The Relationship between Religion and Ethics; A Critical Review on the Historical Perspective of Faras al-Sawah

For Faras al-Sawah, talking about religious morality does not make clearmeaning. This Syrian thinker, by providing a historical explanation of the identity of religion and morality, on the one hand, believesin the independence of morality from religion, and, on the other hand, by equating revelation with individual religious experience, believes in the dependence of morality on religion epistemologically and psychologically. The question is to what extent his position in explaining the relationship between religion and morality is convincing and defensible. Findings of this article - made by descriptive-analytical method - shows that he has a dual position on the relationship between religion and morality. Taking this dual position, his view on the relationship between religion and ethics will be criticized in several ways: Accepting moral and religious relativism, eliminating the ground for moral criticism in society, providing a secular interpretation of religious morality, ignoring the devotional aspects of religion, and accepting moral relativism at the normative and metaethical levels are some consequences of this view. In addition, relying on this view, he reduces the purpose of morality to the realization of social justice and leaves no room for religious concepts such as piety and nearness to God in the moral system.