Revisiting Islamic Ethics: Shifting Epistemologies and Boundaries

Dear Colleagues,

Discourse on Islamic ethics is gaining renewed interest as Muslims in majority and minority settings are adapting to secularity, modernity, and plurality. Islam, as a religion, is being epistemologically challenged to respond to ethical problems during a time of unprecedented humanitarian and global crises. This challenge calls for a re-examination of Islamic ethics and its relevance in the contemporary world by examining values and creating a new framework using Islamic scriptural, historical, legal, philosophical, and mystical traditions. This framework would also acknowledge the intersecting relationship with ethical systems from various parts of the world. This call for papers invites scholars, practitioners, and researchers to explore multifaceted dimensions of Islamic ethics and its encounters with other religious (and non-religious) traditions. We encourage contributions that demonstrate an epistemological turn in Islamic ethics emphasizing the interplay between Islamic classical scholarship and ethical dilemmas arising from issues of theology and philosophy, the environmental crisis, technological advancements, humanitarian crises, and global risks.

General topics of interest for this Special Issue:

• Epistemological shifts in Islamic Ethics—Examining Islamic ethics and its epistemological relevance in the contemporary world;
• Innovation in Islamic Ethical Thought—Focusing on new ethical debates in medical, business, and environmental ethics;
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Ethical Challenges in Islam—Addressing data surveillance, biases, authority, and privacy;
• Global citizenship, Social Justice, and Plurality—Using Islamic ethics to advocate co-existence and human dignity;
• Renewal in Islamic Ethics—Reinterpreting scriptural, philosophical, legal, and mystical thoughts for contemporary purposes;
• Ethics of Modesty and Identity—Engaging with topics about ethical ideas and practices associated with modesty and body politics;
• Islamic Ethics in Specific Contexts—Investigating specific application of Islamic ethical framework within specific contexts (history, geography, politics, community, gender, etc.);
• Decolonizing Islamic Ethics—Focusing on the utility of ‘Islamic’ ethics as a hegemonic framework to include and exclude what is Islamic.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Etin Anwar
Dr. Syed A. H. Zaidi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Islamic ethics
• epistemological shifts
• innovative Islamic ethical thoughts
• Islam and AI ethics
• Global citizenship
• social justice, and plurality
• co-existence
• human dignity
• renewal in Islamic ethics
• ethics of modesty
• identity
• body politics
• applied Islamic ethics
• decolonizing Islamic ethics