Laws of Morality and The Importance of Human Reasoning and Critical Thinking
By M. Basheer Ahmed, M.D, New Age Islam
18 December 2025
It is a widely held belief that divine revelation is the primary source of morality. While revelation has shaped ethical consciousness across civilizations, it is equally important to recognize the central role of human intelligence, critical thinking, and rational judgment in the development of moral principles. This human capability is essential not only for understanding moral truth but also for addressing emerging challenges—such as the misuse of artificial intelligence—that require thoughtful, ethically grounded human oversight.
The Quran, the Bible, and other sacred scriptures describe Adam and Eve as the first human beings, created in God's image and sent to earth as His vicegerents. God endowed humans with intelligence, rationality, and free will. God provided them with knowledge of right and wrong, along with the consequences of moral and immoral actions in this life and the hereafter. Over time, God sent messengers and revealed scriptures to guide humanity toward virtuous conduct and away from destructive behaviour.
Human intelligence allows individuals to anticipate the consequences of their actions and to develop concepts of morality and ethics. Moral reasoning enables humans to derive ethical principles independently, even in the absence of revelation. Revelation, therefore, does not initiate morality ex nihilo; instead, it reinforces, refines, and systematizes moral understanding. From the earliest stages of human existence, people have exercised moral choice based on their intellectual and rational capacities.
Philosophical and Evolutionary Perspectives
Many philosophers have argued that Humans can acquire morality through observation, experience, and reflection on the outcomes of human actions. Reason is the natural faculty by which the human mind evaluates behaviour and its consequences, whereas revelation represents the supernatural disclosure of moral truth by God. Immanuel Kant, for example, argued that morality arises from rationality itself, proposing that universal moral laws—grounded in reason—apply to all rational beings regardless of their religious beliefs.
Mr. Naseer Ahmed, a Muslim scholar who is a regular NewAgeIslam.com columnist, accepted the theory of human evolution, proposed that humans emerged 2.5 million years ago, but that Adam, created approximately 6,000 years ago, was uniquely endowed with an exceptional intellectual capacity not granted to earlier humans. According to him, Adam and his descendants encountered other human groups who were "barbarians" without moral codes and eventually made them extinct. He further argued that God gave the laws of morality only to Adam and his progeny, not to earlier humans, and that without this divine favour, humanity would have remained savage and uncivilized. He referred to this as the "natural law of morality." (The “Natural Law of Morality” Has Come From Religion New Age Islam 2023)
This interpretation, however, is highly personal and controversial. There is no scientific or scriptural evidence confirming the existence of pre‑Adam humans who lacked all moral behaviour, nor is there evidence that Adam's descendants exterminated them. Archaeological and anthropological findings suggest that ethical behaviour, cooperation, symbolic thinking, and social norms existed long before the period Mr. Ahmed associates with Adam. Homo sapiens evolved over tens of thousands of years from earlier hominin species. This raises profound questions for believers and scholars alike:
When did "man become man"?
• At what point did beings made in the image of God, endowed with rational souls and moral responsibility, emerge?
• Was Adam a single historical individual or a symbolic representation of humanity?
• How should we understand the moral status of prehistoric human ancestors?
Evidence suggests that essential aspects of humanity—reasoning, language, symbolic thought—emerged far earlier than previously assumed. Prehistoric cave paintings, tools, dwellings, and burial practices indicate foresight, planning, and social cooperation. These findings imply that proto human beings possessed significant rational and moral capacities long before the advent of organized religion.
Morality Beyond Revelation
Many philosophers and social scientists argue that morality is not solely derived from revelation but is an intrinsic human trait shaped by evolution, culture, and lived experience. Research shows that both religious and non-religious individuals and societies are capable of high moral behaviour. However, the belief that morality is impossible without faith in God remains widespread, often accompanied by implicit associations of atheism with immorality among the followers of religions.
If moral behaviour is driven solely by fear of divine punishment, its ethical value becomes questionable. Actions motivated only by fear lack genuine moral intent. Human beings understood fundamental moral truths long before formal revelation. Long before the Ten Commandments, people knew that murder, theft, and deceit were wrong.
The Qur'an established inheritance laws and emphasized women's rights. Yet, history shows that Khadijah (RA), the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) first wife, was already an independent businesswoman who owned property, conducted trade, employed men, and freely chose her spouse. This illustrates that moral progress often precedes formal codification.
Divine messages ceased more than 1,500 years ago, yet humanity has continued to refine and elevate its moral behaviour through intellectual growth, collective experience, and rational inquiry. While slavery was discouraged and morally constrained in the Quran, it was not explicitly prohibited. Slavery persisted across civilizations until the 17th and 18th centuries, when human moral progress driven by reason, and ethical consciousness finally led to its abolition. This example demonstrates that human beings increasingly rely on universal ethical principles, sometimes finding religious texts or institutions inadequate
Both the Bible and the Quran contain passages that reflect the social norms of their historical contexts, including acceptance of slavery or harsh punishments. These elements often conflict with modern moral standards, leading some individuals to question or reinterpret such passages. Ethical rules are also shaped by culture: eating pork or beef is morally acceptable in North America, yet Jews and Muslims abstain from pork, and Hindus abstain from beef. What is considered morally right or wrong often depends on the values of the society one lives in.
If morality were entirely inseparable from religion, societies would be compelled to accept morally troubling doctrines and practices simply because they are religious. History shows that some religious teachings—such as the Christian doctrine of "original sin" implies that, by virtue of his sinful nature, man is incapable of performing good actions, blasphemy and apostasy laws have promoted grievous practices that are morally harmful, female genital mutilation, persecution of minorities, and religiously motivated violence—have resulted in grave moral harm. Political misuse of scripture, including biblical justifications for violence, specifically the story of Amalek, to justify genocide, further demonstrates the danger of divorcing morality from critical reasoning.
Conclusion
Morality is an active, dynamic process that requires reasoning, critical thinking, and thoughtful deliberation. These capacities enable individuals to determine what they have the best reason to do. For those who lack the ability or opportunity to engage in deep reasoning, religious teaching can provide a moral framework that serves an essential purpose. However, the limitation is that many spiritual traditions require strict adherence to dogma, discouraging questioning or reinterpretation.
The central debate is whether revelation provides moral law, and whether human reason merely verifies it, or whether morality originates in human rationality—God-given intelligence—and revelation reinforces, organizes, and transmits these principles to broader communities. All major world religions emphasize compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness. Yet the reality of the modern world shows that morality based solely on religion is no longer sufficient. Many religious individuals live lives of integrity, avoiding corruption, dishonesty, and injustice. At the same time, many non-religious individuals also lead ethical, responsible lives without grounding their morality in religious belief.
Conversely, some highly religious societies exhibit poor human rights records, intolerance, gender inequality, and widespread corruption. As religiosity increases without corresponding moral reasoning, societies may experience greater conflict, discrimination, and injustice. In many cases, religious leaders have failed to guide their communities toward moral uprightness, self-discipline, and justice. This disconnect between religion and ethical behaviour has contributed to cultures of nepotism, dishonesty, exploitation, and moral decline.
Faith without reason becomes mere dogma. Only when revelation is examined through the lens of reason can it be genuinely understood and internalized. Thus, both revelation and reason should be seen as divine gifts, intended to help humanity discern truth and cultivate moral wisdom.
God may be the ultimate source of morality and natural law, as many religious scholars assert. Yet God has also endowed human beings with intellect, enabling them to learn from experience, develop ethical principles, and build peaceful, just societies. In an age of artificial intelligence and unprecedented technological power, human reasoning and moral responsibility are more essential than ever.
Rather than debating whether morality should come from revelation or reason, we should embrace both perspectives. A united effort—grounded in ethics, compassion, and rational understanding—is necessary to ensure that humanity upholds moral principles and works together to make this world liveable.
M. Basheer Ahmed, M.D., is a physician, humanitarian, and advocate for interfaith understanding and global peace. He is a former professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX. He has written extensively on Muslim unity, interfaith dialogue, and Middle East policy.
URL: https://newageislam.com/ijtihad-rethinking-islam/laws-morality-human-reasoning-/d/138043
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