Ethical Issues In Islam
Sławomir Nowosad
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II w Lublinie , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6287-7938
Abstract
Like all religions Islam, too, has substantial ethical contents. The unique character of Islamic ethics, however, comes from the fact that it is entirely rooted in religion and so cannot be separated from it. Thus it is formed by the teaching of the Quran, to which the way of life of the Prophet Muhammad (sunnah) offers explanations. Man’s behavior in this sense is an act of either obedience or disobedience to God himself. It is also true that in the Muslim world a philosophical conception of ethics has evolved mainly due to Islam’s encounter with Greek culture. The central concept of Islamic ethics is character (khuluq), which is the state of man’s soul. It is in his character that man develops a tendency to perform either good or bad actions. Such understanding of human dispositions has much to do with Aristotle’s perception of man’s inner state that guides him to good or evil actions.
These preliminary basic clarifications on Islamic ethics are then followed by brief accounts of select issues of moral life. Among those there are three main virtues (justice, kindness,
charity) and vices (indecency, wickedness, oppression), marriage and the family, or the sanctity of human life (implying an ethical rejection of abortion and euthanasia).
Keywords:
Islam, ethics, character, anthropology, the family, abortion, euthanasiaReferences
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Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II w Lublinie
Duchowny Kościoła Rzymskokatolickiego (diecezja zamojsko-lubaczowska);
doktor habilitowany nauk teologicznych, profesor Katolickiego Uniwersytetu
Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II , w latach 2008–2012 prorektor KUL; od 2016 r. dziekan Wydziału
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