The Compatibility of Ethical Values with Religious Teachings with Emphasis on Islam

Theoretical concepts, especially those that are associated with humans, are actually open to different opinions. "Religion" and "ethics" are among the concepts which have always been disputed. Despite the abundance of studies that have been done in these two areas, disagreements continue to remain. Religion and ethics are closely associated with each other.There are many who believe that ethics, in one way or another, needs the support of religion. In fact, ethics relies on religion because belief in the reward and punishment of the Hereafter is the sanction of applying ethical principles. In discussing the dependence of morality to religion, the essential question is how the moral values are associated with religion?In this article the author tries to show that, contrary to the vision of modernity and the Enlightenment, human being versus "value". It is the collection of values that form the "ethics". Human ethics consists of the set of values which stem from human nature and the degree of man's perfection is evaluated depending on the degree of development of these high values. Essential evolution of human being throughout the history has been directed towards reinforcing these values. In this regard, the most important religious mission is to promote ethical values and principles and that is why religions focus on human values and ethics. The purpose of religion is to make human society more humane and more ethical and therefore, in most religions, especially Islam, ethics and religion are quite compatible.