The religion of Islam provides clear ethical guidance for it’s adherents across a wide range of issues and concerts. The process of determining the guidance to be given is known as Islamic jurisprudence. Through this process, judgments are made and applied to situations where ethical decisions are required.
Muslim ethical judgment leads to a decision about what is permitted or halal and what is forbidden or haram. In principle, if something is not forbidden then it is permitted. However, simply because something is permitted does not mean that it should be done.
In living Shari’ah and making decisions about what about be done a number of aspects need to be considered. It is not sufficient to simply choose actions that are halal and act as if these were ethically acceptable. The act must be considered and thought about thoroughly, to determine whether the act is appropriate. In order to determine this, there are a number of key aspects that should be considered.
The first aspect relates to the consensus of many respected scholars. This consensus is known as giyyas. It is also very important to consider the views of respected people and leaders in your community, such as your imam. If the consensus of these respected people is against the doing of something then it would be wise to avoid it, even if it is not considered haram.
The second aspect is to look at the precedent of the previous decisions. In all but a few cases there will have been similar circumstances faced in the past and the precedents of the decisions taken should be able to guide you in whether the action would be acceptable to undergo.
The third aspect is that of the common or public good, the