Dr. Ali Sharaf's Presentation at the Conference
For those interested, the videos and abstracts of the English sessions of the conference are uploaded:
*Presentation Title: Islamic Ethics as Moral Phenomenology
*Presenter: Ali Sharaf (Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait)
The Islamic tradition is rich with a vast corpus of texts dedicated to ethical considerations, leading some scholars to assert that Islam's ultimate goal is ethical in nature. While it is undeniably true that Islam contains a substantial body of material addressing moral teachings, it lacks a comprehensive theory of moral philosophy that systematically and critically analyzes moral values and principles. Consequently, scholars have noted this absence of a structured moral philosophy in the primary Islamic sources. This observation has prompted diverse responses within Islamic scholarship to address the apparent gap in a rigorous moral philosophy. This paper explores how Islamic moral teachings, viewed as a form of moral phenomenology, offer a distinct perspective on ethics. It discusses scholars' responses to Islam's lack of a clear moral philosophy, defines "moral phenomenology," critiques existing Islamic ethical theories, highlights the importance of intention in Islamic teachings, and argues that Islamic moral teachings should be understood through a moral phenomenological lens, emphasizing individual perception and mental states in determining ethical value.