Illicit money in contemporary Islamic ethics

Abstract

This paper discusses the question of the acquisition and the use of illicit money, māl ḥarām from the perspective of Islamic ethics. It first addresses five fatwas by Markaz al-fatwā on different cases of illicit money. Subsequently, the paper engages in an ethical analysis of the responses and the arguments that Markaz al-fatwā provides to justify certain positions on the issue of illicit money. The discussion ends with an investigation of the difficulties of legalistic Islamic ethics in adapting to the Western contexts.