When I give lectures on Japanese culture in Turkey, I often receive the following question: “How are the Japanese so moral when they have no religion?” Continue reading Why I Translated al-Sulami’s ‘Futuwwa’ Into Japanese
Serving as a continuation of the series on “7 Deadly Modern Sins and Misunderstandings,” this second section focuses on a less analytical issue: the idea of misjudging ethical prioritization. As in, who do we, at a threshold level, owe moral respect and obligations to, and how do we prioritize these obligations towards our friends, family, community, and spouses? Continue reading 7 Modern Deadly Sins and Misunderstandings: Exclusivity and Priority
In any given society, there are certain common sense moralisms ingrained within that culture. Certain aspects of ethical life and sentiments may be universal in nature and span multiple countries and continents, as part of a generalized weltanschauung. Yet, the particular way in which that ethic is practiced is always subject to cultural conditions and specifics. The key part to this common-sense morality is that you do not think much about these things: they are simply the immediate ethical context one engages with and considers as obvious. As a result, one of the main arenas where we see a stark shift from pre-modern to modern societies, and from religious to liberal societies, is in ethical sentiments and “common sense.” Continue reading 7 Modern Deadly Sins and Misunderstandings: Inequality
If we do not have moral boundaries that transcend our egoic selves, and also do not put in consistent work methodologically, we cannot expect healing or growth from life experience alone. Continue reading Experience Isn’t Enough
At the Cop26 conference in Glasgow on November 10, 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I genuinely believe that the UK is not remotely a corrupt country.” This was in response to the furor surrounding the latest allegations of sleaze, following the resignation of former British cabinet minister Owen Paterson. Mr. Paterson had used his position and office to earn a total of £500,000 by lobbying for two corporations, which the Standards Committee described as “an egregious case of paid advocacy”. [1] Johnson’s comments addressed public outcry over Conservative MPs voting to prevent Mr. Paterson’s 30-day suspension for breaking parliamentary rules, as well as to change the procedures for how MPs are taken to task.
This latest controversy struck at the very heart of the UK’s system of government and the ethical base of Western liberal democracies. Johnson argued that liberal democracy is the best system of government because of its moral grounding. [2] Abuses of authority, in cases such as that of Owen Paterson and the parliamentary vote in his favour, undermine the moral foundations of this system that the UK government claims to follow. Continue reading The Corrupt British Parliament and the Umayyad Caliph ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz – A Comparison
In early September, the nation’s strictest abortion law went into effect in Texas . . . Among the controversy that has ensued since, self-identifying American liberals responded by making comparisons to the Taliban, the sharīa, and Islam. Continue reading Sharia and the Texas Abortion Law
One of the most common replies that anyone who expresses a call to Islamic morality receives is “you can’t impose your beliefs on others!” This accusation is way off base for a number of reasons. Continue reading Preaching, Morality, and Salvation
Lorsqu’il est question de la loi islamique, en particulier dans un contexte propice à la polémique, elle est habituellement abordé d’un angle moral ou pratique. Continue reading L’aspect esthétique de la loi islamique
Incommensurability, the idea that there is no rational method to weigh claims between two conceptual frameworks, is a core feature of morality today and the source for moral confusion. Continue reading Scientific Naturalism and the Abortion Debate
Why has modernity catalyzed so many changes and why are they so pervasive? To answer this, we must first define modernity and then analyze its effects. Continue reading Traversing Tradition: Exploring the Foundations
