Islamic Ethics

For:

• Those who wish to join the course of Islamic Ethics Knowledge seekers and anyone interested in Islamic studies.

Course Aims:

• Acquire knowledge and develop an understanding of the diseases of the heart, examine their causes, their signs and symptoms, and how to treat them.

The Learning Outcomes:

• The meaning of Islamic ethics and its role and terms
• The diseases of the heart, examine their causes and their signs
• Purification of the Hearts

The Learning Activities will include:

• Engaging in workshops
• Presentations
• Note-taking

Resources:

• The main resource for all aspects of the course are handouts, which will be given.

End of the course:

• Certificate of completion of the course provides evidence for the basic knowledge of Islamic Ethics. It supports advanced other Islamic Ethics courses

Course Outline

Week 1:

Introduction to ethics in Islam

1. Definitions of ethics

2. The status of ethics in Islam

3. The role of ethics in Islam

4. Ethics relationship with the creed

5. Ethics relationship with fiqh

6. Ethics relationship with pillars of Islam

Week 2:

Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart

Week 3:

The most important and prominent diseases and the outcomes of decline or absence of ethics in individuals and society

Week 4:

Purification of the Hearts and Self-Purification (tazkiyat al-nafs)

Week 5:

The root vices that demand purification begin with gluttony, excess in sexual desire, desire for excessive speech, strong anger, envy, rancor, love of the world, love of wealth, miserliness, love of influence, ostentation, pride, conceit, and delusion.

Week 6:

The love of the reprehensible world (al-dunya almadhmumah). The disease of ostentation (riya’), pride (kibr) and conceit (`ujb). Delusions (ghurur). These distructive maladies (muhlikat).

Week 7:

The Merit of Good Character/ The Demerit of Bad Character and The Reality of Good Manners

Week 8:

1. The most important and prominent ethics

2. The origins for ethics in Islam

3. The issue of cultural relativism

4. How to find the right sheikh or spiritual guide?