Relating Law and Ethics

Keywords: Legal realists, critical legal theorists, constitution, rule of law, al-Farabi, Ummah, din, dunya, Qur'an, slavery, ethics.

Abstract: It is sometimes remarked that law and ethics have very much to do with each other in theory but little in practice - especially in the practice of law! This article explores the relationship between law and ethics and proposes a process which might serve as a framework for relating these two important areas of social life. In constructing this framework, reference is made to elements of the Islamic tradition and in particular the nexus between linked to dawla (the domain of politics). din and dunya, the spiritual and the temporal.