Understanding Islam- social ethics context Essay

Understanding Islam- social ethics context - Essay Example This paper takes off from the work of Reza Aslan entitled ‘No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam’ to get a grip of the Islamic religion from the perspective of social ethics. Islam is very interesting from the lens of social ethics for the way the religion defines to a large extent the moral standards of whole societies, nations and regions where Islam takes root. It is also very fascinating for the way the religion’s social, moral and ethical values stand in stark contrast in practice to those that are shared in the west, and in the rest of the world, even to Asia. Popular images in the media depict Islamic societies as somewhat restrictive in many areas, and the popular image of the veiled woman who is somewhat restricted in terms of education and economic opportunities, and is subjugated by paternal social and familial arrangements, highlights just how different the moral and ethical standards of Islam is to the moral and ethical standards of western societies especially, that are more egalitarian in contrast. Era-defining events, such as the September 11 attacks, have come to shape discourse on what the west perceives as the clash between Islam and the West, as Aslan points out (Aslan, 2005, p. xxiii). In Aslan’s book, he traces the historical roots of Islam and the intent and spirit of the originator of Islam, the prophet Muhammad, to bare in essence an ideal of society and of Islamic religion that is in fact closer to western ideals.