Falsafat al-Akhlāq fī l-Sharīʿa al-Islāmiyya: Dirāsa fī ʿIlm Qawāʿid al-Fiqh, written by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Muʿizz Biṭāwī

<p dir="ltr">Ethics, as the field of investigation of morality, is ultimately a branch of philosophy and is often linked to practical philosophy in the Aristotelian tradition. In the Islamic medieval context, the discourse on ethics and morality cannot be strictly confined to a specific science or discipline, nor to practical disciplines as such. To be specific, the discourse on ethics perfuses works of philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, Sufism, and beyond (Bouhafa 2021a, 7–8). This might, however, explain why some scholars declared ethics as a science per se lacking in the Islamic context, except for some articulation of a discourse on virtue often translated into <i>akhlāq</i>. The latter tends to be construed as a merely descriptive account of virtues, which takes its roots from Greek philosophy. Majid Fakhry (d. 2021), in his preface in <i>Ethical Theories in Islam</i>, seems to reflect this stance and sanction its validity: <p dir="ltr">The question is sometimes asked whether there is such a thing as Islamic ethics. The well-meaning questioner is obviously puzzled by the legalism and ritualism of the religious and institutional life of Muslim individuals or groups, as well as scant contributions of Muslim authors to ethical and political discussions during the classical and post-classical periods. (Fakhry 1994, xi) <h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Islamic Ethics<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24685542-20240014" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24685542-20240014</a> <br> <p dir="ltr">Volume and issue information: Vol 8 No. 1-2 (2024): December 2024