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1.0 Introduction
Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported
supernatural revelation or guidance. Ethics, which is a major branch of philosophy,
encompasses right conduct and good life. It is significantly broader than the common
conception of analyzing right and wrong. A central aspect of ethics is the good life,
the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many
philosophers to be more important than traditional moral conduct.
The foundational source in the gradual codification of Islamic ethics was the
Muslim understanding and interpretations of the mankind have been granted the
faculty to discern God's will and to abide by it. This faculty most crucially involves
reflecting over the meaning of existence, which, as John Kelsay in the Encyclopedia
of Ethics phrases, "ultimately points to the reality of God." Therefore, regardless of
their environment, humans are believed to have a moral responsibility to submit to
God's will and to follow Islam (as demonstrated in the Qur'an: 7: 172).
Other branch of ethical system is western ethics. Western philosophical works
on ethics were written in a culture whose literary and religious ideas were based in the
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. As such, there is a connection
between the ethics of the Bible and the ethics of the great western philosophers.
However, this is not a direct connection; significant differences of opinion in how to
interpret and apply passages in the books of the Bible lead to different understandings
of ethics. Some have suggested that modern understandings of the Bible are
fundamentally mistaken.
This paper tries to assess various western ethical theories and principles from
Islamic point of view.
integrated. Only Allah (S.W.T.) Al-A'leem with His great knowledge that is infinite.
No man has, can or will ever come up with a system that is so perfect. If we want a
successful and happy life, then just apply Islam to it, and we will have wonderful
results.
actions through considering their costs against their benefits and can easily be carried
to an extreme.
(Al-Qur’an: 112:1-4)
Islam frees the Muslim from servitude to anyone or anything except Allah (swt).
• Holism (Entire)
• Fatalism (Subjugation/fail to fate)
• Syncretism (Reconcile)
• Activism (Intentional action)
• Mysticism (Awareness through experience)
6.0 Conclusion
It is this sense of equality and justice before God that makes the Muslim
an activism. This sometimes becomes excessive or at any rate misconstrued
as excessive. One can see why Black Africa is attracted to Islam rather
than to other faiths. Even in the US, one-third of all American Muslims
are black.
Even Muslim dietary laws require that the permitted meat is prepared in a
manner that emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of animals. In
fact, these laws are in line with the same trends that have made organic
foods so popular.
The tolerance of Islam is also worth emphasizing, though the popular view
is different. For Muslims, tolerance is an article of faith. This is since
Islam upholds the validity of all the prophetic paths. Muslims believe in
the One God, Who revealed the one religion to all those prophets.
Add to this, the beauty of Islamic mysticism, which is very close to the
heart of the West. Otherwise, how could Jalaluddin Rumi become America's
most popular religious poet?
In short, there is little difference between the core ethics of the West
and Islam. This is despite the materialism and utilitarianism is now
dominant in certain circles, which is abhorrent to Islam. But, in fact, it
is abhorrent to the real Judeo-Christian tradition too.