Islamic Bioethics: Sufi Ethics

Sufism is most often referred to as Islamic mysticism and indicates a dimension of spiritual development and experience within that particular religious context. Many people consider Sufi ethics to function primarily as practical ethics, which is a person’s behavior in a given situation. Sufi ethics revolves around the notions of etiquette (adab) and moral character (khuluq). However, as time progressed it was adopted to imply etiquette, polite manners, and a refined and cultured behavior associated with Ibn Muqaffa’s innovative genre of Arabic prose writing. Although Sufi ethics may appear merely to be little more than an outward application of “rules of conduct” to an individual’s behavior, Sufi theoretical ethics also linked this outward manifestation with an inward spiritual state.