A Companion to Muslim Ethics is edited by Amyn B. Sajoo, author of Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas (2009). In this edited book, eminent scholars have contributed ten chapters on various topics related to Muslim ethics.
In the introduction, “Roots and branches”, Sajoo sets the tone and the framework of the book. He maintains that taking ethics seriously does not mean engaging in normative ethics or metaethics and trying to establish a theory that might provide criteria for deciding right and wrong, nor does it mean following the rules loosely described as legitimate or in accordance with the sharia law. He also agrees with Fazlur Rahman, who states that “the paramount valuation of human conduct was moral not legal” (p. 11). In his comprehensive introduction Sajoo explores scriptural, political, theological and philosophical foundations of moral thought and practice in Islam. Most of the book's chapters are descriptive, in the sense that they describe different aspects related to practical or social ethics ranging from art to literature, from philosophy and politics to economics. Nevertheless, as expected of a book on Muslim ethics, the normative dimension is heavily present throughout. The authors avoid monolithic presentation, while challenging stereotypes, past and present. They do so by studying scriptural, social and historical roots of some important matters such as tolerance, non-violence, gender equality and conflict resolution.
Charles Butterworth examines the ethical teaching of some prominent Muslim philosophers such as al-Kindī, al-Rāzī, al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Rushd, focusing on al-Fārābī (c. 870–950), the founder of political philosophy in medieval Islam, whom he praises for “linking ethical training or soul-craft with the political or statecraft” (p. 32). Eric Ormsby discusses the popular ethical literature of early Islam. He notes that whatever Muslim writers took from other cultures, they made it unmistakeably their own (p. 56). Ormsby's chapter investigates different forms of literature such as fables, maxims and poems and unveils their moral teachings. The books he discusses include the 1001 Nights, Kalila wa Dimna and the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. He focuses on the poetry of the Ismaili missionary Nāṣir-i Khusraw and Sadi Shirazi and highlights the supremacy of knowledge and the reality of human free will in the writings of Khusraw. Fahmida Suleman takes us to the field of Islamic art. She shows that figural presentation was not banned in Islam: it was accepted in different times and spaces and many works of art and architecture witness the diversity and integrity of Islamic art. In his chapter on ecology, Seyyed Hussein Naser draws attention to what might be called the “theology of nature” and shows how a sacralized vision of nature is central to Islam through exploring the teachings of the Quran and the poetry and philosophy of some celebrated Sufi figures. He maintains that the sharia provides a degree of legitimacy for progressive social conduct towards the environment which secular laws alone can hardly command (p. 84).
Zayn Kassam draws on the work of Asma Barlas, Leila Ahmed and Amina Wadud to show how the scriptural vision of equal dignity and respect for women unfolds among those to whom it was revealed. She argues that some harmful practices like female genital mutilation and the so-called honour killings have no basis in Islam. Female genital mutilation is unknown in Arabia and its environs and there is no mention of it in the Quran (p. 110). Abdallah Daar and Ahmad al-Khitamy emphasize the diverse views regarding health care issues and bioethics. They argue that “the four key principles of contemporary bioethics – autonomy, beneficence, nonmalfeasance and justice – were discussed by Muslim scholars as early as the 13th century” (p. 122). Rodney Wilson, writing on economy, provides informative analysis of some important indicators such as the London-based New Economic Foundation's “Happy Planet Index” (p. 136) and the World Economic Forum's competitiveness index (pp. 138–9). He argues that Muslim societies share the stakes with all others with regard to the ethical handling of resources, both ecological and economic (p. 139). He further shows that on matters of economic policy Muslim writers and activists vary as to what is ethically appropriate (p. 140). Mohammad Keshavjee argues for the potential creativity that ADR (alternative dispute resolution), with its long Muslim and global history, can bring to bridging Muslim tradition and legal modernity (p. 152). Closely related to Keshavjee's chapter is Reza Shah Kazemi's contribution on tolerance. He stresses the essentially tolerant nature of Islamic vision which derives from “an appreciation of the Other as part of an unfolding divine vision” (p. 167). He refers back to history to show that the current freedom of religious belief and worship in the Western world is inspired, at least in part, by the influence of Islam. Ramin Jahanbegloo confirms that ethics of non-violence in Islam stem from the same basic sources as law and sharia, namely the Quran and the sunna. He argues that between the secular and theological absolutism is the middle ground of pluralist civil society and inclusive governance.
In works usually classified under theology (kalām) and uṣūl al-fiqh or principles of jurisprudence, some scholars (particularly the Muʿtazilites), have grappled with the inherent nature of acts of good and evil, the meaning of moral values and ethical judgements. A chapter on the early development of ethical thought, and exploring the diversity of moral and legal thought in early Islam, could have been an interesting addition.
However, this book offers an interesting approach to the study of Muslim ethics. It will appeal to all those who seek to know more about different aspects of Muslim ethics and to those who are interested in learning about various aspects of Islamic civilization.
