14. August 2017

The question of how the law becomes known has occupied the minds of Muslim scholars for a long time. In the early centuries, the heated debates, and at times even hostilities, centered around the place and role of ethical principles and reason in the development of the religious tradition. Numerous reports in the Islamic tradition described the very mission of the Prophet Muhammad as part and parcel of an ethical project—a project that builds upon and develops people’s natural ethical...

01. June 2005

By Khaled Abou El Fadl [FNa1] I. Introduction The purpose of this essay is to answer the following question: Is there a moral duty to obey an Islamic law in an Islamic state? Such an inquiry demands that we define what qualifies as an Islamic law. Furthermore, we will have to attempt a simple definition of an Islamic state, and examine the interrelationship between an Islamic state and Islamic law. Once this is accomplished, we move to identifying the nature of morality under Islam. More...