We have argued in a previous entry (Is There Such a Thing As a Moral Atheist?) that we seem intuitively to experience a rightness about ethical claims and a sense of obligation to obey them. There is an a priori oughtness about morality. This suggests that there is a moral law prior to and outside of ourselves that presses upon us, a moral law that is true in all possible worlds and that we encounter and discover rather than create. If this is true, then between the God of the Bible and Allah, which God claims the best credentials as the ultimate source of this moral law?

The God of Islam can claim a fairly strong position as a candidate for the source of the moral law. As the creator of all that there is, Allah lays claim to sovereignty over all, including the moral order of the universe. In this, Allah is once again very much like the God of Christianity who provided his ancient people with the Ten Commandments and the Torah, that is, the Book of the Law. In fact, Muslims would argue that these are one and the same God. 

Nonetheless, I believe it is fair to ask what interpersonal resources Allah possesses within him that would enable or at least motivate him to create an external ethical community in the first place? Remember that he is a unitarian God with no relational diversity within him. Furthermore, even if Allah somehow managed to create groups of persons in his image, on what basis would we expect this image to contain a relational component such that moral compulsion would follow? Such a component does not exist within Allah inherently. And finally, since Allah has never known within himself an interpersonal dynamic that necessitates interpersonal obligation, what resources does he possess that would enable or motivate him to consider such weighty moral concepts as justice and love? What personal experience does he have that would ground his passion for such notions?

Now I suppose one could argue that Allah’s knowledge is perfect and that he understands these things in a purely abstract, non-experiential way. In fact, classical Islamic theology insists that the law is moral only because Allah commands it, that is, it is Allah's arbitrary command that makes the law “good” and not his own perfect moral character. It is Allah’s will that is on display in the moral law, not his nature, which in Islam, remains unknowable. But this suggests that the moral law could have been other than it is, since it relies on Allah’s command and not on his character or nature.

Furthermore, since Allah has no internal experience of ethics in relationship, how can we be sure that he isn’t just field testing his purely cerebral abstractions with us on earth, and that he won’t change his mind later? Perhaps this is why there is so little within Islamic literature about the potential for a personal relationship between God and man, and more of an emphasis on a master-servant relationship. It is not about relationship at all. It is about obeying Allah’s arbitrary commands in order to avoid his punishment rather than seeking to draw closer to him in personal intimacy.

Unlike Allah, however, the trinitarian God of Christianity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is, internally relational and, therefore, of necessity ethical. Personal relationship requires interpersonal obligation. Said another way, it is a necessary condition for a truly moral God to be eternally innately relational since ethical life can only be lived in relationship, and knowing what is moral is inherently more than a purely cerebral exercise.

Furthermore, the Christian claims that the very nature of God has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate.Second Person of the Trinity come to earth. Such a notion is scandalous to devout Muslims. But if it is true, then we have concrete, independent evidence that supports the intuition that the moral law is good, not because God commanded it, but because it flows from the very goodness of God himself. Now I ask you to be the judge. Which God comes out on top in this category? To me, it seems to be no contest.

Now we move on to our final category: the problem of sin and evil in the world.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentile


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