into three parts or areas: metaethics, normative ethics
and applied or practical ethics.
An attempt to arrive at a general standard that tells us how to judge right
from wrong, good from bad and how to have a moral life.
To explore the practical philosophy, two types of theories or reasons should
be discussed here; one type is theoretical reason and the second one is
practical reason. As they are also called theoretical wisdom and practical
wisdom.
Aristotle divides wisdom or reason into two types: speculative reason,
practical reason or wisdom.
It is related to speculative sciences such as theology, first philosophy,
metaphysics, logic and epistemology.
It is related to conducts of life known as morality.
The relationship between ethics and philosophy:
There are some presuppositions that are discussed both in ethics and
philosophy.
Ethics has the greatest and most precise relation and interaction with the
concept and norms derived from religion and other religious sciences.
The relationship between ethics and religion:
Most religions have a moral component and religious moral approaches have
dominated over the secular approaches.
It is accepted by some theologians that ethics stems from the revealed truth,
revelation or the divine sources and will continue its function within this
theologian context.

We can mention another aspect of ethics relation to religion; in the realm of

religion and religious standard ethics is not an individual matter as has been
supposed in some schools of thought but it is very important in social life.
In exploring the interrelation between ethics and religion we may follow one
of the two following approaches:
1. The moralist explores the interrelation between ethics and religion as a
fact that ethical requirements are religious when they are held to be divinely
commanded as sacred obligation.
2. The ethics is religious when it is held to be by its duties. Therefore,
moral propositions are held by religious thinkers to be intimately related to
religious committed.
There are several definitions for religious ethics that I have selected some of
them to mention here:
1. It is defined as the systematic study of the way of life set forth by
religion, applied to the daily demands and decisions of human existence.
2. Another definition for religious ethics:
It is not a precise science but the calculation of practical wisdom that comes
from diverse sources. It draws on all that are good in Gods creation and
among the nations. But it also acknowledges that creatures cannot attain the
true end without the gifts of Gods own goodness.
3. Religious Ethics is the discussion of the principles or moral laws which
governs the behavior of a religious person and their application to particular
circumstances or cases. Religious ethics is or moral theology is the branch
of theology dealing with principles of moral conduct.
4. Religious Ethics is a system of ideas of right and wrong conducts based
on, pertaining to or concerned with religion.
5. Religious ethics is the metaethical view about the semantics or meaning
of ethical sentences which claims that ethical sentences express propositions
that some of them are true about the commands of God.

The main difference between religious ethics and secular ethics lies in the
construction of rules which is based on religion in religious ethics and not
based on religion in secular ethics.
One of them is the distinctive nature of religious ethics in its nature, ends
and methods.
One of the other basics of religious ethics is the distinction between religious
and philosophical ethics.
There is variety of methods in religious ethics such as rational and
philosophical methodology, theological methodology and intuitive
methodology.
In religious ethics we rely and depend on all of the three aforementioned
methodologies.
Another important point is the philosophical contexts of morality and ethics,
implication of philosophical developments.
Also important point is the modern criticism of moral theology.
There are some important considerations in religious ethics:
1. divine command theory,
2. divine grace and ethics,
3. ethics and revelation which is one of the fundamental points in religious
ethics,
4. natural law,
5. scatology and ethics,
6. Religion and the deep structures of the sacred and the holy and their
mediations.
7. Norms, values and metaphysics
8. Cosmology and religious ethics
9. Culture and moral pluralism
10. Nature and super nature in ethics
11. Reason and natural law
12. Towards renewal of moral theology and moral development and
preconditions of them.

There are two types of moral theologies:

1. Natural theology; the science of God himself with our limited capability.
2. Supernatural theology; the science of God and divine things related to
Him, such
The entire field of theology is divided into dogmatic and moral theology
which differ in subjects and methods.
The dogmatic theology is the scientific discussion and establishment of the
doctrines of faith, belief and divinity.
Moral theology is the scientific discussion and establishment of the doctrines
of moral codes, percepts as well as moral conducts.
The field of moral theology includes everything related to mans free
actions.
The tasks of moral theology:
1. Moral character
2. Moral behaviour
4. The completion and issue of moral aspirations

3. Moral conduct

Moral theology is about human life. Its the rules and regulations of human
life.
To distinguish correctly between right and wrong and to advise others about
what is seen and what is not, what is concealed and what is not, what is bad,
what is good and what is better, wright or wrong.
Specific training for the religious leaders:
1. so that he can direct all others towards a life duty and virtue.
2. warn them against sin and dangers.
3. lead from good to better those who are endowed with necessary light and
moral.
4. raise up and strengthen those who have fallen from moral level
Most religions have an ethical component often derived from purported
supernatural revelation or guidance. For some theologians, ethics is not
only tied up with religion but it is completely settled by religion.

Mans nature, will, destination are other presuppositions that we have to

discuss about them in theology.
Determination and mans will is another presupposition.
The features of moral theology or religious ethics
1. With divine assistance the religious person is called to become
increasingly virtuous in both thought and deed which I think is one of the
most important features.
2. Religious ethical principles are based on the teachings within the
scriptures or revelation.
3. Religious ethics is founded upon the concept of grace.
4. Religious ethics has a theological aspects.
Ethics does not only handle the issue on matter and on the nature of good
and bad life but also helps man to determine what is right or better to do.
By the systematic theory of ethics we mean a set of all these enquiries and
applications that are pursued with respect to a methodological umbrella to
achieve a more developed end and goal.
There are at least three elements to shape and form a moral theory:
1. Reasonable approach.
2. Pursuing the nature of morality.
3. Establishing the criteria of valid moral judgment.
According to Aristotle, the founder of the systematic ethics or moral
theology, the moral life involves developing the capacity for practical
wisdom and Man is not naturally ethical or morally excellent or morally
virtuous but he can acquire the practical wisdom and has the capacity to be
trained to become virtuous and morally excellent.
Ethics is not merely as a set of values or principles held by individuals, a
group or the society, because we are talking about normative ethics which is
not just the descriptions of some existing facts, it talks about what should be
or ought to be, but ethics is a branch of philosophy which is called moral
philosophy.

Methodological perspectives in ethics, the methods could be reduced in three

types:
1. Intuitive.
2. Inductive.
3. Deductive.
Methods are two types:
1. Intuitive: Moral truth could be understood directly
2. Inferential: Moral truth could be understood through reasoning
Inferential methods are:
1. Inductive: the ethicist starts from experience and builds up the general
moral propositions from particular truths.
2. Deductive: or the ethicist deduce moral propositions from a more general
self- evident moral principles.
There are two modes of intuition:
1. Intuition by sense

2. Intuition by intellect

Intuitional moralists could be divided into two classes :

1. Those who attribute the knowledge of moral truth to a sense which they
call as moral sense.
2. On the other hand, there are those who attribute the knowledge of moral
truth to intellect.
To apply the methods in moral theory it is appropriate to have an empirical
method or to rely on rational and philosophical method in reasoning and
rationality of moral theory.
Thus, the scientific or empirical method would applied for morality in order
to answer the questions and resolve the problems. But in conflictive
situations we cannot rely on just the empirical methods but unavoidably we
have to refer to rational or philosophical methods.
For example, what seems to be right for a community might be wrong for
another. Or time and place are also the same, as something might be right
at a time and wrong in another.
Or what bases can we maintain that all the varieties of norms or standards
are correct?

For accepting and justifying the validity of such relativity we have to have
some moral reasons.
A scientific account of the phenomenon of morality would explore the
causes and the effects, the costs and consequences of the practice of
morality. But scientific or empirical explanation is one thing and rational or
philosophical explanation seems to be something else.
Moral philosophy in its attempts to articulate what a moral ideal is, what the
nature and conditions of a valid judgment are, seems to be a normative
rather than a descriptive enquiry into humans conduct and attitudes.
When the empirical method is not sufficient, we have to talk about the needs
for rational method.
This rational methodology is followed in our challenge to provide a moral
justification of the moral rules and judgment.
There are two realms:
1. The realms of value which is the subject matter. Or what ought to be.
2. The realms of fact or what actually is.
Therefore, we have to distinguish between these two realms in ethics. For
each realm we have a particular methodology and we need a methodology
and for each realm we have apply a different methodology for examination.
This is the task of any methodological component of any systematic theory
of moral philosophy or the philosophy of ethics.
Islamic Ethics:
The Islamic term corresponding to the concept of ethics, different in scope
and nature, though, is called Elmul-Akhlaq. So is
mostly translated into the Islamic Ethics.
Accordingly, the science of Akhlaq as a branch of knowledge is a field of
science which deals with ways to maintain virtues at their optimum level
that means to do what is right and desirable and avoid what is wrong.
Akhlaq in a broad sense subsumes all actions that are characterized as
. Moreover, the exemplary moral life of the Holy Prophet (Peace

be upon Him and His household) according to Quranic account had

articulated the various applications of Islamic morality and ethics to be
followed, emulated and practiced by Muslims.
The holy Prophet also described His mission to endeavor for establishing a
perfect system of morality.
In one famous Hadith His holiness says:
My prophet-hood mission is the completion of Akhlaq or ethics.
Based on these three basic information which are as follows:
1. The holy Quran
2. The actions and teachings of the Holy Prophet SAW
3. The words and Hadiths of the holy Prophet SAW
Ethics and moral teaching as a systematic discipline has a special place in
the Islamic religion.
Reflecting on this approach, Muslim moralists explore the interrelationship
between religion and ethics.
Moral propositions are therefore, considered by Muslim thinkers to be
intimately connected and related to Islamic commitments.
The Islamic ethics started shaping gradually from the seventh century and
was finally established by the eleventh century.
Eventually it was shaped as a successful synthesis of the Quranic teachings
and the teachings of the Sunna or the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon Him
and His household) the precedence of Islamic Sharia or Fiq, the Pre-Islamic
Arabian tradition and non-Arabian elements including Persian and Greek
ideas, embedded in or integrated with a generally Islamic structure.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The Quranic teachings

Teachings and the Sunna of the Prophet of Islam and Imams A.S.
The precedence of Islamic Sharia
The Pre-Islamic Arabian tradition and customs.
Other non-Arabic traditions such as the Persian and Greek philosophies.

Although the Holy Prophet Mohammads (Peace be upon Him and His

household) teachings produced a radical change in moral values but, based

on the sanctions of the new religion and the present religion and the fear of
God and of the last judgment. But the tribal practice of Arabs didnt
completely die out. Later Muslim scholars expanded the religious ethics of
the Quran and Hadith in immense detail.
The relationship between these two branches of enquiry; Islamic ethical
reflection and moral philosophy, has sometimes been very close and in some
other times in a quite far distance. Sometimes friendly and sometimes
being in hostility.
Islamic systematic ethics without some appreciation of some philosophical
ways of dealing with moral issues.
The perfect holiness of God Himself was held up as a model which they
were to replicate and the superior idea at which they were ever to seek.
The Islamic philosophical works on ethics were written in culture of whose
literal and religious ideas were based and rooted in the holy Quran.
Most of sequent Islamic ethical claims maybe traced back to the text, themes
and teachings of the holy Quran and prophetic teachings.
The Islamic literature shows a tendency to stay solely on the moral
obligation problems of life. As appealing to man as an individual, leaving
in consideration the ceremonial and other laws which concern the Muslim
nation.
When people of faith examine the ethical issues they are ambitious to
serious and prolonged reflection. Such reflection often find its way into
written form where it stands for others to be shared, evaluated and criticized.
In addition the field of Islamic ethics as a contemporary discipline is
comprised of a vast and varied literature in which ways of understanding the
classic as well as different approaches to the present are set forth in many
perspectives and many degrees of detail.
The relationship between ethics and faith and the relationship between
religion and ethics is one of the most challengeable problems and issues in
both theology and philosophy.

Ethics has lost much of its importance in modern societies because of the
following reasons:
1. Because of the challengers traditional morality had to face
2. Because of the way ethics has recently been conceived; as metaethical
discipline.
3. Because some believes that the normative ethics should not be the
concern of the moral philosophers.
4. Because the judgments on ethical issues are left to the preachers,
politicians and the public.
5. Because the ethics and morality has recently been considered as a private,
subjective and not objective matter.
Social and natural scientists made a distinction between facts and values.
As a rational discipline science should not deal with values, but only with
facts.
1. Facts about the human nature
2. Facts about what constitutes the wellbeing of man
3. Facts about harm and benefits and basic goods and needs
4. And facts about God and truth about religion
The importance of ethics can be shown in its relation with social sciences,
psychology, politics, anthropology and so forth.
Ethical concepts such as equality, justice, freedom and right are central to
legal and political discourse, even in jurisprudence, issues such as the
enforcement of law, justification of punishment, legal obligation, minimal
state, and obeying and disobeying the law are ultimately moral issues, and
even in economics and economic analysis.
Moral philosophy literature on ethical theories in general, and religious
ethics in particular and in Islamic ethics in more particular are extremely
important to the study of social sciences, human enquiries and general
disciplines.
there is a need for religious ethics when there are manmade laws to regulate
human behaviors could be in two ways:
Islam as a religion that presents the systematic theory of ethics, maintains
that ethics has a major role to play in human lives. And the Quranic
ethical codes deal with aspects that human laws may not touch upon and

secular laws may not provide universally accepted moral systems and
ethical standards.
In the global age we live in, morality or lack of morality is no longer a
personal affair. Injustice, corruption, brutality, breach of trust etc. have
become parts of national policies, where practices such as ethnic
cleansing are periodically performed so that in some countries justice and
rights are awarded only to a particular ethnic or group.
Therefore, it became the responsibility of religion to provide a universally
accept morality, and religion is responsible to educate the conscience of the
masses in this respect.
The Islamic morality emphasizes justice for all without distinction and
discrepancy.
In the second part of todays session we want to answer the following
question:
The criteria of a religious ethics in general and Islamic ethics in particular:
1. Universality
4. Intention
2. Overriding
5. Required an effort
3. Voluntarily actions
6. Reasonableness
Four main sources for Islamic ethics:
1. The holy Quran and Sunna
2. The Muslim heritage
3. The human heritage
4. Reason and experience
Different Islamic disciplines and lines of thinking such as jurisprudence,
theology, philosophy and mysticism have taken different approaches to
Islamic ethics.
Theologians, for example, discuss mainly the metaphysical issues such as
free-will and determinism. They also discuss determinacy of human actions
and human motivation.
Philosophers on the other hand, are mostly interested in the discussions of
metaethical questions such as the meaning of ethical words, the nature of
morality, and the justifications of moral judgment.

According to some contemporary thinkers the study of Islamic ethics

whether theological or philosophical grew out of early discussion of
questions of predetermination, , obligation and the
justice and injustice of temporal rulers, particularly the caliphs.
Early writers on ethics from Motazelah ( )school were probably
influenced by Greek philosophy by the third or nine century A.D, a clearly
discernible current of philosophical ethics began to take shape with strong
influences from Greek ethics including Stoicism, Platonism and
Aristotelianism.
Therefore, we may say that the Islamic moral theory as a systematic theory
of ethics was philosophy which was made available in Arabic world in the
third or ninth century A.D. by Muslims who were immersed by the teachings
of the Holy Quran and lived in a universe in which revelation was central
reality.
Muslim thinkers concentrated on rationalizing and philosophizing in a world
dominated by the reality of prophecy and revelation. They attempted to
create a religious ethics which in turn influenced deeply the moral life of the
members of Abrahamic monotheism and influenced the reflection of Muslim
thinkers upon other sources such as philosophical and mystical texts and
substances.
Accordingly, we may recognize that the Islamic ethics historically gradually
took shape from seventh century on a traditional bases and was finally
established as a systematic theory by the eleventh century.
Islamic ethics was eventually shaped as successful mixture of the Quranic
teachings, the teachings of the Sunna or the holy Prophet and holy Imams
(A.S.), the precedence of Islamic jurists, the pre-Islamic Arabian tradition
and non-Arabic elements including Persian and Greek ideas embedded in or
integrated within a generally Islamic structure.
The foundations of Islamic ethics was originally based on two things:
1. The Muslim understanding and interpretation of the holy Quran.
2. Practices or Sunna of the holy Prophet and holy Imams (Peace be upon
all of them)

After talking about the foundations, origination and the historical

development of Islamic ethics we may continue our study about the major
aspects of Islamic ethics in two different ways relying on different methods.
By pursuing this examination we may face different types of theories within
the history of Islamic thought. In attempting to expound the major aspects
of ethical thought in Islam, two possible methods of presentations suggest
themselves:
1. A historical or horizontal method which simply follows the chronological
line of development.
2. An analytical one which deals with major ethical themes somehow in a
vertical way.
In one classification we may categorize the ethical formation into four types:
1. Scriptural morality
2. Theological ethics
3. Philosophical ethics
4. Religious morality or ethics
Another classification into four:
1. Traditional theory
2. Rational theory

3. Mystical theory
4. Synthesis theory

Recent studies in ethics especially in Islamic ethics are:

Modern studies on Islamic ethics especially in European languages have
been very limited in number or scope.
One of the earliest synaptic accounts is given in articles on ethics and
morality which is published in 1921 in encyclopedia of religion and ethics
followed in 1953 Donaldsons studies in Muslim Ethics. This book
contains a lot of materials in Persian and Arabic ethics but the material is
presented in an ill-organized manner.
More recently, George Hourani published a systematic study of AbdolJabbars ethics in 1991 entitled Islamic rationalism.
A more recent study of discussions of Ghazalis theory of virtue is published
by Mohammad Ahmad Sharif in 1974.
The major aspects of ethical thought in Islam there are two methods:
1. A historical or horizontal method which simply follows the chronological
line of development.
2. An analytical one which deals with major ethical themes somehow in a
vertical way.

The ethical formation into four types:

1. Scriptural morality
2. Theological ethics

3. Philosophical ethics
4. Religious morality or ethics

In another four types:

1. Traditional theory
2. Rational theory

3. Mystical theory
4. Synthesis theory

The types of classifications are based on method, source and content we

pursue in certain type of theories.
There are two examples, one from Hourani and the other from Majid Fakhri:
1. George Hourani developed two sets of two criteria based on methods and
sources. In order to classify the types of Islamic ethical thinking there are
two criteria based on method and the two other criteria based on the
sources.
The two criteria which are based on method determine whether ethical
positions are arrived through the prescription of a higher authority or
through analytical thinking. Normative and analytical ethics.
1. Normative religious ethics
2. Normative secular ethics
3. Ethical analysis in the religious tradition
4. Ethical analysis by secular philosopher
Another example of classification is from Majid Fakhri.
1. A historical or horizontal method which simply follows the chronological
line of development.
2. An analytical one which deals with major ethical themes somehow in a
vertical way.
In Majid Fakhris work on the theories of ethics in Islam he preferred to
adopt the second method which is the analytical method without altogether
overlooking at the first method.
The second which is the philosophical ethics, exploits the syllogistic or
discursive methods far more fully and finally is affiliated to Greek ethics.
Then Majid Fakhri says that between these two opposite poles move other
ethical formations.

The theological which was conditioned by some philosophical categories

and concepts.
Majid Fakhri presents four types of approaches in his work respectively as
follows:
1. Scriptural morality
3. Philosophical ethics
2. Theological ethics
4. Religious ethics
Based on what we have explored so far, advocating the above mentioned a
specific school of thought pursues typological attempts we may classify the
types of ethical thought in Islam in accordance with the method and content
that.
Consequently, we may have at least about five approaches to the ethical
thinking:
1. Tradition
3. Philosophy
5. A synthesis of all
2. Theology
4. Mysticism
Based on what we said, the chronological order of five Muslim approaches
to Islamic ethics are as follows:
1. Tradition approach
4. Mysticism approach
2. Theology approach
5. A synthesis of all above
3. Philosophy approach
approaches
The theories of Islamic ethics have been categorized into five classes
1. Tradition approach
4. Mysticism approach
2. Theology approach
5. A synthesis approach
3. Philosophy approach
To distinguish between two levels in the development of Islamic ethics:
1. The ethos of the holy Quran and traditions in their original uninterpreted form.
2. The ethical theories developed by the three groups of Muslim scholars:
a. The interpreters

b. The traditionalists

c. The jurists

The early commentators of the Holy Quran, the traditionalists and the
jurists naturally engaged in analysis and interpretation involving in large
measure of intellectual activity in a broad sense. But such an activity was

The foundation of Islamic ethics, no matter what type, was originally based
on the Muslims understanding and interpretation of the holy Quran and
practices or Sunna and teachings of the Prophet of Islam and holy Imams
(A.S).
1. In its content: the Muslim scholars who follow this type of approach are
mostly dependent on the words of God and the teachings of the Prophet
of Islam and holy Imams (A.S) in their ethical writings and discourses.
2. In its methodology
a. The interpreters

b. The traditionalists

c. The jurists

The method they are commonly count on is the same method they pursue in
their specific disciplines such as Tafsir, Fiq and Hadith.
1. Submission to Allah; its meaning has always been in context of active
submission to God, facilitated by the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him
and His household) and performed by the community in unison.
2. The motive force in Islamic ethics is the notion that every human being
is called to command the good and forbid the evil in all spheres and
aspects of life.
3. The belief that mankind has been granted the faculty to discern Gods
will and to abide by it. This faculty most crucially involves reflecting
over the meaning of existence.
4. Regardless of their environment humans are believed to have a moral
responsibility.
The Quranic passages dealing with three fundamental problems as follows:
1. The nature of right and wrong
2. Divine justice and power
3. Moral freedom and responsibility
According to the holy Quran the fundamental preconditions or grounds for
human responsibility are three:
1. Knowledge or awareness.
3. Freedom
2. Capability
The predominant motive of the holy Quran is undoubtedly the stipulation
that the human agent ought to place himself in an appropriate relation to God
or His commandments. If the agent is to satisfy the conditions of uprightness

or piety or to earn his rightful position in paradise, this stipulation is

grounded in the concept of religious obligation. And this is the definition of
Quranic God-man relationship which indicates the bases of morality in the
Quranic ethics.
There appear to be three promising directions in which the search can be
fruitfully conducted all of which lead back to the Quranic text itself:
1. Quranic exegesis
2. Jurisprudence
3. Scholastic theology
A typology of Islamic ethics of the kind that will be attempted in this study
must clearly exhibit these divergences.
The titles of the points that are mentioned in these verses of Chapter AlEsra:
1. Worship only the God
2. Be humble, honorable and kind to parents
3. Be neither misery nor wasteful in expenditure
4. Do not engage in mercy killings for fear of starvation
5. Do not commit adultery
6. Do not kill unjustly
7. Care for orphan children
8. Keep promises
9. Be honest and fair in interactions or relationship with others
10. Do not be arrogant in your claims and beliefs
The spirit of morality in these Quranic passages indicates the followings:
1. Worshipping only God
2. Pureness in intention
3. Engaging in good actions
4. Avoiding evil deeds and behaviors
5. Pursuing the pleasure of God These are the foundations illustrated in the
holy Quran.
The holy Prophet as the founder of Islam and the messenger of God is the
one who does both:
1. Transmits the message he receives from God to mankind
2. And interprets par excellence the book of God

Therefore, His sunna, hadith, sayings and actions after the Quran are the
most important sources in Islamic tradition including the Islamic moral
system.
Morality in Islam addresses every aspect of a Muslims life, from greetings
to international relations. It is universal in its scope and in its applicability.
Morality reigns in selfish desires, vanity and bad habits. Muslims must not
only be virtuous, but they must also enjoin virtue. They must not only
refrain from evil and vice, but they must also forbid them. In other words,
they must not only be morally healthy, but they must also contribute to the
moral health of society as a whole.
The summary of right conducts of a moral person in the following wise
statements of the holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him and His household):
My Sustainer has given me nine commands: to remain conscious of God,
whether in private or in public; to speak justly, whether angry or pleased; to
show moderation both when poor and when rich, to reunite friendship with
those who have broken off with me; to give to him who refuses me; that my
silence should be occupied with thought; that my looking should be an
admonition; and that I should command what is right.