中欧社会论坛 - China Europa ForumThe Islamic Ethic: The Traditional Form and Its Modern Meaning
Authors: Zhou, Xiefan
Extract from ” Studies in World Religions, 2005, No. 4, pp.101-108“
The Islamic tradition is not based on the modern sense of ethics, but on the world ethical monotheism. The cultural traditions and social life of Islam are filled with ethical thinking and moral needs. In the religion of Islam, their belief embodies the need for committing good deeds and also the connection between religion and morality, which is the essence of Islamic ethics. The core of Islam is the demand for social justice and the act of rewarding the good and punishing the evil in this present world. The main embodiment of Islamic ethics is formed from dogmatics, a study of religious laws, philosophy and notions of Sufism, which are based on the “Quran” and Sunnah, with the study of Islamic Law as the foundation. Up to this present day, the main Islamic ethics still develop through such a traditional framework.
1) The “Quran”, as the fundamental classic of Islam, is the ultimate source of all spiritual and ethical issues. However, it is not a systemic ethics book. Through laws and instructions, the “Quran” only points out the numerous moral and ethical cautions on many aspects of daily behaviour. The audiences of the scriptures are often “those who believe in Islam and do good deeds”. The integration of faith and good behaviour is equivalent to the combination of religion and morality, which is the essence of Islamic ethics. When Mohammed declared the revelation and established Islamic communities in a clear and powerful discourse, he emphasised three concepts with relation to ethics: the oneness of God (Tawhid); the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-Qiyamah); the obedience to Allah and his messengers.
2) Since Kalam in Islam originated from the inner political struggle and social conflicts, some major disputed issues had the characteristics of ethical judgment and moral thinking. Mutazila, the early and most important Kalam doctrine group, set five principles as a guide, which in fact lead the justice of God to become the centre of discussion. Kalam divides human behaviour into five categories: 1) obligated (fard or wajib). When Kalam requires people to do something, those who obey will be rewarded, otherwise they will be punished; 2) favoured (mustahabb), When Kalam persuades people to do something, those who comply with instructions will be rewarded, but disobeyers will not be punished; 3) permitted (ja’iz or mubah), the behaviour which Kalam believes is insignificant; 4) reprimanded (makruh), people only to be reprimanded but not punished; 5) prohibited (haram), offenders should be punished.
3) Islamic philosophy which was developed by Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd and others, was absorbed and integrated into the Greek culture, which promoted the construction of Islamic philosophy and other related aspects to allow for development. The person who was really impacted by Greek ethics and studied the Islamic ethics as a discipline is Miskawayh, a Muslim historian. “The Refinement of Character and The Purification of Races” (Tahdhib al-Akhlaq wa Tathir al-A’raq) is his “most outstanding ethics work, which was strictly edited by Muslims in the category of philosophy or the category of the New Platonic school”. There were other people who discussed ethics from the aspect of philosophy, such as Abu Bakr al-Razi (865-925). It was emphasised that the rationale from which people recognised good and evil, and do good or avoid evil, determined the moral quality. Also in “The Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity”, the ninth article which was on moral character, it presented the Greek ethics in a unique way.
4) Sufism, as Islamic Mysticism, is the natural development of internal Islamic piety. In the history of Islam, Sufism has been constantly seeking ethical admonitions for internalisation of Islamic law (Sharia). With the pursuit of the highest ethical standards of life, it also guides people in their internal life on the basis of ethic codes, which injects new spirit for Islamic ethics and moral behaviour. Over the past hundreds of years, the most influential works of Islamic ethics, in fact, have always been created by Sufi ascetics.
5) Up till modern times, Islamic ethics are still developing within the traditional framework. The different types of ethics previously discussed have new similarities. A type of ethical or spiritual thought is prevalent in the Islamic Revival Movement. They are not only criticisms of the existing social and political systems, but also the response to the negative effects of the modernisation process. The thoughts of the Islamic traditions in justice practices, especially for some specific ethical issues regarding politics, health care and the economy, are valuable references.