A Foundational Ethical Disagreement with Kuffar and Modernists
Sometimes you hear pluralist kuffar say things like, “All religions teach the same thing: do not harm people, be good to your neighbor, etc. All religions are, in their essence, saying the same thing.”You also hear modernists say things like, “Islam emphasizes broad universal moral principles such as justice, and it is up to us to contextualize what constitutes justice in different eras and regions.”
What these kuffar get wrong is that mere agreement on universal moral principles (e.g. justice, promoting virtue, criminalizing or discouraging evil, etc.) is hardly impressive when people disagree on the particular interpretations and applications of those universal principles. In fact, Islam’s uniqueness is in how detailed it is in providing specific moral guidance on the universal ethical principles that it espouses. Just as Imam al-Ghazali and Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah and other scholars have emphasized, revelation is required to provide specific guidance on how to best understand and apply these universal moral principles. This is one of Islam’s unique strong points visa vi other religions which leave their followers in the dark on how to address and approach certain ethical quagmires.
Modernists are committing the unspeakable theological crime of stripping Islam of its uniqueness by rendering its essence no different to any other religion or ideology, thereby transforming it to a belief system which espouses vague moral principles.
No, Islam is not like any other religion; and no, Islam has many particular interpretations of its universal moral principles that are permanently in place until the Day of Judgment. This should be a source of pride for us Muslims.
A Foundational Ethical Disagreement with Kuffar and Modernists
Sometimes you hear pluralist kuffar say things like, “All religions teach the same thing: do not harm people, be good to your neighbor, etc.
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