Moral Visions in Medieval Muslim Interpretations of Sūra 102 Al-Takāthur: Warnings against Pride, Wealth, or Pleasure?

This article focuses on sūra 102 al-Takāthur of the Qur’ān which addresses those preoccupied with al-takāthur (competition for superiority in number, or accumulation of wealth), warning them of the punishment of Hell in the Hereafter and of their interrogation about al-na‘īm (the worldly pleasures) on the Day of Judgement. The grave eschatological implications of engaging in al-takāthur and al-na‘īm, conveyed in this sūra, have triggered attempts by Muslim scholars to determine the intended meanings of these notions and the scope of their reference. This article examines the interpretations of al-takāthur and al-na‘īm in medieval commentaries on sūra al-Takāthur with the aim of identifying and analysing various interpretative trends regarding these two notions and exploring their connection with the moral orientations among Muslims in the medieval period of Islamic history.

Moral Value and Commercial Gain

This paper presents three theoretical accounts developed to assess the moral value and legal status of acts designed to promote commercial gain in the thought of major classical Muslim scholars. There has been an increased interest in Islamic commercial law and ethics in recent years. Much of the recent scholarship consists of practically inclined studies that tend to lump the Islamic tradition of evaluation of commerce under the principles of social justice and avoidance of harm. Our study of three selected scholars will reveal distinct approaches that are characteristic of classical Islamic ethical discussions: anchoring moral value in this world, attributing moral goodness to salvation in the next world, and finding a balance between these two approaches. Counterintuitively, we will see that the naturalistic view that ascribes moral values to things and actions was the most restrictive, whereas the dualistic model that focuses on salvation in the next world was markedly more permissive of commercial transactions.

Legal Construction of the Buginese Understanding

This article investigates the relevance of values of Bugis culture dan Muslim Scholars' views in Bugis Quranic exegesis by MUI of South Sulawesi. This research uses a content analysis approach to the Bugis Quranic exegesis. Bugis Muslims scholars' views about women's rights (opportunity) to be public leaders, iddah, and inheritance distribution are relevant to core values of Bugis culture and local wisdom of Bugis people. To be public leaders, women never mind as long as they fulfill qualitative and functional criteria. In household affairs, a married couple is a partnership where both have responded to do together. 'Iddah stress to religious principle and culture of siri' (self-respect), paccing (purity), asitinajang (fairness). Inheritance distribution does relate to the right and responsibility to realize equality and justice. Muslim scholars' of Bugis have the expertise to deliver values of Bugis culture, and explanatory is not only explicitly, but also implicitly and inherently. The Quran and local wisdom are two values integrated into giving solutions to people. Therefore, the integration between local wisdom relevant to the teachings of Islam (the Koran) undertaken by the ulama will undoubtedly be more effective.

Muhammad dan Orisinalitas Al-Quran dalam Pandangan Abraham Geiger

Among the interest in the study of Muhammad and the Quran was born from the Orientalists. Including the Orientalists who were very influential on this study was Abraham Geiger. From this research, it is found that Geiger has a view that tends to be contrary to that of Muslim scholars in general. Where Geiger views that Muhammad was someone who had tried to bring up the Quran because it was influenced by the Jewish culture that already existed in the Arab region at that time. Geigers opinion is based on several facts that he put forward, which include: When Muhammad carried out his mission in Medina, Muhammad was dealing with Jews who had long had a strong influence on the local community and Muhammad had close relations with Jews. in the area. This fact is then reinforced by Geigers findings in the Qur'an which are indicated to be taken from the Jewish tradition, such as the discovery of 14 vocabulary words of the Koran which tend to be the same as Jewish dogma, the discovery of doctrinal concepts that indicate the adaptation of the Qur'an from the Jews. and the stories in the Koran that tend to be in line with Jewish teachings.

Reason and Ethics and an Islamic Reformation

The fourth chapter argues that the Shi‘i claim that the moral value of an act can be known objectively enables a jurist to deduce new injunctions based on moral rationalist considerations. The chapter also maintains that legal determinations based on rational and ethical considerations can empower a jurist to legislate on topics that are congruent with the views of the people of sound mind. It further demonstrates that disregarding the role of ethics in legal deliberations has led to the inference and issuance of iniquitous statements by the very scholars who uphold the Islamic ethical and legal tradition. In order to make Islamic jurisprudence more ethical, Muslim scholars will have to incorporate principles like justice, dignity, and judgments of reason (‘aql) in their legal deliberations so that these principles play more central and decisive roles in determining how the sources are interpreted and applied.

THE THE CONCEPT OF “HAPPINESS” IN THE WORKS OF AL-FARABI AND THE RELIGIONS OF ISLAM

In this article, we will try to study deeply about the concept of “happiness” based on religious concepts in the Arab-Muslim society and to determine the notion of “happiness”. Analyzing the foundational and theoretical significance of the concept of “happiness” in Islam, quoting from the texts of the Quran and Hadith, thereby we explained the meaning of “happiness” and its role. Also, the article presents the views of Kazakhstani and Arab-Muslim scholars’ about “happiness”. We use methods of comparative theoretical research of the “happiness” concept. According to the verses of the Quran and Hadith in Islam, a Muslim must not only learn and practice in this life but also pray to Allah in the hope of achieving endless happiness in his future life. Believers trust in a new life that begins after worldly life, that is, an eternal life, and they believe real-life and infinite happiness will be found only in the future. In religious texts, the eternal soul is happy only with the sounds of eternal happiness. Hereby, a religious person knows that material happiness cannot make him happy totally.