نشریه اخلاق وحیانی
سال سوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 5، پاییز و زمستان 1392)

The Holy Quran has made the call to obedience to Allah its central call. Similarly, the doctrine of obedience has as prominent a position as it does in Islam in the religion of Hinduism generally, and in some of its denominations specifically. Moreover, obedience to the truth can be taken as the most comprehensive ethical principle. Therefore, the comparative study of this concept which is also accepted and emphasized by the Quran can provide a universal basis for ethics. The present study is an attempt to put forth a basis for a universal Divine ethics by pondering this fundamental doctrine. To this end, this substantial principle has been subjected to a case study in two great religions from the main types of world religions.

According to our religious teachings, the Quran is the book of guidance and salvation for mankind, thus, its immediate audience is also the mankind. Of course, its domain of influence is not restricted to mankind only since if mankind, who has become competent and worthy of the Dignitate Homenis, executes his Divine and humane obligations properly, not only he himself will find ultimate perfection, but many other beings will also benefit from the effects of this Revealed Book through him; this is because of the fact that an abundance of damages done to the natural world have been the consequences of mankind’s ill-treatment of the natural environment. Therefore, considering the unique stance of mankind in the creation- as he enjoys the Divine Laws and he has also become worthy of the reception of the Revealed Laws- the present study seeks to demonstrate that two of the most fundamental ethical principles are “moderation” and “temperance”, through making use of the religious texts, and in particular the holy Quran. The claim here is that if mankind, whose basic nature and structure is based on moderation, finds his ultimate form, then, in light of this biological and moral principle, not only he himself will find felicity- which is an ultimate human ideal- but also other beings (including his own kind and the rest of his inferior beings) will be protected from moral and environmental harms.

The close relationship between the two issues of “religion” and “ethics”, which share a lot of common propositions, is among the issues that have been given serious attention by intellectuals and scholars. In this article, to prevent from confusing the issues, first what is really meant by the terms “religion” and “ethics” has been clarified and, then, the relationship between “religion” and “ethics” has been demonstrated in four levels which are as follows: Level 1: Content relationshipLevel 2: The relationship due to one of these issue’s validity, authority and basis being dependent on the other in this regard;Level 3: The mutual assistance of religion and ethics to each other’s implementation and external realization regardless of the previous two levels;Level 4: The assistance they give each other in the identification of each other’s scope and content The separation of these levels will help a great deal to reach a better understanding of the relationship between “religion” and “ethics”, an issue which is addressed in this paper.

The study of ethics in Abrahamic religions is among the undertakings that will greatly assist us in the understanding of the cultural commonalities of the religions. Meanwhile, studying the resources and characteristics of ethics in Judaism which is considered as the earliest Abrahamic religion is of great significance and importance. In the present research paper, first the principle end in Jewish ethics, i.e. theomorphy, has been reviewed. Moreover, the characteristics of Jewish Ethics have also been discussed as they can help us in conducting a comparative study of Jewish ethics and other ethical schools. The most important of these characteristics are broadness, pragmatism, ethnocentrism, and the absence of a coherent draft of the topics. Finally, the most important references of the Jewish ethical propositions will be revisited as they are the origin of the classification of different historical eras of Jewish ethics. Among these resources, the “Bible” and “Talmud” have been given more emphasis and attention.

Ethics in Zoroastrianism has a strong bond with the nature of existence. In Zoroastrian religion, Ahura Mazda’s absolute authority in the world and the salvation of mankind is dependent upon mankind’s ethical life. Accordingly, this ideal must be realized in different aspects of human life by the observance of all that is considered as beliefs, rituals and rites. Human beings, in whatever position and rank they may be, must try at their full capacity, while observing ethics, to house AmeshaSpenta in themselves and to purify the world which has been contaminated by the Demon (Ahriman) and to annihilate the Demon. Having a sound heart accompanied by a faith based on an immense knowledge is to be treasured much more than the outward behavior. Human beings can pave the way for their moral development by seeking assistance with wisdom that is accompanied by freewill. It is noteworthy that the Demon can be a serious obstacle to human beings’ achieving perfection by damaging their wisdom and the destiny that is decided for them.

With an axiological and normative approach, all voluntary and volitional actions of human beings are governed, with no exceptions, by ethical rules and norms and, thus, quite inevitably, they will be consistent with one of the dual types of affirmative or negative obligations (the “Dos” and “Don’ts” of the practical intellect) or the third type (the neutral pole, which is void of any kind of normative obligation based on the triple-poles logic). Moreover, the Mass media, as one of the vast domains of human communications with the mediation of media technologies, and due to the prominence of its position, its functional significance and sensitivity, the scope and the depth of its influence, the diversity of its products, the diversity and abundance of its audience, and its pivotal role in reviewing, reproducing, editing and promoting the culture, in addition to the inevitable acceptance of this universal principle, is bound, more than any other area, to a mandatory or optional conformance with the axiological rules, moral instructions, and justifiable patterns of behavior which enjoy theoretical and cultural support. The present paper seeks to educe and present the general normative preferences and obligations and the guiding ethical dos and don’ts of the mass media with a religious approach and with the purpose of providing one of the professional requirements of a religious media or one with a religious mission and function.

Unlike the common financial systems, the Islamic financial system is ethics-centered. Therefore, the engineering of the Islamic financial system must be organized based on moral principles and norms. These principles and norms which have been specified in the original Islamic references such as the Quran and the tradition, determine the rights and duties of the participants in an Islamic financial system, and clarify the rights of the units with surplus resources (i.e. the savers) and the units with shortage of resources (i.e. the investors). In any case, and by referring to the Quran and the traditions, it is possible to identify some of the governing principles and ethical norms in this regard, such as making sure the money is not usurious,that a transaction is not aleatory (extremely uncertain),and that there is no gambling involved (illegitimate windfall), as well as identifying deficiencies such as the absence of price control, market manipulation and interference, and factors such as transaction fees at fair prices, the right to access accurate, sufficient and equal information, and the absence of any loss, extreme lesion, ignorance, hording, … etc.