Abstract
I propose a framework for comparative Islamic—Western ethics in which the Islamic categories Islam, Iman, and Ihsan are juxtaposed with the concepts of obligation, value, and virtue, respectively. I argue that shari’a refers to both the obligation component and the entire structure of the Islamic ethic; suggesting a suspension of the understanding of shari’a as simply Islamic “law,” and an alternative understanding of usul al-fiqh as a moral epistemology of obligation. I will test this approach by addressing the question of reason in Islamic moral epistemology via an examination of an argument advanced by a founding usul scholar Muhammad bin Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī (150 A.H./767 C.E.).
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Moad, E.O. A path to the Oasis: Sharī‘ah and reason in Islamic moral epistemology. Int J Philos Relig 62, 135–148 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-007-9145-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-007-9145-6