?A?u? al-D?n al-?j? was a foundational figure in the development of post-classical Sunni theology whose engagements with the Avicennan tradition harmonized much of the Aristotle’s thought as transmitted through Avicenna with what was perceived to be mainstream Islamic theology by Sunnis. Unfortunately, there is still a significant absence in the study of this prominent scholar’s thought in the Western academy. Al-?j?’s, Akhl?q al-A?u?iyya is one such understudied gem that has only recently been published from manuscript form in Turkey. The Akhl?q al-?A?u?iyya or the “Spiritual Ethics of ?A?u? al-d?n al-?j?” is a rich resource on Islamic ethics drawn from the Islamic philosophical tradition which incorporated and then revised Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics. What is significant about this text is the way in which Islamic spirituality and mysticism is presented in a framework originally found in Aristotelean ethical thought in which various traits and behaviors are examined in terms of their two extremes (their excess or their lack). Furthermore, Ta?köprüzade who was a renowned Ottoman scholar further expanded upon the Akhl?q al-?A?u?iyya, through providing further scriptural evidence for the ethical principles outlined by A?u? al-D?n al-?j? as well as many sayings attributed to Imam ?Al?. This paper will outline the framework of the “Spiritual Ethics of ?A?u? al-d?n al-?j?” and examine Ta?köprüzade’s commentary to consider how Sunni theologians comprehended the relationship between philosophy and ethics, as well as how Imam ?Al? was envisioned as a paragon of spirituality and mysticism in Sunni scholarship.

This paper proposes that one of the defining constituents of Ottoman political thought is virtue politics. In the first part, a basic schema of a virtue political discourse (VPD) directed at the definition of virtue political behaviors and institutions will be presented through concepts such as character formation, virtues and vices, eudaemonist conception of happiness and justice as virtue. The texts that will be used as the source of analyses as follows; Nushatü’s-Selâtîn by Mustafa Âlî, ?erefü'l-?nsân fî Ciheti'l-Fazileti ve't-Te?rîf by Lâmii Çelebi, Fira?? Abdurrahman Çelebi’s Terceme-i Ahl??-? Mu?sin?, Enîsü’l-Ârifîn by Azmi Pir Mehmed, Ferruhnâme by Nasûh b. Abdullâh Akhisârî Nevâlî. After an initial identification of a VPD in the aforementioned works, it will be argued that there is a special notion of politics that is disseminated over moral thought and that we have enough evidence to name it as virtue politics. Second part of the paper will be devoted to the strategy that will be pursued in clarification of this claim. I will try to offer three key concepts as the fundamentals of virtue politics; moral realism, intention and language. Moral realism will be discussed to determine the priority of the moral against the political. (In what ways does the priority of the moral create tensions with the political?) A second core concept is intention which plays a vital role in Ottoman virtue ethical discourse. This vital role could be explored through the relation between action and intention. How does the latter shape the former? Third concept that I choose as fundamental for an Ottoman VPD is language. It is a distinctive mark of the discourse that is itself could be presented as virtue. Locating the place of knowledge of history, poetry and sciences of eloquence in moral argumentation will help me to appraise importance of the language. How does scholars invoke the power of moral character through historical cases and poetry? In what ways, do the language and ethical depiction of political cases nurture each other? To conclude, these three concepts (moral realism, intention and language as virtue) will be the paper’s theoretical tools that will allow me to recognize the contours of virtue politics.

Economy of Happiness – Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Ethical Teachings Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) made seminal contributions to the field of kalam, falsafa, and tasawwuf. While he also dedicated many chapters in his encyclopaedic Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din (The revival of religious sciences) to what he considered just and Shari‘a-based economic conduct in (Muslim) society, this contribution has been largely neglected in Western scholarship. This paper aims to analyse and revive al-Ghazali’s understudied contribution to economic thought by emphasizing his economic philosophy and its correlation between Shari‘a’s moral law and the tradition of ta?awwuf. The negligence of al-Ghazali’s economic contributions goes hand in hand with a claim made by several Western scholars (e.g. J. Schumpeter) that various Muslim scholars, such as Ghazanfar and Islahi, tried to rebuke, namely that classical Islamic scholarship did not offer any significant development in the domain of economic thought in what was in Europe known as the Middle Ages. In this paper, I analyse al-Ghazali’s theoretical accounts and economic philosophy as part of his overall ethic of happiness, by extracting passages from his major works, such as Ihya’, Mizan al-‘Amal, and Nasihat al-Muluk, in order to position his ideas within classical Islamic economic thought at the intersection of two often separated domains, namely tasawwuf and Shari‘a. While it is not assumed that al-Ghazali anticipated modern trends of Western economics, he nonetheless presents the culmination of ethical economic thought in classical Islamic tradition, which influenced scholars in the following centuries, by merging kasb (acquisitions of wealth) with zuhd (renunciation of the worldly endeavours) under the banner of tawakkul (trust in God) as part of his overall ethic of happiness.