Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Islamic Studies at Oxford University and Director of the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), presents a two-day seminar on the topic of Islamic Ethics.
This weekend course will explore the traditional basis of Islamic ethics and how we might apply some of the key elements of this understanding when considering how to approach ethical issues relevant today. Lecture content will cover the theoretical framework (basic terminology, essential concepts and an introduction to theological philosophy and its relationship with ethics from an Islamic perspective) and through case studies will look at how this is applied in practice. Critical discussion and engagement from course participants will be encouraged.
In collaboration with Jibreel Institute, 5th and 6th march 2016, London, UK
An exclusive weekend with Prof. Tariq Ramadan
UNDERSTANDING ISLAMIC ETHICS: HOW WE KNOW RIGHT AND WRONG
The last three hundred years of Muslim history has witnessed the gap between law and ethics widen. Throughout various intervals in history, the discipline of law lost its connection with the ethical paradigm of Islam. The Islamic faith has been reduced to a legal barometer, a code of halal and haram. The microscopic lens of our legal tradition which dissects and deciphers to offer creative legal solutions is the pre-eminent and predominant framework through which we analyse and make sense of the world around us. The result?
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).
Islam brought various social and humanitarian reforms and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) introduced positive changes that were radical in his time. These reforms also covered gender and women’s issues.
Regular and frequent consumption of meat has become a staple of food culture. In Western and also in Arab countries traditional dishes mostly contain meat or dairy products. Its consumption is a regular feature of food culture and it would be almost impossible for many to imagine a life without it. Especially in developed countries the use of meat, eggs and dairy products are contained in all three dishes of the day. In the western world many consumers choose to restrict their diet to vegetarianism.
