Living Qur’anic Ethics in Everyday Muslim Life: Decolonial Perspectives on Islamic Moral Consciousness

Abstract

This study examines how Qur’anic ethics functions as a living moral consciousness in everyday Muslim life through a decolonial perspective. The research responds to the dominance of Western ethical paradigms and Orientalist traditions represented by figures such as Edward Said, William Montgomery Watt, Joseph Schacht, and Bernard Lewis, whose approaches frequently reduced Islamic ethics to rigid legalistic doctrines detached from the lived realities of Muslim societies. This study employs a qualitative library research approach by analyzing Qur’anic verses, classical and contemporary tafsir works, decolonial theories, and recent scholarship on Islamic moral consciousness. The findings reveal that Qur’anic ethics operates as an embodied and context-sensitive moral framework grounded in the principles of tawḥīd, justice, compassion, stewardship, accountability, and social responsibility. These ethical principles are reflected in Q.S. al-Naḥl [16]:90 concerning justice and social welfare, interpreted in Tafsir al-Tabari and Tafsir Ibn Ashur as the foundation of social ethics; Q.S. al-Māʾūn [107]:1–7 concerning social care and criticism of elitism in Tafsir al-Manar; and Q.S. al-Aʿrāf [7]:56 concerning ecological responsibility in Tafsir al-Misbah. The study further finds that these ethical values are concretely manifested through Islamic philanthropy and community welfare programs in Indonesia, environmentally friendly mosque movements in Malaysia, ethical finance initiatives in Turkey, and social solidarity institutions in Qatar and United Arab Emirates. However, the research also identifies a paradox in which many Muslim-majority countries continue to rank below non-Muslim countries in global indices related to corruption control, social trust, education, and human development. Reports published by Transparency International through the Corruption Perceptions Index and the United Nations Development Programme through the Human Development Index consistently place countries such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand at the highest positions, while many Muslim countries remain comparatively lower despite possessing strong normative foundations of Islamic ethics. These findings indicate a gap between normative Islamic teachings and their embodiment within public ethics and social governance. This article argues that a decolonial reconstruction of Qur’anic ethics is necessary not only to challenge the dominance of Western epistemologies, but also to revitalize Islamic moral consciousness as a living ethical practice capable of addressing global inequality, technological challenges, and the moral crises of contemporary Muslim societies.