Islamic Ethics
Qur’an
(Sacred Text)
Sunna
(practices of the prophet
Including his words
and actions)
Sources of Islamic Ethics
Qiyas
(analogies from
The Qur’an)
Ijma
(Consensus drawn
From analogies)
Islamic Ethics Links
Hadith
(collection of words
And actions of
Mohammad
Qur’an
(Sacred Text)
Sunna
(practices of the prophet
Including his words
and actions)
Fiqh
Legal rulings by
the scholars
Qiyas
(analogies from
The Qur’an)
Ijma
(Consensus)
Fatwa
Where fiqh is unclear, a legal specialist delivers a fatwa
Shariah
Islamic Law
Allah
Islamic Jurisprudence
• Islamic law (Shari’ia) is determined by the Qur’an and through the
study of the Sunna and Hadith.
• Fiqh – knowledge ,understanding and comprehension
• Muslim Jurists in official positions may be titled “Mufti” ( a chief
judge). Where Fiqh is unclear, their decision (fatwa) is considered
authoritative and must be followed.
• Actions governed by tawhid (belief in oneness of God
• And Umma ( promotion of unity and harmony)
• This is derived from the analogies (qiyas- drawn by the scholars
i.e. Islamic lawyers) then becomes known as Islamic Law.
(Shari’ah)
Sunni Variants in
Islamic Jurisprudence
• Development of Shari’ah in the Sunni branch of Islam
over the ages has also required ijmaa (consensus) and
qiyas (analogy), resulting in 4 major Sunni schools of
jurisprudence: These are
• Hanafi – China, Egypt, Turkey, the Balkans, Indian
subcontinent
• Maliki – North Africa, West Africa, and several Arab Gulf
States.
• Shafi’i – Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen and some parts of
Southern India.
• Hanbali - Arabia
Shi’ia Variants in Islamic
Jurisprudence
• The Jafari School of Shi’ia Jurisprudence
• Within the Shi’ia expression of Islam, the
main school is attributed to the sixth Imam,
Jaf’ar al –Sadig.
• This school uses the Hanbali methodology
but places great emphasis on the
teachings of the twelve Imams when
deciding Fiqh.
Underlying guiding concepts for Ethics
within Islamic Jurisprudence
•The Shi’ias do not accept the ijma, preferring to follow the
Ayatollahs (senior Islamic lawyers) who they believe are
guided by Divine wisdom.
•Sunni Muslims follow the consensus of the ulama
(Islamic Lawyers) and this is known as the ijma. This
consensus is reached by applying old teachings to new
situations which then become Islamic law. This allows
Islam to be flexible.
• It is mainly in the interpretation of these
new issues that most distinguishes Sunni
and Shi’ia. Sunni understand the Sunna
as Taqlid. Shi’ia follow the Imam. (expert in
Islamic Jurisprudence)
Sunni, Shi’ite and Sufi Variants
• Although recognizing the importance of the Qur’an,
Sunni Muslims draw much guidance for ethical
behaviour from the Hadith.
• Shiite Muslims draw more directly from the Qur’an but
remain guided by the Imam, one of the 12 great leaders
who carried on the teachings of Mohammad. At a local
Mosque, a Mullah will speak with the authority of the last
Imam.
• Sufis look to their leader, Sheik or Shaykh for moral
guidance and they believe divine light shines through
him. The sheik requires surrender, love and trust and
sometimes fasting so that human desires are curbed and
the person becomes more like Allah.
Religious Influences
Shi’as:
SunnisBelieve Muslim
leadership passes
to caliphs elected
from Muslim
families
Support rule of
Abu Bakr, Umar,
and Uthman
Believe every
individual has a
direct relationship
with Allah
Follow ijma
(consensus)
Accept
Muhammad as
God’s final
prophet
Believe that
the Qur’an
contains the
word of Allah
Use the 5
Pillars of Faith
as a guide for
proper
behavior
Believe that
leadership is limited
to descendants of
Muhammad
Reject rule of first
three caliphs
Feel that imam
provides a spiritual
link to Allah
Follow imams under
Ayatollah and reject
ijmas
The Eight Ethical Principles
of Islam
These are the Principles for behaviour which govern Muslim ethics.
• 1. Set nothing beside Allah
• 2. Treat your parents with honour
• 3.Do not kill your children for fear of poverty, Allah will provide
• 4. Have nothing to do with impurity. Either in the mind or body.
• 5. Kill no one protected by Allah, unless you have a proper cause.
• 6. Do not touch the orphan’s property, except to increase it.
• 7. Respect and fulfill the demands of Justice.
• 8. Keep your word, even at the expense of a relative, for that
honours Allah.
Islamic Bioethics Sources cont.
The Morality of the Qur’an reveals
Mohammad’s attempt to put
submission to Allah into practice.
The Sunnah gives direction on moral
issues not covered in the Qur’an. It
covers “ hadiths”, or “traditions”
relating to the actions of
Mohammad.
Bioethics cont.
• The Consensus of the scholars: If after
examining the first two sources i.e. the
Qur’an and the Sunna, the collections of
traditions, and there was still doubt, the
Muslims would then consult the ijma or
consensus of past generations of muslims.
• If public opinion of the Muslim community, as
expressed by Muslim jurists agreed upon the
rightness or wrongness of an act then it was
was upheld, as long as it did not conflict with
the Qur’an or the Sunna.
Bioethics Cont.
Analogy
• If all three sources fail to provide an answer
to the problem or issue, then Muslims turn
to the final ethical source, the Qiyas.
• Qiyas formulate a guideline in accordance
with the teaching in the Qur’an. E.g. if the
Qur’an forbids drinking wine because of its
intoxicating effects, the Qiyas would
prohibit modern drugs and intoxicating
alcohol.
Euthansia
Human life is considered sacred and therefore
Euthanasia is outlawed.
The Qur'an also says:
"Take not life which Allah made sacred otherwise
than in the course of justice"
[6:151 and 17:33].
And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave
and at an appointed term. Qur'an 3:145
The concept of a life not worthy of living does not
exist in Islam.
Organ donation is accepted as this practice is to
preserve life.
Artificial Contraception
It is not forbidden to use drugs to prevent pregnancy temporarily
particularly if there is concern for the woman’s life as a result of too many
pregnancies. However, it is strictly forbidden to take drugs to prevent
pregnancy permanently. Two passages from the Qur’an support this.
“ God wishes you ease and wishes not your discomfort” and “ He has
elected you and has not laid on you any hardship in religion”
There are a number of Hadith which indicate the Prophet knew of birth
control and approved it in certain instances.
Contraception is not prohibited if it is consensual between husband and
wife, but conservative Islamic leaders campaign against it thus making
population control Ineffective.
Contraceptive methods that do not prevent conception but cause an early
abortion are not acceptable. Temporary birth control is permitted,
Abortion
• Abortion and infanticide are explicitly forbidden in Islam.
• “ No severer of womb –relationship will ever enter
Paradise” Hadith
• It is legal in one case only and that is when it endangers
the mother’s life.
• Permitted up to 120 days after conception as that is when
it is believed ensoulment occurs and the rights of the
mother take precedence.
• Some Muslims believe ensoulment occurs at conception
and do not agree with abortion..
• In 2000. Islamic Fiqh academy summarised a number of
statements from Qur’an and Hadith one of which stated
“the child has a right to survival from its conception.”
Assisted Reproductive Techniques
•
•
•
•
IVF is allowed if the sperm donor is the husband
Surrogacy is forbidden
Post menopausal conception is not widely accepted
Islam is not against treating infertility, it is not seen as a
defiance of God's will but to discover the truth about the
capability of a couple to achieve a child .
• Infertile couples seeking treatment for their infertility are
not seen as going against Islamic laws (Shariah).
• Moreover seeking treatment for infertility is encouraged
and is necessary as it involves the procreation in the
couple
• Islam rejects human embryo research e.g. frozen eggs
left to die.
Assisted Reproductive Techniques
• The issue of infertility has been addressed
in the Quran, Surah 42: 49-50:' to God
belongs the dominion of the heavens and
the earth; He creates what He wills; He
bestows male or female, according to his
will; or He bestows both males and
females and He leaves barren whom He
will; for He is full of knowledge and power.'
Assisted Reproductive Techniques
• Shi’a is the minority branch of Islam found in Iran, parts of
Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, as well
as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
• Until recently, most Shi’ite religious authorities have
supported the majority Sunni view: namely, they have
agreed with Sunni clerics who say that third-party
donation should be strictly prohibited.In the late
• 1990s, however, the Supreme Jurisprudent of the Shi’a
branch of Islam, Ayatollah Ali Hussein Khamanei, the
handpicked successor to Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini,
issued a fatwa effectively permitting donor technologies to
be used. This fatwa has proved to be very significant for
those Shi’a who follow the lead of Ayatollah Khamanei in
Iran. Babies born to the infertile father this way take the
infertile father’s name.
Assisted Reproductive Techniques
• Sunni Islam accept IVF if the resultant child is the
offspring of the husband and wife.
• Likewise a donor egg from another source or the
adoption of a donor child from an illegitimate source is
also not allowed under Sunni teaching.
• All forms of surrogacy and sperm banks are also
forbidden.
• In many Islamic countries, where the laws of Islam are
the laws of the state, donation of sperm was not
practiced. AID [Artificial Insemination, Donor] is
considered adultery and leads to confusion regarding the
lines of genealogy, whose purity is of prime importance
in Islam” (134).
Cloning
• Islam believes that God’s immutable laws are dominant in
the nature and human beings cannot willfully create “
unless God, the Lord of all Beings, wills” (81:29)
• The will of god in the Qur’an has often been interpreted
as the “processes of nature and does not intervene with
by human action.”
• As a result, in the Islamic perspectives, human
manipulation of genes by biological intervention in the
early stages of life for the purpose of improving the
chances of fertility for a married couple is regarded as an
act of faith in the ultimate will of God as the Giver of all
life.
Genetic Engineering
• No genetic modification to change characteristics also
not allowed.
• The reading of the human gene by mapping out the full
human genes is part of man's endeavour to understand
himself and appreciate God's powers of creation, as
outlined in the Quran (Fussilat 41: 53). And, since this
mapping is one way of understanding some hereditary
diseases and man's susceptibility to them, it represents a
valuable addition to medical and health sciences in their
pursuit of preventing certain diseases and treating them,
which Islam encourages and recognises.
Genetic Engineering.
• The Islamic Seminar on genetic engineering agreed that
genetic engineering may be used in the prevention,
treatment or alleviation of diseases, whether in the form
of genetic surgery in which genes are replaced by other
genes or genes are implanted in the patient's cells, or
when genes are planted in another body to obtain larger
amounts of the same gene to be used in the treatment of
certain diseases.
• 1. God has created man in the best form and elevated
him above all other creatures. Any tampering with man's
basic constituents or subjecting his body to aimless
genetic engineering experimentation, would be in
violation of man's God-given dignity, as asserted by the
Quran (al-Isra 17: 70).