right and forbid what is reprehensible. They are
the ones who will prosper” (Q 3:104, cf. 9:7).
Such statements are closely connected to obeying
God and worshipping him.
The question of what is “known to be right”
has been an important subject of debate among
Muslims. One position is that whatever God com-
mands is what is right. The problem with this is
that the Quran offers more in the way of general
principles than specific rules (most of these
rules are found only in the first few chapters of
the Quran). The principles in question include
justice, goodness, kindness, forgiveness, honesty,
and piety. This has led some to take the posi-
tion that humans are born with an instinctive or
innate knowledge of what is right and wrong, but
because of their wayward and fickle nature, they
do not always choose to act morally. The purpose
of the Quran, therefore, is not so much to dictate
specific commandments, but to “remind” people
of what they should already know by nature and
to guide them to do the right thing. If they dis-
obey, they will pay a price for it, if not here and
now, then in the hereafter.
The most commonly used Islamic term for
morality, the Arabic word akhlaq, is not found
in the Quran, but the root kh-l-q from which it
is derived occurs frequently in connection with
the act of creation. From a Muslim perspective,
therefore, human morality is part of the created
order of the world, intimately connected with
God the creator. The “signs” (sing. aya) of God
are evident in the natural world, in events, and
in verses of scripture. The verses provide moral
guidance, as does the wider world. Humans, as
part of God’s creation, are called upon to contem-
plate these signs to discover the truth and know
what is best.
The other major source of Islamic moral wis-
dom, the sunna of mUhammad, is based on the
hadith. Muslims consider Muhammad’s sunna to
be a body of norms that should be followed in
worship and in everyday life. The idea of Muham-
mad as an exemplary figure comes from the
remembered experience of the first Muslims, and
it is also supported by the Quran, which regards
him as a “beautiful model” (Q 33:21). Hadith
collections had chapters about the virtues that he
embodied. These included respect for parents and
elders, maintaining strong family ties, being good
to neighbors, caring for children, avoiding abuse
of servants and slaves (a social institution until
the 19th and 20th centuries), being well-man-
nered, offering hospitality to guests, visiting the
sick, showing mercy to animals, being patient and
sincere, greeting people correctly, asking permis-
sion before entering a house, dressing modestly,
and avoiding lying and rude speech. These were
all taken to be demonstrations of Muhammad’s
moral character, called akhlaq or adab. Likewise,
Sufis drew upon the hadith about Muhammad,
too, to emphasize the virtues of generosity, pov-
erty, humility, and concern for others, including
the poor.
From the eighth century onward, Muslim legal
scholars, the Ulama, consulted and debated with
each other over how to systematize the quranic
commandments and Muhammad’s sunna so as
to be able to effectively implement the sharia,
or sacred law, in a complex, multicultural, and
historically changing Islamicate society. In doing
so, they were not satisfied with determining
only what was legally required (halal) and what
was forbidden (haram), nor did they trust indi-
viduals to know what the right thing to do was.
Rather, they devised a five-step scale for classify-
ing human acts according to their conformity to
God’s will: obligatory, recommended, permitted,
disapproved, and forbidden. The ulama then
detailed all sorts of human activities, rule on their
permissibility, and on what kinds of rewards and
penalties, if any, such acts entailed. Sunni as well
as Shii jurists engaged in this activity, but other
Muslims were familiar with it, too, especially
among the educated elites living in urban areas.
In addition to courts of law, Muslim authorities
created the office of muhtasib to enforce the moral
code in public places and oversee transactionsK 216 ethics and morality