How are issues related to ethics and morality to be understood in light of Islamic scripture, law, theology, tradition and Muslim society? Is there a morality independent of God? Why is there suffering and disability? What does Islam say about euthanasia, suicide, abortion, brain death and war? What can these tell us about what it means to be human in Islam? How has Darwin’s evolution theory affected this understanding of the human in Islam? Where does environmentalism fit in to an Islamic understanding of cosmology? We will explore the answers to these questions and many more in this module through lectures and various teaching and learning methods. This module compliments RT7317 Christian Social Ethics Today and RT1345 Gender and Sexuality: Islamic Perspectives.  

• Know and demonstrate a detailed understanding of the historical and conceptual significance of Islamic scriptures in the study of ethics
• Relate knowledge of sacred text to lived experience by exploring Muslim critical reflections on ethics, truth and morality
• Analyse and appraise modern issues related to ethics and bio-medical ethics through a meticulous study of fatwas and other sources.
• Develop innovative readings of sacred text through constructive participation in group discussions

• Informal lecturing
• Audio-visual resources
• Reading of selected printed material for class discussion

• Communication skills using a range of approaches such as group discussions
• Information management skills (retrieval, evaluation, analysis)
• People skills such as team/group working, recognition of diversity)
• Personal skills (time management, personal responsibility and the ability to continue learning)

• 1000 % Portfolio (4000 words)

  • Essay based on group presentation with full reference (2500 words)
  • Reflection to include reflection on group work and personal learning reflection (include research methodology, types of sources and database(s) accessed.) (1500 words)

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students will be asked to re-submit:

Presentation: individual or group presentation (depending on number of students resubmitting)

100% Portfolio (4000 words) in the case where there is no group presentation, the reflection on group-work is no longer required. The individual student must write a longer essay or longer reflective piece to amount to a maximum of 4000 words.

Introduction to Islamic sources * Islam between scripture and reason * Good and evil in Islamic theology (theodicy) * The human in Islam * Holy war, just war? * Termination of life (abortion, suicide, euthanasia) * Human rights in Islam * Sexual ethics * Case studies and Fatwa * Islamic environmentalism.

(Already in Library): George F. Hourani, Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985).  

(Already in Library): Jonathan E. Brockopp and Thomas Eich, Muslim Medical Ethics: From Theory to Practice (Studies in Comparative Religion), (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008).

£14.42: Jonathan E. Brockopp, Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War and Euthanasia (Studies in Comparative Religion), (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2002).

(Already in Library): Kecia Ali, Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence, (Oxford, Oneworld Publications, 2006). 

(Already in Library): Tariq Ramadan, Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009).  

(Already in Library):  Mawil Izzi Dien, The Environmental Dimensions of Islam, (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2000).

£27.33: Mohammed Ghaly, Islam and Disability: Perspectives in Theology and Jurisprudence, (Islamic Studies Series), (Routledge, 2010). 

£16.99: Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islamic Biomedical Ethics: Principles and Application, (USA: Oxford University Press, 2012).

£14.99: Sherman A Jackson, Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

£26.14: Damian Howard, Being Human in Islam: The Impact of the Evolutionary Worldview (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East), (Routledge, 2014).

£16.28: Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights, (USA: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Numerous articles in Journal of Religious Ethics (subscribed)