The Authority of a Unique Tradition in Proving Moral Statements

The debate over the meaning of the religious ethical statements is based on the validity of the narrative reasons in Islamic ethics; that is, before addressing it, the question must be answered is that whether these reasons are substantially justified in proving ethical propositions or not? Undoubtedly, the Holy Qur'an, the widely transmitted hadiths and unique traditions with evidences are justified. The present study deals with the authority of unique moral Hadiths and the difference in the meaning of authority in jurisprudential and ethical propositions. Then, by using the analytical research, it is concluded that there is no clear meaning in the knowledges referring to reality, including ethical knowledge, giving authority and validating religious reasons. Rather, the criterion of the validity of these propositions lies in the degree of their realism. In other words, the validity of these knowledges cannot and should not be based on existence and non-existence (zero and one); rather the validity has calculable degrees, and in conditions where there is insufficient justification for the certainty of a theorem, a particular uncertain degree is justifiable. The unique Hadith relating reality gives us knowledge, and has a degree of realism, which is not absolute, but it may be preferred over any other knowledge within itself, and is therefore justified and its belief is reasonable. Whatever more evidences we collect here, we make it more rational and justified. These evidences may be rational, reasonable, narrative, historical, geographical, empirical, customary, and so on.