Sami Al Daghistani
Researcher
On Creation, Nature, and the Ethical Self: a Comparative Analysis of Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī : عن الخَلق والطبيعة والذات الأخلاقية: تحليلٌ مقارنٌ لأفكار إخوانِ الصفاء والراغبِ الأصفهانيّ وأبي حامد الغزالي
Author
Summary, in English
In this paper, I examine ideas on creation, nature, and the ethical self as conceptual-
ized by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Brethren of Purity, fl. ca. 350–369/961–980) and al-Rāghib
al-Iṣfahānī (d. before 409/1018), with a particular focus on Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī
(d. 505/1111). Drawing from the classical scholarship on kalā m, taṣawwuf, and falsafa,
I analyze texts by these ethicists who wrote on nature and the role of the human as
part of their ethical understanding of the universe as a means to achieve salvation in
the Hereafter. By cross-referencing the abovementioned classical scholars and their
ideas, I ask how nature is conceptualized in the classical Islamic tradition as part of
the divine creation and how closely it was conceived in relation to obtaining a virtu-
ous character. Looking at these three figures who show a degree of cross-influence,
indicates that these scholars wrote on creation and nature from an integrative per-
spective, encompassing theological, philosophical, and cosmological questions as
ethical concerns. Reading these scholars presupposes that nature was not separated
from other domains but rather amalgamated in a web of approaches and movements
that addressed, for instance, the creation of the cosmos and its conservation based on
a utilitarian perspective that was nonetheless ingrained in a metaphysical understand-
ing of the universe. In a similar vein, this paper invites us to rethink the contempo-
rary designations of nature/environment as a monovalent concept, encapsulated in a
particular division of sciences as it appeared in modern Europe, and hence welcomes
a critical take on the current debates on environmental sustainability as a common
ethical concern.
عن الخَلق والطبيعة والذات الأخلاقية: تحليلٌ مقارنٌ لأفكار إخوانِ الصفاء والراغبِ الأصفهانيّ وأبي حامد الغزالي
ized by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Brethren of Purity, fl. ca. 350–369/961–980) and al-Rāghib
al-Iṣfahānī (d. before 409/1018), with a particular focus on Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī
(d. 505/1111). Drawing from the classical scholarship on kalā m, taṣawwuf, and falsafa,
I analyze texts by these ethicists who wrote on nature and the role of the human as
part of their ethical understanding of the universe as a means to achieve salvation in
the Hereafter. By cross-referencing the abovementioned classical scholars and their
ideas, I ask how nature is conceptualized in the classical Islamic tradition as part of
the divine creation and how closely it was conceived in relation to obtaining a virtu-
ous character. Looking at these three figures who show a degree of cross-influence,
indicates that these scholars wrote on creation and nature from an integrative per-
spective, encompassing theological, philosophical, and cosmological questions as
ethical concerns. Reading these scholars presupposes that nature was not separated
from other domains but rather amalgamated in a web of approaches and movements
that addressed, for instance, the creation of the cosmos and its conservation based on
a utilitarian perspective that was nonetheless ingrained in a metaphysical understand-
ing of the universe. In a similar vein, this paper invites us to rethink the contempo-
rary designations of nature/environment as a monovalent concept, encapsulated in a
particular division of sciences as it appeared in modern Europe, and hence welcomes
a critical take on the current debates on environmental sustainability as a common
ethical concern.
عن الخَلق والطبيعة والذات الأخلاقية: تحليلٌ مقارنٌ لأفكار إخوانِ الصفاء والراغبِ الأصفهانيّ وأبي حامد الغزالي
Department/s
- Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
- Islamic Studies
- MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
Publishing year
2025-02-26
Language
English
Pages
1-23
Publication/Series
Journal of Islamic Ethics
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Brill
Topic
- Ethics
Status
Epub
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 2468-5534