Reclaiming Reason: Why Moving Beyond Divine Command is Essential for Islamic Intellectual Revival

By Adis Duderija, New Age Islam 19 June 2025 The landscape of Islamic ethical thought has long been shaped by a tension between different understandings of morality. One prominent view, often termed theological voluntarism or the Divine Command Theory, posits that moral values are solely established by God's will. In this framework, what is good is good simply because God commands it, and this divine decree forms the ultimate foundation of ethics. However, for a genuine revival of Islamic intellectual tradition, it is crucial to move beyond this restrictive understanding and embrace a more robust role for reason and innate human understanding in discerning moral truths. The Divine Command Theory, while emphasising God’s omnipotence and sovereignty, carries significant implications. It suggests that good and evil have no inherent meaning outside of divine commands and prohibitions. This perspective, historically associated with the Ash’arite school of Kalam (philosophical theology), raises profound questions about the very nature of morality. If morality is solely based on divine decree, then it would seem that ethical principles could be arbitrarily changed, and our understanding of right and wrong would be entirely dependent on explicit scriptural pronouncements. Some proponents even suggested that if God commanded what we currently consider evil, it would become righteous. However, the general ethos of the Quran itself suggests a different perspective. The Quran utilises pre-existing ethical language when conveying its message, addressing concepts like justice ('Adl), goodness (Khayr), and evil (Sharr) to its initial audience, implying a shared understanding of these terms. The Quran's exhortation in Surah An-Nahl (16:90) to do justice and good and to avoid indecency and evil would be largely meaningless if its sole intent was to command obedience. Furthermore, the frequent use of the term “Ma’ruf,” meaning “what is known,” to denote virtuous acts in the Quran underscores the idea that certain ethical principles are already recognized and understood by human beings. Commentators rarely felt the need to define “Ma’ruf,” suggesting its ethical implications were widely accepted. This indicates that the Quran often appeals to a pre-existing human ethical knowledge or common sense, rather than establishing morality solely through arbitrary commands. As Khaled Abou El Fadl notes, the Quran often uses terms like injustice (Zulm) and justice (‘Adl) in an objective manner, as if they possess an independent reality. Crucially, the Quran explicitly states that God has “inspired it [the soul] to understand what is right and wrong” [Quran 91:7-10]. This innate knowledge of good and evil is presented as a divine bounty. The verse mentioning the provision of “two eyes and a tongue and two lips” and the pointing out of “the two conspicuous ways” [Quran 90:8-10] is also interpreted as signifying the inherent ability to distinguish between good and evil. This suggests that divine revelation builds upon an existing moral understanding within human nature, rather than being the sole source of ethical knowledge. M.A. Draz even stated that “according to the Quran itself, the law of the conscience existentially comes first before positive religion”. Historically, within Islamic intellectual tradition, particularly in the early development of Kalam by the Mu’tazilites, there was a strong emphasis on reason's capacity to discern good and evil. They articulated the theory of “rational obligation” (al-taklīf al-ʿaqlī), suggesting that all rational human beings possess an inherent ability to distinguish between right and wrong and are obligated to act accordingly based on this knowledge. While the Ash’arite school later emphasized theological voluntarism, it is important to note that Sunni Muslim scholars across various schools of law often upheld a common-sense meta-ethics, acknowledging the normative function of reason in ethical understanding. This recognition of reason’s role was prevalent among jurists until the time of al-Juwaynī. The insistence on the epistemic priority of revelation over all moral knowledge, as advocated by the Divine Command Theory, faces a critical challenge: how can one know God and the truthfulness of His revelation without a prior ability to distinguish between good and evil?. This inherent capacity for moral discernment is a necessary prerequisite for recognizing the divine message as good and true. Moreover, grounding ethics solely in divine commands can lead to intellectual stagnation and an over-reliance on legal rulings without deeper ethical reasoning. The contemporary phenomenon of “excessive demands for legal opinions (fatwa)” can be seen as a consequence of subsiding “creative ethical reasoning”. When individuals believe that morality is solely based on divine commands interpreted exclusively by religious scholars, their capacity for independent ethical thought and engagement is diminished. For a genuine revival of Islamic intellectual tradition, it is imperative to reclaim the role of reason and innate human understanding in ethical thought. This does not diminish the importance of divine revelation, but rather positions it as a guiding light that affirms, clarifies, and elaborates upon fundamental moral principles already accessible through human intellect and common sense. Embracing this perspective allows for a more dynamic and intellectually vibrant ethical discourse, capable of engaging with contemporary challenges and contributing to a more just and ethical world. Moving beyond the strictures of Divine Command Theory and acknowledging the objective basis of morality accessible through reason, as supported by the Quranic ethos, will empower Muslims to engage in “creative ethical reasoning”, fostering intellectual growth and a deeper understanding of the divine wisdom embedded in Islamic teachings. This shift is not a departure from tradition, but rather a reconnection with a richer and more nuanced intellectual heritage that recognized the profound and essential role of human reason in the realm of ethics. ---- The contents of this article are primarily based on this academic article : https://brill.com/view/journals/jie/1/1-2/article-p29_3.xml ------ Checkout Dr. Adis Duderija’s personal website at: https://dradisduderija.com/ A decades old patron of New Age Islam, Dr Adis Duderija is a Senior Lecturer in the Study of Islam and Society, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science; Senior Fellow Centre for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue, Griffith University | Nathan | Queensland | Australia. His forthcoming books are (co-edited) - Shame, Modesty, and Honour in Islam and Interfaith Engagement beyond the Divide (Springer) URL: https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/divine-command-essential-islamic-intellectual-revival/d/135922 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism