This edited volume addresses the link between ḥadÄ«th (Prophetic reports) and ethics, or what can be termed as âḥadÄ«th-based ethics.â Despite ḥadÄ«th (or Sunna) historically being the second normative source in Islam after the QurʾÄn, this topic has not received sufficient attention in the contemporary scholarship on Islamic ethics. Indeed, ḥadÄ«th played a key role in the development of Islamic thought and in forming Ê¿ulÅ«m al-sharÄ«Ê¿a (Islamic sciences), as has been noted by some contemporary scholars.1 This volume introduces ḥadÄ«th-based ethics as a sub-discipline of Islamic ethics and fills the gap within the scholarship on Islamic ethics and ḥadÄ«th studies since one of its key characteristics is applying an interdisciplinary approach to both ḥadÄ«th and ethics.
Approaching ḥadīth as a reference for ethics reflects the intensity of the ethical content contained in the Prophetic traditions and practices. To do so, one can distinguish between two levels of analysis. At the first level, the Prophetic Sunna is approached as a revealed reference or an exemplary application of the revelation. At the second level, the Sunna is approached as a historical reference for the ethics that prevailed in the formative period of Islamic history.
The mainstream position in Islamic history has held that declaring things and actions as good (taḥsÄ«n) or bad (taqbīḥ) should be premised on revelation, not on human intellect as claimed by the MuÊ¿tazila (Ê¿Abd al-JabbÄr 1960â1996, 6/1:7â8, 6/2:323; al-TaftÄzÄnÄ« 1998, 4:282â283; Hourani 1985, 57â66; Shihadeh 2016, 384â407). If this is the case, then it should have been the standard that the QurʾÄn and ḥadÄ«th are the sources of both legislation and ethics. Historical reality, however, shows such theorising in Islamic legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) and jurisprudence (fiqh) but not so much in the field of Islamic ethics, where the role of ḥadÄ«th or Sunna, like the QurʾÄn, has been marginalised in classical Islamic moral philosophy. Furthermore, Majid Fakhry (d. 2021), in his book Ethical Theories in Islam, and Muḥammad Ê¿Äbid al-JÄbirÄ« (d. 2010), in his book al-Ê¿Aql al-AkhlÄqÄ« l-Ê¿ArabÄ« (âThe Arabic Moral Reasonâ), introduced what were claimed to be comprehensive overviews of Islamic literature on ethics in the Islamic tradition (Fakhry 1991; al-JÄbirÄ« 2001), but ḥadÄ«th was, as clearly reflected in their works, absent in their overview of ethics in the Islamic tradition.
In contrast to the case of theoretical ethics, the practical and behavioural elements of the Prophetic ḥadÄ«th have received extensive attention by ḥadÄ«th scholars who have produced a vast genre, including the ethical aspects of Sunna. An extensive amount of ḥadÄ«th literature has also been dedicated to ÄdÄb (sing. adab, etiquettes and good manners) which have sometimes addressed professional ethics, such as the ÄdÄb of the narrator of ḥadÄ«th and the one who listens to him (ÄdÄb al-rÄwÄ« wa-l-sÄmiÊ¿), and the ÄdÄb of the senior and junior jurists (ÄdÄb al-faqÄ«h wa-l-mutafaqqih). Additionally, some books have focused on outlining good and bad character (maḥÄsin al-akhlÄq wa-masÄwiʾuhÄ), religious etiquettes (al-ÄdÄb al-sharÊ¿iyya), the etiquette of dealing with parents (birr al-wÄlidayn) and so forth. Other books are dedicated to the virtues and vices (al-faá¸Äʾil wa-l-radhÄʾil); books enlisting incentives to do good (targhÄ«b) and deterrents from doing evil (tarhÄ«b); books concerned with the branches of faith (shuÊ¿ab al-Ä«mÄn); books on virtues which vary according to persons, ages and times; and the Sufi literature on asceticism (zuhd), remembrance of God, supplication (ÄdÄb al-duÊ¿Äʾ), spiritual diseases of the heart (iÊ¿tilÄl al-qulÅ«b) and so on (al-KattÄnÄ« 1993, 50â60).
The six canonical collections of ḥadÄ«th also had specific chapters dedicated to the aḥÄdÄ«th on manners and ethics, whose total number reached more than 500 in the Sunan compiled by AbÅ« DÄwÅ«d (d. 275/888) and exceeded 600 in the á¹¢aḥīḥ of Ibn ḤibbÄn (d. 354/965) (al-ArnÄʾūṠand al-QayyÄm 1999, 1:8). Moreover, the ethics of the Prophet (akhlÄq al-nabÄ«) were the subject of dedicated books, such as AbÅ« l-Shaykhâs work (1998), or occupied segments in books on the biography of the Prophet, meant to provide the exemplary model of ethics to be followed.
This Book
Against this background, the majority of this volumeâs chapters originated from a seminar I convened on âḤadÄ«th and Ethics: Concepts, Approaches and Theoretical Foundations,â at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) between 30 April and 2 May 2019. This seminar complemented a previous initiative on âQurʾÄn and Ethicsâ within CILEâs broader vision, which seeks to canonise the field of Islamic ethics through two different methods: teaching and producing reference works that help to fill the gaps and theorise the field.2
This volume consists of 12 chapters that address the interplay of ḥadīth and ethics and contribute to examining ḥadīth-based ethics, which will hopefully inspire future studies to cover further aspects of this emerging field.
Broadly speaking, the chapters included in this volume cover five main aspects related to ḥadīth and ethics:
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a theoretical foundation for ḥadīth-based ethics as a scholarly sub-discipline of Islamic ethics (chapter 1);
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virtue ethics: noble virtues (makÄrim al-akhlÄq) and virtuous acts (faá¸Äʾil al-aÊ¿mÄl), covered by chapters 4 and 5;
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moral concepts (adab, taḥbīb, ʿuzla), covered by chapters 2, 6 and 7;
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ḥadīth-related sub-disciplines (ḥadīth transmission, gender ethics), covered by chapters 8 and 9; and
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foundational ḥadīths on ethics (the ḥadīth of intention, consult your heart, and other key ḥadīths), which are covered by chapters 3, 10 and 11.
These five sections offer various approaches to studying ethics in ḥadÄ«th works. Chapters 1 through 5 focus on the overarching framework to scriptural ethics. As is argued in chapter 2, ḥadÄ«th-based ethics âinitiated an epistemological shift in the understanding of adab; namely, that it had been informed solely by customary law and human knowledge but came to be seen as dictated by divine command and associated with religious sensitivity.â In chapter 3, examining specific key traditions is employed as one approach to study ethics in ḥadÄ«th. Chapter 4 on Ibn AbÄ« l-DunyÄ (d. 281/894) represents an attempt to establish a new field by Islamising common morality through ḥadÄ«th. In chapter 5, which takes the case of al-GhazÄlÄ« (d. 505/1111) and his commentators, the author examines what âḥadÄ«th-based ethicsâ means: is it only its attribution to the Prophet as long as it is about common knowledge of morality, or should it strictly follow the technicalities of authenticity as outlined in the ḥadÄ«th sciences?
Chapters 6â7 and 10â11 focus on discipline-based approaches where ethics is studied through (a) personal accounts: al-JÄ«lÄnÄ«âs (d. 561/1166) conception and practice of taḥbÄ«b, and al-NaÌbulusiÌâs (d. 1143/1731) conception and practice of seclusion, and (b) interdisciplinary approaches where individual ḥadÄ«ths are analysed through the lens of different disciplines, such as the ḥadÄ«ths: âdeeds are judged by intentionâ and âconsult your heart.â Chapters 8 and 9 especially focus on the role of interpretation in restoring the fundamental idea of ḥadÄ«h as deeply intertwined with ethics. Chapter 8, in particular, utilises a Derridean trace to present the quṣṣÄá¹£â (storytellers/preachers) impact on the Sunnaâs transmission to the wider Muslim community. Meanwhile chapter 9 addresses âconflicting ḥadÄ«thsâ (mukhtalif al-ḥadÄ«th) in searching for egalitarian gender ethics.
Chapter 12 can be considered as an appendix in which a classification of the key primary sources in the Islamic tradition that are relevant to the field of ḥadīth and ethics are presented in the form of an annotated bibliography.
After outlining the key ideas and approaches examined in this volume and the rationale of combining them together in one work, below, I provide a more elaborate overview of each chapter:
In chapter 1, âḤadÄ«th-based Ethics: ḤadÄ«th as a Scholarly Sub-Discipline of Islamic Ethics,â Mutaz al-Khatib lays out the foundations for ḥadÄ«th-based ethics as a sub-discipline in Islamic ethics. This chapter provides the theoretical ground for the following chapters that tackle some of the issues in this emerging field. It reveals the value of ḥadÄ«th as a corpus on ethics, conceptualises âḥadÄ«th-based ethics,â classifies relevant works, and defines the key themes and issues in this emerging discipline.
In chapter 2, âḤadÄ«th and the Concept of Adab as Moral Education,â Nuha Alshaar treats the interaction between ḥadÄ«th and the concept of âadab,â historically a term with wide semantic meanings. Adab here is dealt with primarily as knowledge, an ethical call to action, and, especially, as a required form of training for those aspiring to maintain good manners, proper etiquette, and cleanse the soul.
In chapter 3, âal-AḥÄdÄ«th al-Kulliyya: Min al-AḥkÄm al-Tafṣīliyya ilÄ al-QawÄÊ¿id wa-l-MabÄdiʾ al-AkhlÄqiyyaâ (âBeyond AḥÄdÄ«th al-AḥkÄm: From Detailed Rulings to Ethical Fundamentals and Principlesâ), Mutaz al-Khatib argues that the ḥadÄ«th corpus comprises of key traditions that can serve as proper foundations for approaching ḥadÄ«th literature as a repository of ethics, and where the focus will move: (a) from studying individual traditions to examining the overall governing system of ḥadÄ«th; and (b) from the mono-disciplinary approach where fiqh is dominant, to an interdisciplinary approach where fiqh is one part of a much larger whole. The main part of this chapter analyses the key ḥadÄ«ths categorised by ḥadÄ«th scholars, including AbÅ« DÄwÅ«d (d. 275/888), Ibn al-á¹¢alÄḥ (d. 643/1245), al-NawawÄ« (d. 676/1277) and others, such as jawÄmiÊ¿ al-kalim or those upon which the edifice of the Islamic tradition is constructed (al-aḥÄdÄ«th allatÄ« Ê¿alayhÄ madÄr al-islÄm).
In chapter 4, âal-ḤÄfiẠIbn AbÄ« l-DunyÄ wa-l-TaʾsÄ«s li-AkhlÄqiyyÄt al-MakÄrimâ (âIbn AbÄ« l-DunyÄ and the Formation of the Ethics of Noble Deedsâ), Chafik Graiguer argues that Ibn AbÄ« l-DunyÄâs work can be seen as an attempt to establish a ḥadÄ«th-based ethics where makÄrim al-akhlÄq refers to: human dignity, murūʾa (which contains a set of values in Arab pre-Islamic morality) and rationality. Ibn AbÄ« l-DunyÄâs work also addresses faá¸Äʾil, hence the ethics in Ibn AbÄ« l-DunyÄâs work are scriptural, in terms of form, and rational, in terms of content and sources.
In chapter 5, âNarrations on Virtuous Acts in Epitomes of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs IḥyÄʾ: From Ibn al-JawzÄ«âs MinhÄj al-QÄá¹£idÄ«n to its Reception in Modernity,â Pieter Coppens focuses on the reception of the IḥyÄʾ in the ḤanbalÄ« circles of Baghdad and Damascus, with the epitomes of Ibn al-JawzÄ« (d. 597/1201) and Ibn QudÄma (d. 689/1290) at its centre. He argues that their criticism of al-GhazÄlÄ«âs use of unreliable ḥadÄ«th in matters related to virtuous acts (faá¸Äʾil al-aÊ¿mÄl) was among their main motivations for composing their texts.
In chapter 6, âḤadÄ«th and Sufism in Ethical Discourse: Exploring Ê¿Abd al-QÄdir al-JÄ«lÄnÄ«âs Conception of TaḥbÄ«b,â Salahudheen Kozhithodi and Khairil Husaini Bin Jamil delve into the ḥadÄ«th al-taḥbÄ«b which reads: âI was made to love (ḥubbiba ilay) from your world; women and perfume, and I found the coolness of my eyes in the prayer.â They argue for the intertwinement of ḥadÄ«th and Sufism as a mechanism for ethical discourse where Sufi ethics claim a scriptural foundation, as evident in the scholarship of Ê¿Abd al-QÄdir al-JÄ«lÄnÄ« (d. 561/1166).
In chapter 7, âSeclusion: An Ethical Imperative Driven by the ḤadÄ«th,â Mohammed Imran Khan explores Ê¿Abd al-GhaniÌ l-NaÌbulusiÌâs (d. 1143/1730) seclusion (Ê¿uzla) in light of some of the moral and social dilemmas of associating with others. He argues that al-NaÌbulusiÌâs concern for seclusion is justified by the ḥadÄ«th traditions, and it is moral outrage which compels al-NaÌbulusiÌ to write the tract as an ethical defence of his actions.
In chapter 8, âThe Ethical in the Transmission of Sunna: Rethinking the Ê¿UlamÄʾ-QuṣṣÄá¹£ Conflict,â Safwan Amir argues that the oft-neglected quṣṣÄá¹£ (storyteller-preacher) played a vital role in directly conveying the Sunna to the larger public. He suggests that the quṣṣÄá¹£ not only provide us with alternative histories to how knowledge was transmitted, taught, and realised in the Islamic tradition, but they also restore the fundamental idea of the ḥadÄ«th as deeply intertwined with the ethical.
In chapter 9, âAbÅ« Shuqqaâs Approach to ḤadÄ«th: Towards an Egalitarian Islamic Gender Ethics,â Faqihuddin Abdul Kodir tackles the question of how ḥadÄ«ths have been reinterpreted to explain Islamic egalitarian gender ethics, through an analysis of Ê¿Abd al-ḤalÄ«m Muḥammad AbÅ« Shuqqaâs (d. 1995) TaḥrÄ«r al-Marʾa fÄ« Ê¿Aá¹£r al-RisÄla: DirÄsa Ê¿an al-Marʾa JÄmiÊ¿a li-Nuṣūṣ al-QurʾÄn wa-á¹¢aḥīḥay al-BukhÄrÄ« wa-Muslim (âThe Liberation of Women at the Time of the Message: A Study on Women Composed of QurʾÄnic Texts, and the á¹¢aḥīḥs of al-BukhÄrÄ« and Muslimâ).
In chapter 10, âIslamic Ethics and the ḤadÄ«th of Intention,â Ali Altaf Mian contextualises âthe ḥadÄ«th of intentionâ in order to demonstrate, in part, the salience of ḥadÄ«th texts as important sources for the study of Islamic ethics. He relates this ḥadÄ«th to three broader themes in Islamic ethics. In doing so, he problematises the binary of the inner (bÄá¹in) and outer (áºÄhir) and highlights the social dimensions of intention through the illustration of migration, which signals the public â and not merely private â nature of intentions. The chapter also considers the multiple valences of intention in everyday Muslim religiosity.
In chapter 11, âConsult Your Heart: The Self as a Source of Moral Judgment,â Mutaz al-Khatib explores the authority of the heart (qalb) as a potential locus of individual moral knowledge and normativity in Islamic ethics. To do so, he discusses two ḥadÄ«ths that ostensibly suggest that oneâs âselfâ is a potential source of the moral judgment. He argues that although the Islamic legal tradition, as a discipline, has focused on qualified external actions of individuals and the ijtihÄd (independent legal reasoning) of mujtahids (jurists), it did not ignore the authority of the bÄá¹in over moral evaluation and the ijtihÄd of common individuals (ijtihÄd al-mukallafÄ«n).
In chapter 12, âMuá¹£annafÄt al-MuḥaddithÄ«n fÄ« l-AkhlÄq: KashshÄf AwwalÄ«â (âThe Compendia of the Scholars of ḤadÄ«th on Ethics: A Preliminary Surveyâ), Mutaz al-Khatib presents a chronological bibliography of the key primary sources in the Islamic tradition with relevance to understanding the interplay of ḥadÄ«th and ethics. The bibliography is preceded by an analytical introduction. This addition to the volume is meant to serve as a tool for future researchers to benefit from and build upon.
Although this volume is meant to provide theoretical foundations and insights about the study of ḥadīth as a crucial and rich source of Islamic ethics, there is a further thematic focus shared by various chapters, i.e., ethical subjectivity and relevant concepts such as intention, seclusion, noble virtues, taḥbīb, and consulting the heart.
The last editorial note I want to make here is that I have decided to pursue a systematic referencing to ḥadÄ«th (takhrÄ«j) and that is by referring to the book (kitÄb) and the chapter (bÄb). The purpose of that is not just for technical benefit and following the traditionistsâ method but also to highlight the thematic relevance and the moral argument behind each title if any.
Finally, I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. I am also grateful to the CILE research assistants Sara Abdelghany, Rana Tahir and Yara Abdelbasset, as well as our MA students in Applied Islamic Ethics, Rasha Bader and Ibrahim Alledawi who helped me during the final step of this very long journey which started with a call-for-papers, followed by the submission of proposals of rough ideas about the seminar, revising the chapters several times, up until this publication. My gratitude also goes to all my colleagues working at CILE who helped and supported me through the ups and downs throughout the journey. Profound thanks and gratitude are due to my wife, Sawsan, whose dedicated support throughout the project was crucial. The last word is preserved for our newborn, Yaman, whose presence in our life, despite all the great noise he makes, was a great source of inspiration.
Bibliography
Ê¿Abd al-JabbÄr, AbÅ« l-Ḥasan. 1960â1996. Al-MughnÄ« fÄ« AbwÄb al-Tawḥīd wa-l-Ê¿Adl, edited by MaḥmÅ«d Muḥammad QÄsim, revised by IbrÄhÄ«m MadkÅ«r, and supervised by ṬÄhÄ á¸¤usayn. Cairo: al-DÄr al-Miá¹£riyya lil-TaʾlÄ«f wa-l-Tarjama.
AbÅ« l-Shaykh, Ê¿Abd AllÄh. 1998. AkhlÄq al-Nabiyy wa-ÄdÄbuh, edited by á¹¢Äliḥ b. Muḥammad al-WaniyyÄn. Riyad: DÄr al-Muslim.
al-ArnÄʾūá¹, ShuÊ¿ayb and Ê¿Umar al-QayyÄm Ibn Mufliḥ. 1999. âMuqaddimat al-TaḥqÄ«q.â In Al-ÄdÄb al-SharÊ¿iyya, by Ibn Mufliḥ. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-RisÄla.
Ê¿AwwÄma, Muḥammad. 2007. Athar al-ḤadÄ«th al-SharÄ«f fÄ« KhtilÄf al-Aʾimma al-FuqahÄʾ. Medina: DÄr al-Yusr.
Burton, John. 1994. An Introduction to the Hadith. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Fakhry, Majid. 1991. Ethical Theories in Islam. Leiden: Brill.
Hourani, George. 1985. Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
al-JÄbirÄ«, Muḥammad Ê¿Äbid. 2001. Al-Ê¿Aql al-AkhlÄqÄ« l-Ê¿ArabÄ«. Beirut: Markaz DirÄsÄt al-Wiḥda al-Ê¿Arabiyya.
al-KattÄnÄ«, Muḥammad b. JaÊ¿far. 1993. Al-RisÄla al-Mustaá¹rafa li-BayÄn MashhÅ«r Kutub al-Sunna al-Musharrafa. Beirut: DÄr al-BashÄʾir al-IslÄmiyya.
al-Khatib, Mutaz, ed. 2017. Thematic Issue: Qurʾan and Ethics. Journal of Islamic Ethics 1(1â2).
Shihadeh, Ayman. 2016. âTheories of Ethical Value in Kalam: A New Interpretation.â In The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology, edited by Sabine Schmidtke, 384â407. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
al-TaftÄzÄnÄ«, SaÊ¿d al-DÄ«n. 1998. Sharḥ al-MaqÄá¹£id, edited by Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn Ê¿Umayra. Beirut: Ê¿Älam al-Kutub.
For example, in Athar al-ḤadÄ«th fÄ« KhtilÄf al-FuqahÄʾ (âThe Role of ḤadÄ«th in the Disagreement between Muslim Juristsâ), Muḥammad Ê¿AwwÄma quotes texts that reflect early arguments between fuqahÄʾ and muḥaddithÅ«n (traditionists) on the relationship between fiqh (jurisprudence) and ḥadÄ«th. Likewise, John Burton discusses the impact of ḥadÄ«th on the formation of Islamic knowledge historically. While he specifically underscores the political and theological dimensions, he neglects the ethical dimension (see Ê¿AwwÄma 2007; Burton 1994).
In January 2015, I dedicated one of the CILE international seminars to the theme of âQurʾÄn and Ethicsâ and its proceedings were published as a thematic issue in the Journal of Islamic Ethics (al-Khatib 2017).