Ethics in Islam: key concepts and contemporary challenges

Abstract This paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of the development of ethics in the contemporary Muslim world. The paper begins with a brief introduction of the terms “ethics” and “morals”, and explains the basic terms used by Islamic scholars to elucidate them. The concept of change in new circumstances is explained briefly and finally the paper focuses on some recent attempts by Muslim scholars to address contemporary issues faced by Muslims in Europe and other parts of the world, such as medical ethics, citizenship and nationalities and copyright issues, vis‐à‐vis earlier concepts formulated by Muslim scholars.