Islamic Ethics, its Sources and Most Important Characteristics

Abstract

The important aspect in Islamic ethics is that it is stemmed from metaphysical principles or beliefs represented in religion. If Aristotle had ruled out morals from metaphysics and relied on observable facts, since reality is the focus of his philosophy  and morals' approach is  specific and practical, there is no room, then, for saying that morals are based on metaphysics or religion and there is no relationship between morals and absolute good. If this is the case in Aristotelian morals, our Islamic ethics, then,  have stemmed from religion and took into account the practical part  and worldly goods that address man as a human being. So Islamic ethics were established from the metaphysics of  belief in the oneness of the Almighty Creator and his absolute majesty and perfection. Also, Islamic ethics  were codified for the practical reality based on sense and reason, through which Islamic ethics were distinguished from other ethics. Hence, there was an urgent need to intensify studies and research to serve these ethics and to show their originality and comprehensiveness.  In modern philosophical thought, positivist studies have appeared trying to separate religion from morals, claiming that the dominance of these sciences was the beginning of their progress. There is nothing worse than the independence of morality from religion. We are not here, though, to discuss this topic and its shortcomings, but rather we decide in general that religion does not only represent a belief related to human destiny but also it explains the purpose of human creation  and its role in life. As a Muslim researcher interested in issues of Islam and Muslims, I do care, in the first place, that religious morals be a framework and doctrine in  the constitution of our Islamic society and the motive for its prosperity  and development.