Principles of Islamic Ethics & Islamic Law

Principles of Islamic Ethics

  • Purpose: Ensure well-being of individual and community in a balanced way.

  • Shariah: Encompasses ethics and law from worldly and otherworldly perspectives.

  • Methodologies: Clear methodologies are in place for Shariah.

  • Development: Islamic ethics and law developed dynamically until the 19th century but continue to evolve with new situations.

Human Nature, Good and Evil

  • Unique Position of Human Being:

    • Honored with goodness (Qur’an, 17:70): Innate capability to recognize goodness.

    • Created in the best composition (Qur’an, 95:3-6): Capacity to excel in humanity through belief and good deeds.

    • Caretaker on earth (Qur’an, 2:31-33): Duty to uphold goodness and righteousness.

    • Given the trust (Qur’an, 33:72): Self-awareness and freedom of choice.

  • Nafs: Egotistical soul influencing choices negatively through emotions, desires, and selfish impulses.

  • Discernment: Human discernment for good and evil is clouded by human endeavor alone.

Four Sources of Shariah

  1. The Qur’an

    • Primary source of God’s revelation with Islamic principles and values.

    • Approximately 300 verses are strictly legal.

  2. Sunnah of the Prophet

    • Words, actions, and approvals of Prophet Muhammad.

    • Hadith: Individual report narrated; collectively makes up the body of Sunnah.

  3. Analogical Reasoning (Qiyas)

    • Extending established legal precedence to new matters by identifying an operative cause.

  4. Consensus (Ijma)

    • Consensus of the community of scholars over a solution to a legal and practical issue.

Shariah

  • Definition: Literally means ‘the way’ and ‘source of water’.

  • Understanding: God’s guidance for happiness in this world and the next.

  • Fiqh: Human understanding of Shariah through examination of source texts of the Qur’an and hadith.

  • Scope: Comprehensive law providing guidance in all key aspects of life.

  • Categories:

    • Aqidah: Creed

    • Ibadah: Religious worship and practices

    • Ahklaq: Morality and ethics

    • Muamalah: Social relations

Aims of Law and Ethics

  • Justice, Beauty, and Mercy: Legal and ethical endeavors must lead to these.

  • Basic Human Rights:

    • Life: Right to live in safety and earn a livelihood.

    • Property: Owning and preserving personal property.

    • Human mind: Freedom to think freely.

    • Belief & religion: Freedom of religion.

    • Family and lineage: Right to raise a family.

  • Methodical Principles:

    • Everything is fundamentally allowed unless stated otherwise.

    • Apply relative justice when absolute justice is unattainable.

    • Something that cannot be completely realized is not completely abandoned.

    • Necessities can waive a prohibition to the degree that necessity is removed.

    • Removal of harm precedes acquisition of benefit.

Legal & Ethical Boundaries

  • Human actions are curtailed by law, public and individual conscience.

  • Balance: Islam seeks a balance between these three.

  • Crime and Sin: Every crime is a sin in Islam, but not every sin is a crime.

  • Individual Conscience: Development of a sound heart.

  • Public Morality: Enjoining good and forbidding wrong.

Individual vs Community

  • Islam seeks the well-being of both individual and community in a balanced way.

  • Responsibility: Individual and collective responsibility.

  • Facilitation: Ease for people and good tidings.

Ijtihad – Legal & Ethical Interpretation

  • Ijtihad: Process of collecting evidence, analysis, interpretation, and conclusions when an issue is not directly mentioned in the Qur'an or hadith.

  • Mujtahid: A major scholar who carries out ijtihad.

Fatwa’s

  • Definition: Nonbinding religious opinions made by leading religious authorities (muftis).

  • Categories:

    • Obligatory (fard or wajib)

    • Recommended (sunnah)

    • Permitted (halal)

    • Undesirable but not forbidden (makruh)

    • Forbidden (haram)

  • Acceptance: A fatwa is taken seriously if it is given by qualified jurists and is accepted by a significant number of jurists.

  • Variance: There can be various fatwas on the same matter; a majority view usually emerges over time.

Islamic Terms

  • Fard or Waajib: Compulsory

  • Sunnah: Recommended

  • Makruh: Disliked

  • Haram: Forbidden

  • Halal: Permissible

Case Study - Organ Donation

  • Fatwa 1 (Permissible):

    • Based on Qur'an (5:32) about saving a life.

    • Sunnah: Helping a brother in difficulty.

    • Islamic jurisprudence: Choosing the lesser of two evils, obligation to seek treatment, sanctity of human life.

  • Fatwa 2 (Unlawful):

    • Based on Qur'an (17:70) honoring children of Adam.

    • Hadith: sanctity of dead person’s bones.

    • Islamic jurisprudence: Harm can not be removed by a similar harm , prohibition takes precedence when conflicting with permissibility.

Case Study - IVF

  • Fatwa (Permissible):

    • Based on Qur’an (77:59): lineage and marriage

    • Hadith: Treatment for every disease.

    • Islamic Jurisprudence: Protection against difficulty and constriction, refraining from causing harm, priority of averting corruption over attaining benefit.