Abstract This article examines the concept of wilāya and its relation to ethics from a jurisprudential perspective, while drawing on political and ethical philosophical discussions. Wilāya is defined as the guardianship exercised by the wālī over those under his authority ( muwallā ʿalayh ), a relationship that arises from their mutual proximity. The article transitions to explore how wilāya extends beyond the individual realm to encompass a broader political and governmental context. The ethics of the wālī in this context is defined as “justice in governmental and political fields,” distinguishing it from personal justice. The paper further examines the juristic mechanisms that ensure the wālī ’s ethics in both personal and public spheres, such as criticism of the wālī , civil disobedience against unethical orders, and the continuous oversight of citizens. Ultimately, it argues that the ethical aspects of wilāya and wālī as discussed in traditional juristic sources need to be revised and adapted to contemporary contexts, with a focus on public ethics and political ethics rather than merely on personal virtues.
Abstract This paper argues that the contemporary Islamic discourse on tobacco use is apologetic and void of originality. It falls short in examining the historical, philosophical, medical, and political premises of the modern public health discourse and in adhering to the methods of Islamic normativity. In effect, it adopts the medical and political blameworthiness of tobacco use as blameworthiness in the hereafter. The paper demonstrates the dissonance by expounding on the political and medical premises in the public health discourse, as well as the pertinent ethical critique. The paper provides recommendations for an alternative approach, one that is well premised in Islamic sciences and informed by modern evidence. Through shifting to political support of tobacco control rather than categorically stigmatizing tobacco use, the Muslim discourse can regain its originality and independence. More importantly, the Muslim discourse should proactively guide education that aims to build moral agency through tobacco use as an applied example.
This paper examines the moral and ontological status of animals in Islamic thought and advances a contemporary Islamic environmental ethic rooted in a theocentric worldview. It critiques dominant secular models, Peter Singer’s (b. 1946) utilitarianism and Tom Regan’s (d. 2017) deontology, arguing that their one-dimensional and non-transcendental grounding limits their scope. Drawing on classical Muslim philosophers of the third/ninth to the sixth/twelfth centuries, spanning Persia to al-Andalus, this paper highlights a teleological framework that grants animals moral consideration. The Islamic ethical framework constitutes both anthropocentric and ecocentric dimensions: humans are uniquely honoured, and animals are created for human benefit (taskhīr), animals nevertheless possess sacred value, with Qurʾānic and Prophetic teachings underscoring kindness and stewardship. To reconcile the apparent anthropocentric – ecocentric impasse, a theocentric ethic is proposed, grounded in recognition of all creatures as God’s creation. We develop this ethic through a tripartite framework: (1) Divine Command Theory, (2) the Higher Objectives of the Divine Law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa), and (3) Islamic Virtue Ethics. This integrative model offers a holistic, theologically grounded alternative to secular environmental ethics.
