Transcript ETHICS - KamalZar

ETHICS
KAMALUDDIN ALI MUHAMMAD
ITREB Auditorium
February 21, 2009
ETHICS - Definition
The term “ethics” is used in three different but
related ways:
1. General pattern or way of life (religious)
2. A set of rules of conduct or moral code
(business, profession etc.)
3. Inquiry about ways of life and rules of conduct
(philosophical)
VALUES - Definition



A measure of how strongly something is desired
for its physical or moral beauty, usefulness, rarity
etc. especially expressed in terms of the effort,
money etc. one is willing to expend in acquiring,
retaining possession of or preserving it.
Good, desirable, worthwhile, all kinds of
rightness, obligation, beauty, virtue, truth and
holiness.
What is valued, judged to have value, thought to
be good, or desired.
Sources of Ethical Principles

Use of Naql (transmitted knowledge from
revelation and tradition) and Aql (reason).
There are five positions:
1. Revelation and independent reason.
a. Revelation supplemented by independent reason.
(Use of reason when Qur’an and tradition are unable to
guide.)
b. Independent reason supplemented by revelation.
(Reason knows the right and wrong’ and shari`ah later
supported it.)
Sources of Ethical Principles (cont…)
2. Revelation supplemented by dependent
reason. Majority opinion of Sunnis i.e.
conservatives, also supported by Ghazali (10581111)
3. Revelation alone. Too conservative, adopted by
Ibn Hanbal (d 855), Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328),
Wahhabi movement till today.
Sources of Ethical Principles (cont…)
4. Revelation extended by Imams. Shia position,
Imams are infallible.
5. Reason is prior to revelation. Some Muslim
philosophers like Farabi (870-950) who argued
that philosophy is prior to religion. It was
adopted by Ibn Sina (980-1035) and Ibn Rushd
(1126-1198) with a softened approach.
Role of Intellect

Ethic is concerned with human being only

Human intellect capable of learning

It requires guidance and training

Prophet as teacher (Mu‘allim)

Divine Intellect Aql-i-Kull both transcends and
informs the human intellect. (AKU, Nov 1985)
Some Ethical Principles of Islam

Man vicegerent of Allah on earth and a trustee

No dichotomy between Din and Dunya

Physical world a bridge to go to the next

No monasticism in Islam

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Human brotherhood, service, care, tolerance.
Cosmopolitan ethics rooted in a strong culture
of tolerance
Sharing of wealth and knowledge
Some Ethical Principles of Islam
(cont…)

Integrity
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Commitment to family

Simplicity

Use and abuse of freedom

Social evils
Spiritual Commitment & Ethic
“A deepening sense of spiritual commitment—and
the ethical framework that goes with it--will be a
central requirement if we are to find our way
through the minefields and the quick sands of
modern life. A strengthening of religious
institutions should be a vital part of this process.
To be sure, freedom of religion is a critical value in
a pluralistic society.
Spiritual Commitment & Ethic (cont…)
But if freedom of religion deteriorates into
freedom from religion—then societies will find
themselves lost in a bleak and unpromising
landscape—with no compass, no roadmap and no
sense of ultimate direction. What I am calling for,
in sum, is an ethical sensibility which can be shared
across denominational lines and which can foster a
universal moral outlook.”
(Evora, Spain,12-02-2006)
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