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There have been two main traditions of writing on ethics in the
Islamic tradition, one philosophical and related to the works of
Aristotle and other Greek philosophers, represented by thinkers
such as Avicenna, and one theological, represented by such figures
as the famous theologian al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar. Some later scholars
attempted to combine those two traditions. For the most part,
however, the views of the jurists have been ignored. Abdulaziz
Sachedina here calls attention to this third tradition of ethics,
which has its home in legal literature. The problem is that Islamic
jurists did not produce a genre of ethical manuals, and their form
of ethics, which Sachedina terms juridical ethics, must be derived
or extracted from works that ostensibly treat legal rulings and
obligations, or scriptural hermeneutics and legal theory.
Presenting an outline of the version of Islamic ethics that is
embedded in the textual legacy of the Islamic legal tradition, he
argues that this juridical ethics is an important, even dominant
form of ethics in modern Islam. He notes that this form of ethics
has been challenged by modernity and examines the variety of ways
in which legal ethical thinkers have reacted. How do Muslim
religious leaders come to grips with modern demands of directing
their communities to live as modern citizens of nation-states? What
kind of moral and spiritual resources are being garnered by their
scholars to respond to the new issues in sciences, more immediately
in medicine, and constantly changing social relationships? To
answer these pressing questions, it is necessary to go beyond the
philosophical ethics of virtue and human character and acknowledge
the importance of ethics to the formulation in Muslim interpretive
jurisprudence of religious and moral decisions that are based on
reason and revelation.
Biomedical ethics is a burgeoning academic field with complex and
far-reaching consequences. Whereas in Western secular bioethics
this subject falls within larger ethical theories and applications
(utilitarianism, deontology, teleology, and the like), Islamic
biomedical ethics has yet to find its natural academic home in
Islamic studies. In this pioneering work, Abdulaziz Sachedina - a
scholar with life-long academic training in Islamic law - relates
classic Muslim religious values to the new ethical challenges that
arise from medical research and practice. He depends on Muslim
legal theory, but then looks deeper than juridical practice to
search for the underlying reasons that determine the rightness or
wrongness of a particular action. Drawing on the work of diverse
Muslim theologians, he outlines a form of moral reasoning that can
derive and produce decisions that underscore the spirit of the
Shari'a. These decisions, he argues, still leave room to revisit
earlier decisions and formulate new ones, which in turn need not be
understood as absolute or final. After laying out this methodology,
he applies it to a series of ethical questions surrounding the
human life-cycle from birth to death, including such issues as
abortion, euthanasia, and organ donation. The implications of
Sachedina's work are broad. His writing is unique in that it aims
at conversing with Jewish and Christian ethics, moving beyond the
Islamic fatwa literature to search for a common language of moral
justification and legitimization among the followers of the
Abrahamic traditions. He argues that Islamic theological ethics be
organically connected with the legal tradition of Islam to enable
it to sit in dialogue with secular and scripture-based bioethics in
other faith communities. A breakthrough in Islamic bioethical
studies, this volume is welcome and long-overdue reading for anyone
interested in facing the difficult questions posed by modern
medicine not only to the Muslim faithful but to the
ethically-minded at large.
In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and
proclaimed the International Declaration of Human Rights, a
document designed to hold both individuals and nations accountable
for their treatment of fellow human beings, regardless of religious
or cultural affiliations. Since then, the compatibility of Islam
and human rights has emerged as a particularly thorny issue of
international concern, and has been addressed by Muslim rulers,
conservatives, and extremists, as well as Western analysts and
policymakers; all have commonly agreed that Islamic theology and
human rights cannot coexist. Abdulaziz Sachedina rejects this
informal consensus, arguing instead for the essential compatibility
of Islam and human rights. He offers a balanced and incisive
critique of Western experts who have ignored or underplayed the
importance of religion to the development of human rights,
contending that any theory of universal rights necessarily emerges
out of particular cultural contexts. At the same time, he
re-examines the juridical and theological traditions that form the
basis of conservative Muslim objections to human rights, arguing
that Islam, like any culture, is open to development and change.
Finally, and most importantly, Sachedina articulates a fresh
position that argues for a correspondence between Islam and secular
notions of human rights.
The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism tackles the most
significant issues facing Muslims today. Sachedina argues that we
must reopen the doors of religious interpretation - to correct
false interpretations, replace outdated laws, and formulate new
doctrines. His book critically analyzes Muslim teachings on such
issues as pluralism, civil society, war and peace, and violence and
self-sacrifice.
There is a growing consensus among experts and the educated public
alike that democratization will reduce the many problems of the
Muslim world. The question that remains is how Islam should be
incorporated into the public sphere. Islamic Democratic Discourse
is in itself a dialogue that explores the multi-faceted
relationship between Islam and democracy. Each chapter, by a
preeminent scholar of the Muslim tradition and its contemporary
challenges, provides insight into Islamic political thought and its
connection to Western democracy. Tamara Sonn and Tarek Ramdan
consider the elements of government in classical Islam. Osman Bakar
and Ali Paya provide regional studies of the search for
compatibility between Islam and democracy. And finally, editor
Muqtedar Khan and Marc Lynch are among those who offer a global
perspective on the discourse on Islam and democracy. Unlike many
recent efforts which seek to either underscore or dispute the
compatibility of Islam and democracy, this eclectic collection
begins a comprehensive conversation on Islam's role in the public
sphere and charts a course toward an authentic Islamic theory of
democracy. Islamic Democratic Discourse is a crucial addition to
the libraries of scholars interested in the future of Islam in the
modern world.
There is a growing consensus among experts and the educated public
alike that democratization will reduce the many problems of the
Muslim world. The question that remains is how Islam should be
incorporated into the public sphere. Islamic Democratic Discourse
is in itself a dialogue that explores the multi-faceted
relationship between Islam and democracy. Each chapter, by a
preeminent scholar of the Muslim tradition and its contemporary
challenges, provides insight into Islamic political thought and its
connection to Western democracy. Tamara Sonn and Tarek Ramdan
consider the elements of government in classical Islam. Osman Bakar
and Ali Paya provide regional studies of the search for
compatibility between Islam and democracy. And finally, editor
Muqtedar Khan and Marc Lynch are among those who offer a global
perspective on the discourse on Islam and democracy. Unlike many
recent efforts which seek to either underscore or dispute the
compatibility of Islam and democracy, this eclectic collection
begins a comprehensive conversation on Islam's role in the public
sphere and charts a course toward an authentic Islamic theory of
democracy. Islamic Democratic Discourse is a crucial addition to
the libraries of scholars interested in the future of Islam in the
modern world.
This volume examines the limits Islam, Judaism, and Christianity
have set for the use of coercive violence. It probes the agreements
and disagreements of these major religious traditions on pacifism
(the abjurance of all force) and quietism (the avoidance of force
unless certain stringent conditions are met). The distinguished
contributors examine the foundations for nonviolence in each
religion, criticize the positions each religion has taken, address
the inherent challenges nonviolence poses, and evaluate the
difficulty of practicing nonviolence in a secular society. The
concluding essay defines the common ground, isolates the points of
conflict, and suggests avenues of further inquiry. The most
important contribution this volume makes is to demonstrate that no
Western religious tradition provides a basis for the glorification
of violence. Rather, each accepts warfare as a regretted necessity
and sets strict limits on the use of force. This work offers new
insights for those interested in the ethics of warfare, peace
studies, religious traditions, and international affairs.
In this book, sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Abdulaziz Sachedina tackles the most significant issues facing Muslims today. As Islam and Muslims enter the 21st century, Sachedina argues, it is necessary to reopen the doors of religious interpretation - to reexamine and correct false interpretations, replace outdated laws and formulate new doctrines that respond to changing social contexts. Always using the Quran as a yardstick, Sachedina demonstrates how and why Islamic law came to reflect political and social influences, leading to regulations that violate the spirit and the letter of the Quran. He critically analyzes Muslim teachings on issues of pluralism, civil society, war and peace, violence and self-sacrifice, the status and role of non-Muslims, and capital punishment.
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