This book aims to both rediscover and advance practical notions of commonweal, or common good, retrieval in an Islamic social order. The first chapter explores shuʿab al-īmān or “branches of faith,” which is a holistic system of values and actions derived from various sound hadiths, though largely overlooked today. Musa Furber analyses classical texts and classification schemes of the shuʿab to demonstrate how these timeless branches can serve as a guide for spiritual refinement, ethical conduct, and social cohesion. In the second chapter, Ahmad Deeb traces how the metaphysical rupture caused by modernity fosters loneliness and erodes traditional structures of belonging, but then proposes a philosophy of community that is attune with and indeed can nurture psychological well-being and cohesion that is an innate human need. The third chapter maps out a skill-based social order animated by Islamic principles. In it, Karim Lahham illustrates how, through intention, work is to become a communal obligation, serving both material needs and spiritual fulfilment, and ultimately steering the ethos of such a society towards upholding virtuous praxis whilst transcending the self.
Contents include:
- Shuʿab al-Īmān & Social Cohesion: Crafting Ethical & Just Communities, by Musa Furber
- Staying Human: Towards a Muslim Philosophy of Belonging and Community, Ahmad Deeb
- Farḍ al-Kifāyah as the Juridical Foundation of the Islamic Social Apparatus, by Karim Lahham
Download the PDF here: English.
About the Authors
SALAH CHAFIK – BA (UPENN) MA, PHD (TALTECH), Senior Research Fellow at University College London. He has lectured and authored publications on purpose-driven institutions and their role in delivering public services to, taking on challenges for, and shaping the business and wider socioeconomic environment of their communities.
MUSA FURBER – BA (PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY), MA (DUBAI SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT) is a Senior Research Fellow at Tabah Research, where he has authored Obligations to Future Generations, Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals, and Intensive Animal Farming: Wrongs & Responsibilities.
AHMAD DEEB – MA (CLAREMONT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY), PHD (NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY), is an Imam and Community Psychologist with over a decade of experience in serving communities. His doctoral dissertation was titled “Remosqued: Loneliness, Governance, and Psychological Sense of Community Towards Holistic Wellbeing in the American Masjid.” His work can be found at imamdeeb.com.
KARIM LAHHAM, MA (RCA), MA (OXON.), PHD (CANTAB.), Barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple and Senior Research Fellow at Tabah Research. He is the author of, inter alia, Being ‘Good’: An Ontological View of Ethics, The Vocational Society, and The Anatomy of Knowledge.