BHM 4053

-ETHICS IN ISLAM-

CHAPTER 4:
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
ISLAMIC LAW AND ETHICS IN ISLAM

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 -DEFINITION OF ISLAMIC LAW-

v Shariah or Islamic law is the command of God revealed to the

Prophet, and it is a law that controls the state and society. It means
that state and society have to conform to the dictates of shariah.
v Shariah is different from the human law due to its divine origin which
is based on divine revelations meanwhile human law is the product
of reason and outcome of customary rules. It can never produce a
perfect uniformity of conduct.
v The good for one group of people is not necessarily so for another
group, thus, the practice of moral conduct would be different from
one another.
v Meanwhile, Islamic law or shariah is able to produce perfect
standard rules of conduct within all aspects of man’s life. It lies down
the specific norms of good and bad, virtue and vice.
v Shariah is the set of rules derived from both the Quran and the
authentic traditions (sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and
the scholarly opinions (ijtihad) based on Quran and Sunnah. The
shariah contains categories and subjects of Islamic law called the
branches of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
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- THE SOURCES OF LAW & ETHICS IN ISLAM -

1. The Qur’an
´ The Quran is the word of Allah (SWT) revealed to Prophet Muhammad
(saw) in Arabic conveyed by angel Jibril (as). The Quran is the main
primary sources of shariah. It is mu‟jizat (meaning which may not be
understood by someone) and is immutable and preserved by Allah (SWT).

2. Sunnah of the Prophet

´ Words, actions and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad as the
messenger of God.
3. Analogical Reasoning (Qiyas)
´ Extending established legal precedence to new matters by identifying an
operative cause applicable to both situations.
4. Consensus (Ijma)
´ Consensus of the community of scholars over a solution to a legal and
practical issue is the third source of the law. When a certain ruling lasts
the test of time, more and more jurists as well as people accept the ruling
making it a consensus.

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 -THE OBJECTIVE OF ISLAMIC LAW-
q The objective of Islamic law or shariah is seen to be similar with Islamic
ethics, that is, to construct human life on the basis of virtues
(ma’rufat), and to cleanse it from vices (munkarat).
q Virtues or ma’rufat, in general, are in harmony with human nature
and its requirements, and vices or munkarat are just opposite to
virtues.
q Through shariah, we can get clear view of what are the virtues and
the vices, and these are to the norms to which the individual and
societal behavior should conform.
q Islamic law or shariah covers all aspects of man’s life from religious
rituals up to social, economic, judicial system and so on.
q As a matter of fact, shariah has much wider scope and purpose as
compared to a Western legal system.
q Like Islamic ethics, shariah aims at regulating the relationship of man
with God, and man with man.
q Therefore, both shariah and Islamic ethics cannot be separated from
each other.
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-THE KINDS OF PUNISHMENTS IN ISLAMIC LAW-

1. Hudud; it is the punishment for the limits which have been closely
defined by the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Several offences which
have been categorized under hudud are adultery or fornication
(zina), false accusation (qazaf), apostasy (riddah), drinking wine (al-
khamar), theft (al-hirabah).
2. Qisas; it stands for the return of life in case of murder. The
punishment for the murderer is killing him back.
3. Ta’zir; it is the punishment which is to be decided by the court based
on the justification of the qadhi. It depends on the various factors
affect the criminal acts. These categories of punishments reflect
Islamic law as the law of equality which is consistent with the basic
ethical values.

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 -PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW & ISLAMIC ETHICS-

v Introduction
´ The purpose of law and ethics is to ensure the well being of the
individual and the community at the same time in a balanced
way.
´ Ethics and Law have been developing throughout history.
´ Shariah (Islamic law) encompasses ethics and law.
´ There are methodologies in place for Islamic .
´ Ethics and law continue to develop with the new situations that
society faces.

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 -PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW & ISLAMIC ETHICS-

v Aim of Law and Ethics

´ Human actions, hence freedoms, are not absolute and are
curtailed by self, public and the law. Islam seeks a balance
between these three concentric circles.

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-PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW & ISLAMIC ETHICS-

v Individual and Community

§ Importance of individual conscience
Islam cultivates the development of a “sound heart” because
ultimately “only he (will prosper) that brings to God a sound heart”
(Qur’an, 26:89)
§ Place of public morality
“And from among you there should be a party who invite to good
and join what is right and forbid the wrong and these are those who
shall be successful.” (Qur’an, 3:104)
“Facilitate (ease) for people and do not make it difficult for them,
and give them good tidings.” (The Prophet Muhammad)

§ Just as there is individual responsibility for one’s actions, there is

also collective responsibility that society has towards the
individual.

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 -ETHICAL AND LEGAL METHODOLOGY-

v Shariah (Islamic Law)

§ Shariah means ‘the way’ and ‘source of water’.
§ Shariah is understood as God’s Will but the fiqh (jurisprudence) is the
product of the human attempt to understand God’s Will.
– Some have understood Shariah to be a political system, while others
have understood it be an ideology or simply a way of life.
§ Islam is an all-encompassing religion with a comprehensive law that
provide guidance in all key aspects of life.
§ Shariah contains both legal rules and ethical principles. This is
indicated by the division of the Shariah relevant to human action into
the categories of.
§ Shariah is summed up under four broad categories:
´ Ibadah – religious worship and practices
´ Muamalah – human relations
´ Munakahat – family law
´ Jinayat – criminal law of Islam
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 -PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW-

§ The principles help to:

• Obtain adequate knowledge of the sources of Shariah.
• Obtain adequate knowledge of the methods of juristic deductions.

§ There are three layers of objectives and principles that give a clear
methodology to law.
§ Firstly, there is an overall purpose for Islamic law.
– ‘to promote good and to benefit human beings and to protect them
from evil, from harm and from subsequent suffering’.

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 -PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW (cont..)-
§ Secondly, law and ethics must protect the following five basic
human rights;
1. Life – every person has a right to live in safety and earn his or her
livelihood.
2. Property – owning and preserving one’s personal property is a
fundamental right.
3. Human mind – no one, including the self, society and state, should
coerce or remove the ability to think freely.
4. Belief & religion – there is no compulsion in religion and
every person has a right to keep and pass their religion to future
generations.
5. Family and lineage – humans have the right to raise a family.

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 -PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC LAW (cont..)-

§ Thirdly, Muslim jurists also take into account important

methodical principles that are utilised when addressing
ethical problems.

´ Everything is allowed (halal) unless otherwise stated.

´ If there are options, select the one easiest for people.
´ Prevention of harm has greater priority than achieving
benefit.
´ That which leads to haram (prohibited) is also haram
(prohibited).
´ Prefer lesser of the two evils
´ Doubt does not remove the certainty.
´ That which is necessary to achieve an obligation is
obligatory.
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 -LOSS OF DYNAMISM-

§ Until 20th century, Shariah has been a universal legal and ethical
system transcending cultural and national borders.
§ Shariah in the modern world remains relatively underdeveloped
mainly because:
1. The closure of the gates of ijtihad (deductive reasoning)
stalled the development of Shariah.
2. European Colonization of the Muslim world in the 19th century
has caused an abrupt halt in the development and
application of Islamic law.
3. Relegation of religious authority of scholars by authoritarian
regimes in 20th Century to stop claim for justice and freedom.

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 -CONTEMPORARY ISSUES-

§ When an action is mentioned in the Qur'an or hadith, the

correct action to be taken by a Muslim is considered to be
straightforward.
§ However, when there is no direct mention of a phenomenon,
contemporary Islamic scholars must arrive at a religious
judgment through interpretation, analogy, and personal
reasoning, a process known as ijtihad.
§ A scholar who carries out ijtihad is known as a mujtahid.

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 -FATWA’S-

§ Judgments are regularly made by leading religious authorities,

who issue fatwas, or nonbinding religious opinions.
§ A religious scholar who makes a fatwa is called a mufti.
§ A mufti interprets whether a behaviour or action falls into one of
these five categories, according to the Islamic shariah:
´ Compulsory/ obligatory (fard/ wajib) – have to do
´ Recommended (sunnah) – should do (good to do)
´ Permissible/ permitted (Halal) – can do
´ Dislike/ undesirable but not forbidden (makruh) – should not do
´ Forbidden (haram) – must not do
§ A fatwa is taken seriously if it is given by qualified jurists and is
accepted by a significant number of jurists.
§ Having one jurist declare a fatwa on a particular topic does
not mean that all Muslims will follow by default.
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THANK YOU

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