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Islamic Ethics
How Muslims use:
 Sacred stories and texts
 Authority within religious structures
In forming its ethical teaching.
David Kenyon
Sacred Texts and Stories
• The basis of the ethical system of Islam lies in
the intent to live in submission to the will of Allah
– the personal striving (jihad) after the way of
surrender.
• Ethical teaching of Islam – Shar’ia – is formed
from two areas. One of which is Sacred Texts.
The other is Authority within religious structures
of Islam, namely the doctors of the law.
• For Sunni (90% of Muslims), The first level of
Shar’ia is found in the Qur’an.
Sacred Texts and Stories (cont.):
The first ethical affirmation is that Allah is one; and he
alone is to be worshipped, and to him one must
submit.
It gives fundamental guidelines such as forbidding
murder and states general principles for social equity.
More specific advice is found in the Sunna – the
‘practice’ of the Prophet, which set out what he said,
did or permitted.
These are recorded in the Hadith which give
guidelines on many issues of ethics, but by
themselves are insufficient for matters about which
the Prophet gave no opinion e.g. Euthanasia.
The Value of Human Life
Islam forbids the taking of any human
life except for a just cause under the
law – i.e. capital punishment for
convicted murderers, fighting in
wartime, or self defense.
“Don’t take a life which Allah has made sacred by way of
justice and law; thus does He command that you may
learn wisdom.” (Qur’an 6:151)
Peace:
• Peace and harmony are integral concepts
to Islam.
• Allah is the source of peace.
• Peace is the will of Allah.
• A commitment to peace is part of the
everyday life experience of believers.
• Inner peace comes from submission to the
will of Allah.
Peace (cont…):
• One of the basic aims of Islam is to bring about
peace.
• For peace to be genuine, there must be absence
of oppression and injustice.
‘The reward for an injury is an equal injury back;
but if a person forgives instead, and is reconciled,
that will earn reward from Allah.’ (sura 42:40)
‘If the enemy starts leaning towards peace, then
you also start leaning towards peace.’ (sura 8:61)
Peace (cont….)
• Islam calls to peace and considers peace to be normal
and war to be extraordinary and exceptional emergency
entered into only out of desperation and as a last
resort. Allah Almighty says:
‘O ye who have faith, enter into peace all of you, and
do not follow the footsteps of Satan.’ (surah 2:20)
‘And if they incline to peace then incline to peace
and put your trust in Allah.’ (sura 8:61)
‘They will not cease from fighting you until they
cause you to turn away from your religion if they are
able.’ (sura 2:17)
Islam’s GuIdance on War
War is something resorted to only in dire
emergency. Whether or not it is resorted to,
comes from an evaluation, which in the case of
war is particularly important as it involves
destruction, annihilation and the termination of
life. Hence, Islam has laid down conditions and
terms for war. These many terms and conditions
have been laid down so that war only occurs in
cases of dire emergency. Then if the war ends,
Islam grants a general amnesty and grants the
freedom of the wrongdoers wherever possible.
Islam’s VIeW on KIllInG:
Islam only sanctions killing in the most
grave degree of necessity. Hence it takes
a very serious view of the killing of people
unjustly.
‘Whosoever kills a person except for
the murder of another or because of
spreading corruption in the land, it is
as if he has killed the people in their
entirety.’ (sura 5:32)
Violence and Punishment:
• When aberrations from the natural disposition of humans
does occur, God and society must apply some form of
containment.
• This is achieved through punishment.
• Penalties regulate and deter people from overstepping
the boundaries.
• Penalties are called hudud (boundaries). Hudud is
limited to crimes mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunna.
• E.G. Homicide: ‘If anyone kills a person – unless it be for
murder or for spreading mischief throughout the land – it
would be as if he killed the whole people…’ (sura 5:32)
VIolence and PunIshment (cont…)
• It is vital to distinguish between homicide
and the destruction of a life in pursuit of
justice.
• ‘Do not kill a soul which God has made
sacred except through the due process of
law.’ (sura 6:15)
Islam and Terrorism:
• Islam and terrorism are extreme opposites.
There is no meeting point between Islam and
terrorism as practiced by terrorist groups in
different parts of the world.
• Terrorism involves the indiscriminate use of
force to achieve certain objectives. Whereas, the
basis of national and international relations in
Islam is peace and not war
Islam and terrorIsm (cont…)
• In Islam, the use of force is allowed only in special
situations, particularly when the Muslim community is
threatened by hostile forces.
• To lay down one’s life in the process is shahadah –
martyrdom – earning a place in eternal paradise.
• This is natural and logical for any other community
indeed. Then again, the use of force in a campaign of
Jihad is determined by the leader of the Muslim
community in a very orderly way.
The Sanity of Human Life:
The Qur’an says: ‘…take not life, which God hath made
sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He
command you, that ye may learn wisdom.’ (sura 6: 151)
Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity
of human life is accorded a special place. The first and the
foremost basic right of a human being is the right to live.
Allah says in the Qur’an says: ‘… if any one slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it
would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved
a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.’
(sura 5: 32)
sanctIty of lIfe (cont…)
• Such is the value of a single human life, that the Qur’an
equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with
killing all of humanity. Thus, the Qur’an prohibits
homicide in clear terms.
• The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to
administer justice is required to uphold the rule of law,
and the peace and security of the society.
• Only a proper and competent court can decide whether
an individual has forfeited his right to life by disregarding
the right to life and peace of other human beings.
Ethics of War:
Even in a state of war, Islam prescribes that one
deals with the enemy nobly in the battlefield.
Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction
between the combatants and the noncombatants of the enemy country. As far as the
non-combatant population is concerned such as
women, children, the old and the infirm, etc., the
instructions of the Prophet are as follows: "Do
not kill any old person, any child or any
woman.” (Reported by Abu Dawud) "Do not kill
the monks in monasteries" (Musnad Ahmad
ibn Hanbal)
Jihad:
• While Islam in general is misunderstood in the
western world, perhaps no other Islamic term
evokes such strong reactions as the word
‘Jihad’.
• The term ‘Jihad’ has been much abused, to
conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims,
forcing people to submit at the point of the
sword. This myth was perpetuated throughout
the centuries of mistrust during and after the
Crusades.
• Unfortunately, it survives to this day.
JIhad (cont…)
The word Jihad comes from the root word
iahada, which means to struggle. So Jihad
is literally an act of struggling. Jihad
primarily refers to the inner struggle of
striving to be a person of virtue and
submission to God in all aspects of life.
JIhad (cont…)
• Secondly, Jihad refers to struggle against injustice.
• Islam, like many other religions, allows for armed selfdefence, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and
oppression.
• The Qur’an says:
‘And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and
of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and
oppressed)? Men, women, and children, whose cry
is: ‘Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose
people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee
one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one
who will help!’ (sura 3: 75)
JIhad (cont…)
• Thus, Islam enjoins (prescribes) upon its
believers to strive their utmost in purifying
themselves, as well as in establishing peace and
justice in the society.
• A Muslim can never be at rest when he sees
injustice and oppression around him.
• As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We will have to
repent in this generation not merely for the
hateful words and actions of the bad people but
for the appalling silence of the good people.”
JIhad (cont…)
• Islam enjoins upon all Muslims to work actively
to maintain the balance in which God created
everything.
• However, regardless of how legitimate the cause
may be, the Qur’an never condones the killing of
innocent people.
• Terrorizing the civilian population can never be
termed as Jihad, and can never be reconciled
with the teachings of Islam.
Authority from within Islam:
• When there is doubt about a problem not
contained in the Qur’an and the Sunna,
the Ijma, may provide the answer.
• This is the consensus of past generations
of Muslim doctors of the law. These
scholars applied analytical reasoning
(ijtihad) to a problem at hand in light of the
Qur’an and Sunna and reached an agreed
position.
When there is no solution..
• When a modern day problem has no solution
still, Muslims seek a solution by analogies, or
qiyas with the Qur’an and Sunna.
• Interpretation of Shar’ia is not uniform – even
among the Sunni.
• There are four orthodox schools of Sunni
thought. They are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and
Hanbali.
• These have agreed upon the authoritative order
to follow in establishing Shar’ia: Qur’an, Hadith,
consensus, analogy
The Four Orthodox Schools of Sunni Thought
• Shafi’i: This school focuses on the Qur’an and
the hadith.
• Hanafi: They move quickly to analogy and
personal judgment to adapt Islam to local
conditions.
• Maliki: They are the ‘Champions’ of consensus
and adapt the law to local conditions in
accordance with that principle.
• Hanbali: This is the most conservative school.
They keep to strict interpretations of the Qur’an.
shI’a dIffer….
•
•
•
•
The Shi’a represent 10% of all Muslims.
The Qur’an is the supreme source.
They oppose the principle of consensus.
Senior Imami Shi’a doctors of the law take no
account of ijimas in making fundamentalist and
binding interpretations directly from the Qur’an.
• Shi’a use the sacred text as a priority and accept
the religious authority’s right to interpret it.