Virtue and Manliness in Islamic Ethics

Abstract

Recent interest in virtue ethics has led to increased interdisciplinary and interreligious lines of inquiry, moving away from a focus on Aristotelian approaches to less-studied, often non-Eurocentric ones, including the study of Asian religions (e.g., Seok 2017). In Islamic studies, research in ethics has largely centred on matters pertaining to law and meta-ethics (especially in theology), on account of a perception of Islamic virtue ethics as largely a derivation of Greek practical philosophy (e.g., Hourani 1985). Recent studies on virtue ethics— many of which have been reviewed in this issue—have tried to bridge this gap, and for good reason: Islamic writings on the refinement of human character traits (tahdhīb al-akhlāq) often present original perspectives of great relevance for ethicists today. It is, moreover, at the meeting place of the study of gender and virtue ethics that Islamic thought displays a trajectory of development that can perhaps inform “world philosophy” more broadly. Especially in its conception of “manliness” (murūʾa or muruwwa) or “youngmanliness” ( futuwwa) as a virtue, one of particular significance to Sufism, Islamic virtue ethics captures the paradoxes of having developed a rich vocabulary of moral perfection applicable in contemporary contexts, while also doing so in ways that fix gender norms. It is with that in mind that the articles in this special issue respond to one of three themes, tied together by an original conference on the topic of futuwwa in Doha, hosted by Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) in November 2019, where five of the nine authors in this collection presented earlier drafts. Those themes are (1) futuwwa (“youngmanliness” or “chivalry”), especially in premodern Sufi texts; (2) masculinity and male normativity in premodern Islamic texts, especially Sufi texts, as seen through gender critical theories; and (3) virtue ethics in classical Islamic writings, including that of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) and Sufi authors. Futuwwa presents a fascinating case for the relationship between norms, gender, and Islamic programs of piety. Many of the authors here take an interest in the way failure to live up to standards of renunciation qualifies as unmanly behaviour, in contrast to the behaviour of a “youngman” ( fatā). As the epitome of proper manly behaviour, futuwwa was something much more than merely a virtue for the specialists, that is, the spiritual elite and their trainees: It became