An Introduction to the Scientific Authority of the Qur’an in Ethics
Firouz Mehr, Mohammad Mahdi
Assistant professor, Department of Interpretation (of the Qur’an), Research Center for Qur’anic Sciences and Culture, Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy, Qom, Iran.
Keywords
Scientific Authority, The Qur’an, Ethics
Problem Statement
The general principle of the scientific authority of the Holy Qur’an and the necessity of referring to the Qur’an in the individual and social life of a person, regardless of its scope and domain, are certain principles of Islam. The scientific authority of the Qur’an in science means that the Qur’an is effective in different areas of sciences, including their foundations, goals, problems, methods and results. Clearly, there is no codified form of any science, even the most religious science in the Qur’an. Therefore, the effectiveness of the Qur’an in sciences depends on what science and what level and layer of science can be affected by the Qur’an. Because one of the most important goals of the revelation of the Qur’an is to reform and complete people’s morals. Therefore, one of the subjects that needs to be studied is the scientific authority of the Qur’an in ethics to show how and at what level the Qur’an is effective in ethics.
Primary and Secondary Questions
The present book seeks to answer this primary question: “What is the authority of the Qur’an in ethics?” A question that leads to other sub-questions including, what are the types of scientific authority of the Qur’an in ethics? What are the methods of understanding the ethical propositions of the Qur’an? What is the scientific authority of the Qur’an in the foundations of ethics? What is the scientific authority of the Qur’an in the goals and objectives of ethics?
Objectives
- Showing the scientific authority of the Qur’an in ethics.
- Showing the types of scientific authority of the Qur’an at different levels of ethics.
- Identifying and introducing the methods of understanding the ethical propositions of the Qur’an.
Method
The research method in this book is descriptive and inferential according to the subject.
Structure
The book “an introduction to the scientific authority of the Qur’an in ethics” consists of five chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the examination of general overview, concepts, and terms, and in the second chapter, the types of scientific authority of the Qur’an in ethics, such as inferential authority, inductive authority, exhaustive authority, juridical authority, and attitudinal and insightful authority, are briefly dealt with. In the third chapter, as an example of Qur’an authority in ethics, the method of understanding moral propositions from the Qur’an has been examined. Ethical propositions in the Qur’an are in three formats: informative propositions, compositional propositions and propositions that use divine approval and disapproval. The fourth chapter deals with the authority of the Qur’an in the principles of ethics, and finally, the fifth chapter discusses the authority of the Qur’an in the goals and objectives of ethics.
Novelty
The books compiled under the title of ethics in the Qur’an and similar ones were an attempt to reflect what is said about ethics in this revelatory text. In this research, without extracting all the topics and issues of ethics, an attempt has been made to examine the principle of authority of the Qur’an at different levels of ethics, such as principles, goals, and propositions, and to show the different types of effects of this revelatory text on ethics.
Results
The most important finding of this research is that, the Qur’an is the authority of ethics and its authority is in different types. One can extract the different levels of ethics, from its principles to the goals, methods and propositions directly from the Qur’an and in this way the Qur’an-oriented ethics can be organized. The authority of the Qur’an in ethics is not limited to its source. In some cases, the elements of ethics cannot be deduced directly from the Qur’an; Rather, the total teachings of the Qur’an inspire some components of ethics, and sometimes the Qur’an is in the position of judging and judges about various levels of structured sciences, including ethics that has been formed from other sources. Various theories that have been formed about ethics and in ethics itself can be submitted to the Qur’an and validated. As the Qur’an can be a reference for the perfection of structured sciences, including ethics, and it can fix its shortcomings and deepen it. In addition, the impact of the Qur’an’s insight and orientation in ethics is very significant. This study shows that ethical propositions in the Qur’an are presented in the form of informative propositions, compositional propositions, and propositions that can be inferred from divine approval and disapproval.