Core Islamic Teachings

The core ethical Islamic teachings play an important role of educating in the lives of adherents. Ethics is a set of moral principles and a system of moral values that one must follow. Muslims submit themselves to the will of Allah and look towards his teachings for guidance. “Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a Messenger to them from among themselves to recite His Signs to them, purify them and teach them the Book and Wisdom, even though before that they were clearly misguided.” (Surah Al `Imran: 164).

Jurisprudence is the Islamic system of law, this is determined by the Qur’an, the Sunnah and Hadith, Ijma and Qiyas. The Qur’an is the core text of Islam and regarded as Allah’s word. It contains lessons from Allah and is the main source for Muslim faith and practice. It discusses doctrine, wisdom, worship and law, this offers Muslims answers and looks at how these things make up an ideal society. The Hadith is another sacred text of Islam that explores the core ethical teachings of Allah. It is a record of the Prophet Muhammad’s sacred teachings and sayings and Muslims refer to it for moral guidance and a greater understanding of Islamic law. The Sunnah is the second most significant source of authority for Muslims and it looks into the Prophet Muhammad’s traditions, customs and practices. It is said to act as an ideal example for adherents to look up to

Many of Muhammad’s teachings were written by his followers after he died, some Muslims choose to only agree with some of these and they have been made into collections. Ijma refers to the consensus of the Muslim community, this is one of the key concepts of Sunni Islam and considers that authority is to be shared among all. Ijma has led to to the establishment of many key principles of Islam including the Caliphate, collections of the Hadith and the Five Pillars of