Islamic Ethics and Human Fraternity: Resources and limitations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54878/rb87n818Keywords:
slamic ethics, human fraternity, Bidar, Zenati, Muslims in FranceAbstract
This article aims to examine human fraternity as the basis for loyalty towards non-Muslims through the ethical thinking of two Muslim leaders and thinkers in France (A. Bidar and M. Zenati). The writings of these Muslim intellectuals reflect reformist Muslim sensibilities that are quite audible in French-speaking Europe (France, Belgium and Switzerland), in the face of pressing ethical and societal challenges to build a community of destiny and hope between Muslims and non-Muslims. These discourses on fraternity and loyalty also counter the communitarian and other collectivist conceptions conveyed by closed religious interpretations that dominate traditionalist Muslim circles (illustrated by the Salafist dogma of alliance and disavowal of non-Muslims). Our main task here is to discuss the ways Muslim thinkers envisage loyalty to non-Muslims as an element in shaping the identity of Muslim citizens in France while attempting to resolve the current tensions between community loyalties, human fraternity, and individualism.
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