What is Islamic about “Islamic Ethics”?

Great poets ponder the human condition and distill wisdom in pithy lines that reflect the greatness and fragility of this being human. Ahmad Shawqi, the Prince of [Arab] Poets, bequeathed us such a pearl of wisdom: انما الامم الاخلاق ما بقيت فان هموا ذهبت اخلاقهم ذهبوا (Nations are nothing but their ethics; once their ethics lost, nations are no longer). His words are both an astute observation and a cautionary tale for the state of our contemporary world: between perching draughts and Tsunamis, between earthquakes, fires and melting snow caps, between global economic meltdown and global violence, between obscene wealth and abject poverty and their twin morbid obesity and rabid starvation, the crisis of our time is one of ethics.

While all societies are experiencing this crisis, we Muslims -where we are majority or a minority- carry a greater burden both for ranking high in many negative indexes and for the privilege of having a heritage with which we ought to have known and done better. But does it mean have crisis of ethics, anyway? What is ethics; is it just another term for morals? Is it universal and if so, what is Islamic about Islamic ethics? Greater minds have pondered these questions; but the world we live in today demands that we, the ordinary faith practitioners and concerned citizens of the world, also grapple with them so we might find a way out of the impasse endangering our humanity and collective existence.

When the average person tries to understand what “ethics” is and before s/he dares to explore the differences in the various theories and the traditions from which they arise, s/he gets lost in myriad of definitions of the word “ethics” and its relations to “morals.” A dictionary defines ethics as a system of moral principles, while morals are principles of right and wrong conduct. Others define morals as beliefs about right and wrong that guide our conduct morals are product of the time and space of those who espouse them. Ethics, on the other hand, is seen as the reflective and thoughtful evaluation of our moral beliefs and practices; a process which leads to a reason based system for moral decision-making.

Another limits morals to the domain of the individual character while ethics pertains to the social context and the code of conduct it expects from its members. One attempt at further clarification proposed that the difference between morality and ethics is similar to that between music and musicology giving the impression that ethics is a strictly field of study, an “ology,” engaged in by specialists (i.e, ethicists or philosophers). But even these specialists themselves have not settled on one definition or a distinction.

They position their views in the convoluted path between innate morality (mores or norms) laws and their application and ethics (ethos or character) of rational self-mastery where individual are responsible and capable to judge the principles that bring forth characteristic of “good person” and “good life.” Reflected in these definitions and distinctions is a particular conceptualization of the individual, society and the relationship between belief and reason. Also reflected is the contemporary discomfort with morality, virtues and values. These concepts today seen by many as throwback to restrictive tradition - the Other of free modernity – or worse yet as the weapons of culture wars waged by populists politicians who have stripped of these concepts of their content reducing them to wedge issues.

Say you are concerned about morality to the general public (Muslims or not), and there is a good chance they think the reference is about sexual morality and social control. In this context, today we seem “afraid of morality and enamored with ethics” and the distinction “is designed to reassure us about authority, since it seems that morality is imposed while ethics is negotiated.” But call it what we may, ethics/morality are the principles that guide our lives and set the code for our conduct. They not only help us to choose between right wrong when options are clear but also equip us to navigate ambiguous possibilities. They are the means to formulating decisions and the method through which we categorize values and realize them as we strive for consistency between principles we uphold and actions who undertake. Ethics are not merely the discursive domain for highbrow philosophy but are the stuff of practical living without which we are lost in pursing unbridles desires and dodging disasters of our own creation. There is a perpetual movement between assessing one’s actions and the standards we espouse and this ability to be the object of self-reflection is the universal divine gift that comes wrapped in accountability.

We share a common humanity that religious/spiritual traditions as well as science and social science affirm. Like the capacity for language which we all share, there are some universal moral/ethical principles we hold in common. From the universal capacity for language emerge numerous spoken and sign languages each distinct in its sounds, symbols and grammar. So too, I would argue, is ethics. Principles such as honesty and trustworthiness, respect and benevolence, concern for others and preventing harm, and virtues such as justice and courage are universal but how they are understood and the methods by which they manifest in character and society vary by the context from which they originate and where they are realized. When Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was asked about who among people is best, he responded that people are like metals like gold and silver and the best of you before Islam will be the best of you in Islam if they understand religion. The implication is the possessing the potential for moral and ethical excellence is a universal endowment by the divine and religion, properly understood and practiced, brings forth the intrinsic goodness. So what is Islamic then about ethics?

The answer is summed up again in pithy statement by the master of eloquence. The Prophet, peace be upon him, defines the sole objective of his mission when he says; "الأخلاق مكارم لأتمم بعثت إنما" I was only sent to complete and perfect good ethical character. From this statement, it is evident that ethical principles predate Islam. Islam’s contribution, then, is expanding and perfecting these ethics. This contribution is grounded in the particularity of Islam’s conceptualization of human nature, human role (khalifah – vicegerent) and the purpose of creation to recognize and acknowledging tawhid (unicity of God). The role of the human as a worshiping servant of the Creator and as His vicegerent on earth, and all that this two-fold relation entails expand ethics while also anchoring and binding it. Here faith and reason, body and mind, self and the Other (social and nature) are not conflicting dualisms but elements to be harmonized and balanced by responsible beings on a quest from birth to death and afterlife to attain peace and contentment. Here also the individual and collective intuition and reason cognizant of their responsibilities and conscious of their own limitation engage revelation and creation to derive an ethical system that enables attaining success in the here and hereafter.

Legal principles extracted from revelation and Prophetic tradition by a believing conscious cognizant that it is shaped by its spatiotemporal context, virtues derived from the attributes of the Creator (e.g., mercy, benevolence, justice, peace) and reflected in their human perfection in the Prophet, and rituals that provide regular ethical training all illustrate the expanding and anchoring of ethics that gives them Islamic characteristic while acknowledging their universal roots. The example of justice is an instructive one. All people everywhere, be they followers of a faith tradition or not, know about the virtue of justice but conceptualize it in various ways. In Islam, God manifests perfect justice and humans are duty bound to strive for it first and foremost by believing and acknowledge the unicity of God. The state of unbelief is one of committing a grave injustice against oneself and utter ingratitude to the Creator. Standing up for justice, even against oneself and relatives, is a Quranic injection.

Justice towards creation (humans and nature) must be upheld even at the cost of one’s own interest; justice is prerequisite for peace with self, among people and with nature, but justice must also be tempered with compassion and clemency. Additionally, imagination, intuition, and intellect must be summoned to understand how to uphold it in a complex and interconnected world. It is these kinds of content of justice, if you will, that makes it an Islamic version of the universal. It is the unprecedented complexity, interdependence, and speed of change; our shared responsibility before God; and the centrality of the principle of justice of Islam that should propel Muslims to work to propose an ethical vision and solutions for the crisis we encounter. We can either be content to adapt through partial remedies that ease our conscious but which sooner rather than later become obsolete. Alternatively, we can propose cures for the numerous problems and transform our world and ourselves in the process.

As we Muslims recognize that putting the prefix “Islamic” before banks that cannot escape the neo-liberal global financial system, or before slaughtering animals tortured by unbelievable living conditions, or before education that aims to protect some neglecting everybody else, or before music, or law or science; when we realize that this only maintains the status quo, we may realize that these actions are inconsistent with the ethical principles we claim to live by. The Prophetic mission was not one about creating comfortable corners for believers to inhabit but one of transforming the world that existed into an envisioned one. Inheritors of this mission should not be satisfied in corners either.

Thankfully, many are not. There are Muslims scholars of text and scholars in the diverse fields of science, social science and humanities along with countless individuals and groups working at the grassroots who are discontent with the temporary fixes and try to rise to the challenges we encounter. But the individuals and groups seem to work in intellectual silos around the globe that do not add up to the transformative force urgently needed. That is why I have great expectations and greater hopes for the role of the Research Center for Islamic Legislation can potentially play in furthering these efforts. As it strives to bring about a vision of reform and renewal guided by the fundamental principles of the Qur’an and Prophetic example and faithful to the higher objectives of Islam, it can provide a physical and intellectual space for honest and critical debate among experts in the textual sources and the physical and social context. These scholars will work in partnership with activists and ordinary people whose propping questions can enrich the process.

http://commerce.depaul.edu/ethics/docs/EthicsManual. Ramadan, Tariq. 2010. Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism. Penguin Books. Pg 98.