Encyclopedia of Islam

ethics and morality

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conducted in the marketplace. Alongside this, the 

juridical construction of morality, there was also 

a culture of refined behavior (adab) that shaped 

the ethical outlook of urban Muslims. This was 

expressed in writings that set forth the virtues for 

different classes and groups to honor, including 

the ulama, rulers, bureaucrats, merchants, and 

craftsmen.

Moral philosophy was an important subject 

for Muslim intellectuals, even if it did not have 

equal weight with sharia and 

fiqh

 in the eyes of 

the ulama. The scholars who contributed to this 

area of ethics during the Middle Ages were Abu 

Yusuf Yaacub al-Kindi (d. 870), Abu Bakr Muham-

mad al-Razi (also known as Rhazes, d. ca. 925), 

a

bU

 n

asr

 

al

-F

arabi

 (also known as Alfarabius, d. 

950), and a

bU

 a

li

 

al

-h

Usayn

 

ibn

 s

ina

 (also known 

as Avicenna, d. 1037), m

Uhammad

 

ibn

 r

Ushd

 (also 

known as Averroës, d. 1198), and Nasir al-Din 

Tusi (d. 1198). Perhaps the most noteworthy of 

all were Miskawayh (d. 1040), the Persian author 

of  Refinement of Morality;  a

bU

  h

amid

 

al

-g

hazali

(d. 1111), Persian mystic and author of Revival of 

the Religious Sciences; and the Andalusian man of 

letters a

li

 

ibn

 h

azm

 (d. 1064). Originally sparked 

by the rationalist theology of the Mutazila in 

the eighth century and further influenced by 

Aristotelian ethics, this area of Muslim scholarly 

discussion declined after the 12th century, but it 

experienced revived interest among Muslims in 

the 19th and 20th centuries.

Today Islamic ethics and morality are receiv-

ing close scrutiny in Muslim lands and beyond 

as never before. The encounters of traditional 

Islamic moral laws and values with modern secu-

lar laws and values have raised urgent questions 

about whether and how the sharia in whole or in 

part requires preservation, reform, adaptation, or 

rejection. Respect for 

hUman

 

rights

, individual-

ism, religious freedom, and women’s rights has 

caused Muslims to search their ethical heritage to 

find where there is compatibility and where there 

is not. Violent actions performed in the name 

of Islam against public officials and civilians by 

militant organizations have given added urgency 

to this search. While it is true that many Mus-

lims have condemned violent acts in the name 

of religion, they have also sought to make moral 

arguments in favor of violence (

Jihad

) and revolu-

tion in the face of oppression, tyranny, and attacks 

against core beliefs and practices. As in the past, 

given the many ways in which Muslims under-

stand and practice their religion, views on these 

and many other issues diverge widely within the 

worldwide Muslim community.

See also 

abortion

; 

crime

 

and

 

pUnishment

; 

cUstomary

 

laW

; 

Fate

; 

hisba

;  i

slamism

;  m

Utazili

s

chool

; 

sUicide

; 

Women

.