From transcultural rights to transcultural virtues : between western and Islamic ethics

Abstract

Some kind of transcultural consent is strongly needed between Western and Islamic societies. Human rights can provide such consent but their traditional Western foundation remains alien to a large part of Muslim sensibilities. In address of this we must first turn our attention to the Islamic concept of 'maqasid'. By drawing upon Martha Nussbaum's list of basic capabilities and Tariq Ramadan's extensive reading of maqasid, we can prepare a sounder grounding for human rights within Islamic societies. Maqasid and capabilities call attention to the tradition of Islamic virtues. These so greatly overlap the Western ethics of virtues that they raise hope of transcultural cohesion.