EDP433 Islamic Moral Philosophy
The purpose of this course is to bring into focus the matters of ethics and moral in Islamic thought.Introductory course is a brief synopsis of Moral Philosophy, dealing with its features and meaning, set in the context of Islamic ethics. Ethics in Islam arise from these predominant sources: The Qur’an and Hadith (Sayings of the Prophet); Kelâm (Islamic Theology); Tasawwuf (Islamic Mysticism); Fıqh (Islamic Law); and Islamic Philosophy. All of these branches are examined in relation to ethics. Islamic ethics present us with a knowledge of values; it justifies the existence of these values, and it identifies the epistemological foundation for these values. Furthermore, it will be seen that ethics in Islam utilizes knowledge to produce wisdom and responsibility. Within the framework of Islamic Theology (Kelâm), both objective and subjective approaches have been used to identify and evaluate the source of ethical values. It will be observed that in Islamic Theology, knowledge takes the individual from the level of imitation (taqlid) to that of enquiry (tahkik). Within mystical Islam (Tasawwuf), it is seen that knowledge is a key factor in the purification of the soul. It becomes clear throughout the course that knowledge cleanses people from ignorance and wrong behavior. The course deals with an evaluation of the relationship between knowledge and virtue. Wisdom, courage, justice, temperance, all of these are taken into consideration in light of their epistemological and educational connection with knowledge. In this course the subject of “Happiness” (Saada) also examined in the context of Islamic Philosophy. The subject of “Freedom” within Islamic ethics is also our concern.