Contributing to Islamic Ethics

Abstract

Islamic ethics (akhlaq islamiyah), which is concerned with good characterand the means of acquiring it, took shape gradually from the seventh centuryand culminated in the eleventh century with the teachings of Miskawayh(d. 1030), al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 1060), and al-Ghazali (d. 1111). Islamicphilosophical ethics combined Qur’anic teachings, the traditions of Muhammad(s), the precedents of Islamic jurists, and classic Greek (Hellenic) ethicalideas.Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “Verily I have been sent in order to perfectmoral character” (Fainnama bu`ithtu-li-utamima makarim al-akhlaq). Suchprophetic traditions, Qur’anic moral exhortations, and Hellenic ethical writingsbecame the main sources of inspiration for Miskawayh, al-Isfahani, andal-Ghazali. Inspired by the Arabic version of Aristotle’s NicomacheanEthics, these moral philosophers Islamized virtue ethics and focused on cultivatingcharacter and purifying the soul (al-nafs). Although al-Isfahaniinspired al-Ghazali and tried to maintain a balance between the justice of thesoul and the justice of society, the latter developed a Sufi ethics that becameincreasingly otherworldly with its focus on purifying the self. This ethicalmodel later became a source of inspiration for St. Thomas Aquinas andMaimonides.This special issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciencesfocuses on Islamic ethics, especially ethics as applied to such contemporaryissues as bioethics, the environment, human rights, and evolution. Thepapers provide insight into how ethical problems are dealt with within ...